Roles and responsibilities
I am an expert in structural proteomics. In this field I have fostered a passion for the application of biophysical tools to probe complex biological and therapeutic challenges, with a keen eye towards method development.
My main role as a research associate in the Human Health Therapeutics Division at the NRC is to build, adapt, innovate and apply our structural mass spectrometry capabilities for the study of emerging biotherapeutics.
Current research and/or projects
- Epitope mapping of blood-brain barrier crossing antibodies targeting the insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF1R)
- Solubilization of therapeutic GPCR targets directly from cell membranes using styrene-maleic acid polymer technologies.
- Mapping interactions of anti-CD22 nanobodies using an integrative structural approach
- Development of novel photoactive cross-linking platforms for probing nanobody:antigen interactions.
Research and/or project statements
- Development of hydrogen-exchange mass spectrometry platforms (HDX-MS) for the characterization of antibodies and their interactions
- Design and integration of novel structural tools for the biophysical characterization of therapeutic products in our development pipeline
- Deployment of sophisticated tools for the biophysical characterization of increasingly complex membrane protein targets
Education
B.Sc., Pharmacology, University of Alberta, 2011
Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Calgary, 2017
Professional activities/interests
Science To Business Network (S2BN), Ottawa Chapter, Event Support associate
Affiliations
International Society of HDX-MS
American Society for Mass Spectrometry
Awards
NRC Rising Star Award (Outstanding Achievement Award, 2020)
Key publications
Rossotti, M.A., van Faassen, H., Tran, A.T., Sheff, J., Sandhu, J.K., Duque, D., Hewitt, M., Wen, X., Bavananthasivam, J., Beitari, S., Matte, K., Laroche, G., Giguère, P.M., Gervais, C., Stuible, M., Guimond, J., Perret, S., Hussack, G., Langlois, M.A., Durocher, Y., Tanha, J. (2022) Arsenal of nanobodies shows broad-spectrum neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in vitro and in vivo in hamster models. Commun. Biol, 5:933
Sheff, J.*, Kelly, J., Foss, M., Brunette, E., Kemmerich, K., van Faassen, H., Raphael, S., Hussack, G., Comamala, G., Rand, K., Stanimirovic, D.B. (2022) Epitope mapping of a blood-brain barrier corssing anibody targeting the cysteine-rich region of IGF1R using hydrogen-exchange mass spectrometry enabled by electrochemical reduction. J. Biochem., https://doi.org/10.1093/jb/mvac088
Sheff, J.*, Ni, F.*, Wang, P., Xu, P., Arbour, M., Masson, L., Brunette, E., Kemmerich, K., Hill, Jennifer, Kelly, J., Stanimirovic, D. (2021) Defining the epitope of a transcytosis carrier single domain antibody specific for the the type 1 insuline-like growth factor receptor. Scientific Reports, 11:4284.
Overduin, M., Trieber, C., Prosser, R.S. Picard, L.P., Sheff, J.G. (2021) Structures and dynamics of native-state transmembrane protein targets and bound lipids. Membranes, 11(6): 451.
Sheff, J.*, Kelly, J., Robotham, A., Sulea, T., Malenfant, F., L’Abbé, Duchesne, M.m Pelletier, A., Acel, A., Parat, M., Gosselin, M., Wu, C., Fortin, Y., Baardsnes, J., van Faassen, H., Awerey, S., McDonald, P.C., Dedhar, S., Lenferink, A.E.G. HDX-MS reveals three unique binding responses of mAbs directed to the catalytic domain of hCA-IX. mAbs, 1: 1997072.
Schrag, J.D., Picard, M., Gaudreault, F., Gagnon, L.P., Baardsnes, J., Manenda, M.S., Sheff, J., Deprez, C., Baptista, C., Hogues, H., Kelly, J.F., Purisima, E.O., Shi, R., Sulea, T. (2019) Binding symmetry and surface flexibility mediate antbody self-association. mAbs,11(7): 1300-1318.
