Trevor Pugh, PhD, FACMG – Principal Investigator
Canada Research Chair in Translational Genomics
Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Director, Genomics and Senior Investigator, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Professor, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Scientific Interests: Clinical implementation of genome technologies
Outside Interests: Aviation, travel, gardening, board games, basketball, camping
Dr. Trevor Pugh, PhD, FACMG is a cancer genomics researcher, board-certified molecular geneticist, and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Translational Genomics. His research program is focused on understanding clinical implications of clonal shifts in cancer and non-cancerous cell populations during treatment, most recently using cell-free DNA, immune repertoire, and single cell RNA-seq sequencing. He is appointed as Professor in the University of Toronto Department of Medical Biophysics, Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Director of Genomics and Senior Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He has contributed to multiple large-scale genomics and data-sharing programs including AACR GENIE and the Terry Fox Canadian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Network. Most recently, he was awarded a Terry Fox New Investigator Award and a StandUp2Cancer Phillip A. Sharp Innovation in Collaboration Award.
Previously, as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Matthew Meyerson at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Dr. Pugh led landmark cancer genome studies describing three pediatric solid tumours: medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, and pleuropulmonary blastoma. During this time, he also completed a clinical laboratory fellowship in the Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program with Dr. Heidi Rehm. Originally from Vancouver, Dr. Pugh received a PhD in Medical Genetics from the University of British Columbia mentored by Dr. Marco Marra at the BC Cancer Agency.
Staff
Caitlin Smith – Administrative Assistant
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Education: BA English Literature; MA Medieval Studies
Scientific Interests: Cancer research, climate change, Alzheimer’s/Dementia treatment/prevention
Outside Interests: TV/movies/documentaries, cross stitch, reading, hiking and travel
Steph Pedersen – Lab Manager
Hometown: Mount Albert, ON
Education: BSc major in Molecular Biology and Genetics, minor in Zoology (University of Guelph) and MSc. in Quantitative Genetics, Department of Integrative Biology (University of Guelph)
Scientific Interests: Genomic technologies, wet-lab techniques, lab organization and efficiency
Outside Interests: Live music, Interacting with animals, Video games, Reading, Being in nature
Jeff Bruce – Scientific Associate
Hometown: Parkhill, ON
Education: BMSc. in Pharmacology and Toxicology (University of Western Ontario), PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology, Department of Medical Biophysics (University of Toronto)
Scientific Interests: cancer genomics, head and neck cancer, ovarian cancer, metagenomics, clinical genomics, biomarkers
Outside Interests: playing and listening to music, TV, cooking/baking, woodworking, hockey
Julia Sobotka – Research Genetic Counsellor & Program Manager
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Education: BSc Genetics (Western) MSc Molecular Genetics (UofT), MSc Genetic Counselling (UofT)
Scientific Interests: Understanding the care experiences of patients with hereditary cancer syndromes
Outside Interests: Cooking, baking, thrifting
(Jag) Prasanna K Jagannathan – cBioPortal and CTIMS Site Lead
Location: Toronto, ON
Education: M.S Computer Science (Ohio State University)
Technical Interests: Cloud software, Big Data, Data Pipelines, Websites, Marketing, Genomic technologies, Drug discovery, Clinical Trials
Outside Interests: Table Tennis, Nature, Comedy shows, Travelling, Beaches
Arnavaz Danesh – Bioinformatician
Hometown: Tehran, Iran
Education: B.Sc in Mathematics and Physics, M.Sc in Physics
Scientific interests: Cancer genomics, data mining, statistical methods, mathematics, physics and philosophy
