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 and board-certified molecular geneticist at the forefront of precision medicine. As holder of the Canada Research Chair in Translational Genomics, he uses genome sequencing to understand causes of cancer, guide treatment of patients, and detect early disease using blood tests. He is appointed as Professor in the University of Toronto Department of Medical Biophysics, Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Senior Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He directs the OICR Genomics Program and the Princess Margaret Genomics Centre, genomics cores that specialize in single cell, cell-free DNA and clinically-accredited whole genome sequencing. He has contributed to multiple large-scale genomics and data-sharing programs including The Cancer Genome Atlas, NCI TARGET, AACR GENIE, and the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network. He leads the CHARM Consortium, an initiative to use cell-free DNA monitoring for all people with an inherited predisposition to cancer. Recently, Dr. Pugh was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists.
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
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
Kui Chen – Research Technician
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
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
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 – Bioinformatician
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
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
David Scott – Myeloma Program Manager
Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland
Education: PhD in translational cancer biology from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Scientific Interests: drug repurposing, integrative -omits
Outside Interests: Baseball, true crime
Lisa-Monique Edward – Bioinformatician
Hometown: Gros Islet, Saint Lucia
Education: Honors Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) in Computational Biochemistry (University of Western Ontario)
Scientific Interests: Translational medicine, precision medicine, [pediatric] cancer genomics, multi-omics studies
Outside Interests: solo travel, event planning, visual art (painting, drawing, graphic design), cooking
Johncy Cheriyan – Research Technician
Hometown: Kerala, India
Education: BSc major in Biochemistry, and Masters in Forensic Science focus in Molecular Biology
Scientific Interests: Reproductive Genomics, Cancer Genomics, cfDNA, Next Generation Sequencing
Outside Interests: Cooking, Reading, Hiking
Erik Ensminger – Bioinformatician
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, M.Sc. in Medical Biophysics (University of Toronto, Toronto, ON)
Scientific interests: Cell-free DNA, Early cancer detection, Machine Learning
Outside interests: Cycling, Basketball, Travelling
Post Doctoral Fellows
Shirin Soleimani
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), PhD in Medical Biophysics (University of Toronto, Toronto, ON)
Scientific Interests: Immunogenomics, TCR Sequencing, ctDNA, Single Cell Transcriptomics
Outside interest: Literature, Discovering new music
Graduate Students
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
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 – PhD 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
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
Yanan Wang – PhD Candidate
Hometown: Zhejiang, China
Education: Bachelor of Biomedical Informatics, Zhejiang University
Scientific interests: Cancer Biology, Cell-Free DNA, Liquid Biopsy
Outside interests: Cycling, Anime, Reading
Tobi Agbede – PhD Candidate
Hometown: Brampton, ON
Education: BSc. in Biomedical Science (York University), MSc. in Biology (York University)
Scientific interests: Cancer genomics, cell free DNA, Bioinformatics, Machine Learning
Outside interests: Travelling, Movies, Reading, Fitness and Working out
Khadijah Alshankati – PhD Candidate
Alumni
Dheeraj Gavini – Associate Software Developer
Shamini Ayyadhury– Post Doctoral Fellow
Current Position: Founder, CEO of Panoramics
Ryan Tian – Bioinformatic Analyst
Current Position: Senior Bioinformatic Analyst – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Arash Nabbi – Scientjfic Associate
Current Position: Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca
Rasneet Jaura – Research Technician
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