Nicolas Malagon

Assistant Professor of Biology

Research

https://youtu.be/deEPx-vL4Hg?si=PyMGJx6HW1S_WPxV

Areas of Teaching

Introductory Biology, Cell Biology, Genetics

Education

Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Toronto (2019); Post-doctoral Fellow, Yale University (2017); PhD, University of Toronto (2013); BSc Biology, National University of Colombia (2005)

Work in Detail

Teaching

BIOL 1020 - The Genetic Revolution

BIOL 1310 - Cells and Energy

BIOL 2100 - Genetics of Eukaryotes and Bacteria

BIOL 2300 - Cell Biology

BIOL 3400 - Developmental Biology

BIOL 3900 - Cancer Biology

Research

Recent News

I received a Mitacs Globalink award and am currently working for three months with a visiting student from the University of Birmingham.

We are finalizing two manuscripts for submission to MicroPublication Biology in Summer 2025. The data have been collected, and the papers are written; we are now completing final revisions:

• Hosseinimoghadam, M., Omer, H., Diello, A., Campbell, L., Pineda, P., Neufeld, D., Ingram, S., Rogalski, T., & Malagon, J.N. In preparation. Could subtle changes in apical cell area help maintain tissue homeostasis? MicroPublication Biology.
• Hosseinimoghadam, M., Neufeld, D., & Malagon, J.N. In preparation. Misregulation of rab11 disrupts sex comb tooth development without minor changes in comb degree of rotation. MicroPublication Biology.

Upcoming Conference Presentation

Our collaborative project on artificial intelligence and cell dynamics will be featured at BIOCOMP'25 – The 26th International Conference on Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, taking place July 21–24, 2025, in Las Vegas, NV.

Presentation Title:
Robust Unsupervised Classification of Drosophila Cell Dynamics Using DTW and Feature-Based Cluster Consensus
Authors: Rogalski, T., Campbell-Enns, L., Dyck, M., & Malagon, J.N.
Format: Research Talk (Accepted)

This project explores the use of dynamic time warping (DTW) and unsupervised clustering techniques to classify cell behavior in live imaging data. It represents an exciting intersection of computational biology, AI, and developmental cell biology.

 

Recent Publications

• Doucet, D.; Friesen, N.; Derksen, N.; Mulder, M.; Ingram, S.; Malagon, JN (2023). Homeotic transformation as a tool to study rapid diversification in Drosophila sex combs. microPublication Biology.
• Held, L, Jr. , Malagon JN, and Shin J. (2022). Cap 'n' collar helps EGFR to align t-rows. Drosophila Information Service. Vol 105, pp 25-32.
• Doerksen, A.; Mulder, M.; Ingram, S.; Nelson, D.; Defehr, J.; Reimer, E.; Atallah, J.; Malagon, JN (2022). Dynamics of changes in apical cell area during sex comb rotation in Drosophila melanogaster. microPublication Biology. doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.000668.
• Chernet, DY.; Klassen, L.; Goertzen, S.; Malagon, JN (2022). Live imaging and quantification of circulating potentially metastatic tumor cells in early pupal stage of Drosophila melanogaster. microPublication Biology. "https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.000588.
• Malagon JN & Larsen, E. (2020). Chapter four- Developmental Plasticity Induced by Either External or Internal Environment Co-opts Ancient Regulatory Networks. Guex, J., Torday, B., Miller Jr., William B. (Eds).  Morphogenesis, Environmental Stress and Reverse Evolution. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47279-5_6
• Malagon, J., Ho, E., Ahuja, A., Singh, R., Larsen, E. (2018). Rotation of sex comb in Drosophila melanogaster requires precise and coordinated spatio-temporal dynamics from forces generated by epithelial cells. PLOS Computational Biology. Vol. 14 no. 10 pp. e1006455
  
  Discussed in the Node: http://thenode.biologists.com/sex-combs-in-motion-using-computer-simulations-and-mathematical-modeling-to-study-the-evolution-of-morphogenesis/research/
• Malagon, J., Ahuja, A., Sivapatham, G., Hung, J., Lee, J., Muñoz, S., Atallah, J., Singh, R., and Larsen, E. (2014). Evolution of Drosophila sex comb length illustrates the inextricable interplay between selection and variation. PNAS. September 30, vol. 111 no. 39, pp. E4103–E4109 

Summary in PNAS: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/39/14011

• Ma, X., Lu, J., Dong, Y., Li Daming., Malagon, J. & Xu, T. (2017). PP6 Disruption Synergizes with Oncogenic Ras to Promote JNK- dependent Tumor Growth and Invasion. Cell Reports. Vol. 19, pp. 2657–2664.
• Malagon, J. & Larsen, E. (2015). Chapter Four–Heredity and Self-Organization: Partners in the Generation and Evolution of Phenotypes. International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology. vol. 315, pp.153–181
• Malagon, J. & Larsen, E. (2016). E. Signs of complexity in epithelial morphogenesis. Acta Biológica Colombiana. vol. 21, no. 3, pp.495-500    
• Malagon, J. & Waleed, K. (2016). Evolution of allometric changes in fruit fly legs: a developmentally entrenched story. Acta Biológica Colombiana. vol.21 no. 3, pp.509-519
• Malagon, J. (2006). In pursuit of evolutionary variation laws: Scale-free Networks. Acta Biológica Colombiana. vol. 11 no. 1
• Betancourt, A., Maldonado, A., Maldonado, R., A., Camargo, A., Guzman, A., Annicchiarico, I., Arroyave, J., Malagon, J., Pardo L., Perez H., Ruiz A., Eljach, L., Camacho, M. (2002). Image Inversion Effect on Faces. Acta Biológica Colombiana. vol.7 no. 2 

Publications as supervisor of undergraduate research projects

• Benthem, N. Van & Malagon, J N. Conservation, Climate Change, and Interdisciplinary Collaborations. Can. J. Undergrad. Res. 7, 31–37 (2023). https://cjur.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CJUR_7-3_Benthem_Malagon.pdf

This article was the cover of this journal edition: https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/cjur/article/view/195512

• Waleed, K. & Malagon, J. (2016). Evolution of allometric changes in fruit fly legs: a developmentally entrenched story. Acta Biológica Colombiana.vol.21no. 3, pp. 509-519
• Kahn, T., Zhang, L., Malagon, J. (2013). Sex comb rotation in Drosophila melanogaster: changes in tissue length and cell extrusion. Journal of Undergraduate Life Science. vol. 7, pp. 20-26

• Long, Y., Zhang, L., Malagon, J. (2013). Changes in apical cell area and shape during sex comb rotation in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Undergraduate Life Science. vol. 7, pp. 26-35
• Wang, M., Tan, J., Malagon, J. (2012). Cellular dynamics involved in the narrowing of the first tarsal segment of the first leg of Drosophila melanogaster females used as a control for male sex comb rearrangements. Journal of Undergraduate Life Science. vol. 6, pp. 42-46
• Lee, J., Malagon J., & Larsen, E. (2011). The Case of Fly Sex Combs: Using a Model Organism to Infer Mechanisms of Morphological Evolution. Journal of Undergraduate Life Science. vol. 5, pp. 28-31

Applied

What are you currently researching and working on?
My research program investigates the process by which organisms grow and develop and explore its implications for cancer progression.

In particular, I am interested in understanding the relationship between physics and biology. To do so, I analyze cell movement during morphogenesis using microscopy techniques and computational tools.

https://juannicolasmalagon.com/

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