Outside interests: Music (classical mostly), traveling, running
Arash Nabbi – Scientific Associate I
Hometown: Tehran, Iran
Education: PharmD (Azad University of Tehran, Iran), PhD in Medical Science, specialization cancer biology (University of Calgary, AB)
Scientific Interests: Novel targets of cancer immunotherapy, Predictive biomarkers, Pediatric solid tumors, Tumor microenvironment
Outside Interests: Running, Hiking, Music, Traveling, Coffee, Writing
Kui Chen – Research Technician II
Hometown: Xi’an, China
Education: Ph.D in Marine Biology (Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS), M.Sc in Marine Biology (Ocean University of China, OUC)
Scientific Interests: Cancer genomics, Cancer stem cell, Oncogene function, Antidiabetic drug R&D, Endocytosis and Exocytosis
Outside Interests: Traveling, Cooking, Graphic designing, Table tennis
Suluxan Mohanraj – Technical Analyst II
Hometown: Brampton, ON
Education: B.Sc. in Biological Sciences (University of Guelph, ON), Postgraduate Certificate in Bioinformatics (Seneca College, ON)
Scientific Interests: cancer genomics, bioinformatics tool development, single-cell transcriptomics, copy number variation
Outside Interests: Soccer, Building cars, Video games, Finding new hip-hop artists
Marian Tang – Technical Analyst I
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Education: B.Sc. major in Biology, minor in Chemistry (Ryerson University, ON), Postgraduate Certificate in Bioinformatics (Seneca College, ON)
Scientific Interests: Computational biology, Data sharing, Clinical curation, Cancer genomics
Outside Interests: Traveling, Running, HIIT workouts, Yoga
Stephenie Prokopec – Bioinformatics Analyst
Hometown: Collingwood, ON
Education: BSc. Double major in Human Biology (Genetics) and Biomedical Toxicology (University of Toronto)
Scientific Interests: Cancer biology, genomics, transcriptomics, cancer immunogenomics
Outside Interests: baking, reading/movies (fantasy/sci-fi/horror), boardgames
Jenna Eagles – Research Technician II
Hometown: Peterborough, ON
Education: Biotechnology-Advanced Diploma (Fleming College)
Scientific Interests: Cancer research, genomics, wet-lab techniques
Outside Interests: Pottery, outdoor activities, reading, travel
Jose Urbina Najera – Associate Technical Analyst
Hometown: Cartagena, Colombia
Education: Bachelor in Systems Engineering (Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Cartagena, Colombia), Diploma in Computer Programming (Seneca College, ON)
Scientific Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing
Outside Interests: Video games, Music (especially metal), Movies, TV
Dheeraj Gavini – Associate Software Developer
Hometown: Visakhapatnam, India
Education: Master of Applied Computing, University of Windsor
Scientific Interests: AI, Data Science, Cloud Computing
Outside Interests: Cricket, Video Games
David Scott – Myeloma Program Manager
Post Doctoral Fellows
Shamini Ayyadhury
Hometown: Singapore
Education: McGill University (PhD), Imperial College (MsC), National University of Singapore (BSc)
Scientific Interests: Artificial Intelligence, Computer vision, Imaging, Spatial Technology analysis and development, Single cell analysis
Outside interest: Artist (Sketch artist, digital artist, AI-Generative artist), Music collector, Director of PANORAMICS – A Vision (a pan Canadian Spatial and Single Cell Working Group).
Previously: President of Toastmasters Club, Chair of Education and Research Subcommittee for Brain Cancer Canada.
Eric Zhao – Clinical Fellow
Graduate Students
Shirin Soleimani – PhD Candidate
Hometown: Tehran, Iran
Education: B.Sc in Biomedical Engineering (Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran), M.Sc in Biomedical Engineering (University of Calgary, Calgary, AB)
Scientific Interests: Immunogenomics, TCR Sequencing, ctDNA, Single Cell Transcriptomics
Outside Interests: Literature, Discovering new music
Dory Abelman – PhD Candidate
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Education: Honors Bachelor of Health Science (HBHSc), Honors Specialization in Health Sciences with Biology, Western University Canada, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Health Studies.
