Jens Franck

Jens Franck is the Biology Department Chair at the University of Winnipeg's Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex. His research focuses on molecular evolutionary biology and genetics, particularly investigating ryanodine receptors (RyRs) and their roles in calcium signaling pathways critical to muscle function. Using zebrafish and medaka as model systems, his work explores gene duplication events and their impact on gene subfunctionalization in vertebrates.

Research Interests: Molecular Evolution of RyR genes, Calcium Homeostasis, Evolutionary Adaptation in Fish, and Convergent Evolutionary Mechanisms. Current projects investigate genetic bases of endothermy in fish and regulatory differences in calcium-related genes.

Lab Website: francklab.html (Note: Link currently returns 404; may need update).

He actively accepts applications from prospective graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches in evolutionary biology and molecular genetics.