Scientific Interests: Predicting and Preventing Cancer
Outside Interests: Painting, Hiking, Languages and Travelling
Ryan Tian – MSc Candidate
Yi Yue “January” Jiang – PhD Candidate
Hometown: Suzhou, China
Education: Honors Bachelor of Science in Immunology and Genome Biology, University of Toronto
Scientific Interests: Immunology, pediatric cancer, genomics, transcriptomics, cell-free DNA
Outside interest: Drawing, graphic design, piano, yoga, kayaking
Bianca Oricchio Kirsh – MSc Candidate
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Education: Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC)
Scientific interests: Clinical cancer genomics, biomarker discovery, precision medicine, liquid biopsies
Outside interests: Triathlon, hiking, travelling, cooking
Erik Ensminger – MSc Candidate
Hometown: Toronto, ON
Education: Honours Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Specialist in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology with a Major in Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Toronto
Scientific interests: Cell-free DNA, Early cancer detection, Machine Learning
Outside interests: Cycling, Basketball, Travelling
Maha Mohamed Tageldein – PhD Candidate
Hometown: Khartoum, Sudan
Education: BSc major in Neuroscience (University of Toronto Mississauga); MSc in Medical Biophysics (University of Toronto)
Scientific interests: Genome technologies and cancer biology
Outside interests: Languages, yoga, travel, baking
Alumni
Ming Han – Bioinformatics Analyst
Current Position: Bioinformatician in the Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Mount Sinai Hospital
Ping Luo – Post Doctoral fellow
Current Position: Bioinformatics Specialist, UHN
Cameron Kerr – Undergraduate Researcher
Derek Wong – Post Doctoral fellow
Current Position: Clinical Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellow (ACMG) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Cindy Yang – PhD Student
Current Position: Clinical Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellow (ACMG) at Stanford University
Danielle Croucher – PhD Student
Current Position: Scientific Director, Artera.ai
Petr Smirnov – PhD Student
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, DKFZ
Mazdak Bagherie-Lachidan – Post Doctoral fellow
Current Position: Founder, CIEL Homes and Condos
Prabh Basra – Research Technician I
Current Position: Research Associate I, UHN
Jacob Brick – Research Technician I
Current Position: Yex Inc
Precious Uju – Clinical Research Coordinator
Javier Díaz-Mejía – Scientific Associate
Current Position: Head of Data Science at Phenomic AI
Leslie Oldfield – Project Manager
Current Position: Medical Student
Clarissa Chan – Clinical Research Coordinator
Laura Richards – PhD student
Current Position: Scientist, Celsius Therapeutics
Samah El Ghamrasni – Post Doctoral fellow
Current Position: Scientific Associate II, UHN
Rene Quevedo – PhD Student
Current Position: Senior Bioinformatic Scientist, UHN
Rachel Kim – Post Doctoral Fellow
Current Position: Gyne Oncology Fellow, UHN
Rachel Bell – Bioinformatics Analyst
Sumedha Sudhaman – Post Doctoral fellow
Nadia Znassi – Post Doctoral fellow
Johanna Regala – Research Technician I
Current Position: Research Technician II, Epigenetics services at PMCG
Beatrice Luu – Research Coordinator
Mandy Xu
Minling Chen – Research Technician II
Kelsey Zhu – Software Architec
Current Position: Senior Bioinformatics Programmer at NYU School of Medicine
Signy Chow, MD, FRCP(C) – Clinical Fellow
Ting Ting (Nina) Wang – MSc Student
Tiantian Li – Research Associate
Beatrice Omweri – MSc Rotation student (Kenyatta University, Kenya)
Jila Dastan – Postdoctoral Fellow
Youstina Hanna – Research Technician
Stuart Watt – Scientific Research Associate
Iulia Cirlan – Research Technical Assistant
Mark Dowar – Research Technician II
Chidi Nwaka – Technical Analyst (Junior Software Developer)
Olena Kis – Postdoctoral Fellow
David Mulder – Postdoctoral Fellow
Soroush Samadian – Postdoctoral Fellow
Harold Hodgins – Co-op student
Emily Hutchings – MBP Summer Scholar
Jessica Liu – Summer Student
Joseph Song – Co-op Student
Mark Mansour – MBP Summer Scholar
Maya Schonbach – Co-op Student
Michael Li – Co-op Student