Former team members
Bioinformatics
Mansi Arora, Ph.D.
Bioinformatics consultant (MAY 2021-AUGUST 2021)
Mansi Arora is a Bioinformatics Consultant at the Genome Centre, under the supervision of Dr. Vincent Mooser. She obtained MSc in Experimental Medicine with a specialization in Bioinformatics at McGill University. She is a gold medalist in Bachelors of Technology (Hons), Bioinformatics from India. She is keen to use cutting edge approaches in human genetics to study complex diseases. She is interested to investigate roles of genetic variations through Genome Wide Association Studies, computational and statistical analyses of High Throughput Sequencing data, and development of algorithms and pipelines. → LinkedIn profile
Praveen Nadukkalam Ravindran, Ph.D.
Bioinformatics specialist (MARCH 2021-September 2022)
Praveen Nadukkalam Ravindran is a Bioinformatics Specialist at the McGill Genome Centre under the supervision of Daniel Taliun. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Dalhousie University, Canada. His Ph.D. research focused on algorithms and data structures for faster and efficient processing of next-generation DNA sequence data. He has also worked as a software engineer in the IT sector for almost 4 years. His interests include building efficient bioinformatics tools/algorithms, software optimization, graph theory and data science. → LinkedIn profile
Postdoctoral Fellows
Katerina Trajanoska, Ph.D.
Postoctoral fellow (February 2021-January 2024)
Katerina Trajanoska is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at McGill University under the supervision of Vincent Mooser. She obtained her Ph.D. in Genetic Epidemiology from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She is interested in understanding the genetic determinants of common, complex diseases and their implication in clinical practice. She is particularly interested in the interplay between monogenic and polygenic variations in complex diseases. Recently, she has expanded her interest towards the utility of human genetics to inform drug discovery. → LinkedIn profile
Students
PhD students
Yumi Dille, M.D.
PhD student - Human Genetics PROGRAM (September 2023-February 2024)
Yumi Dille MD is a doctoral student working under the direct supervision of Dr. Vincent Mooser at McGill University in the department of Human Genetics. She obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree at KU Leuven and is currently doing a combined PhD-Residency Program in Pediatrics. The aim of her project is to examine the genetic architecture of rare pediatric diseases incorporating rapid evolving functional genomic tools aiming towards an improvement of early disease onset diagnosis and the development of personalized medicine. She has a strong passion for patient engagement and is driven by enhancing the comprehension of the underpinnings of rare pediatric diseases and their treatment. → LinkedIn profile
Joon Hwan Hong
PhD student - Quantitative Life Sciences program (Rotation May-Aug 2023)
Joon Hwan Hong is a Ph.D. rotation student under Dr. Sirui Zhou in the department of Quantitative Life Sciences. He obtained his B.Sc. in Computer Science & Biology from McGill University, working on disease progression modelling of Alzheimer’s disease. His research interests lie in neuroinformatics and machine learning, and how it can be used to reveal multifaceted neurological changes compared to a normative population. His rotation project will focus on investigating the neurological manifestations of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 infection. → LinkedIn profile
Matthew Schinwald
PhD student - Quantitative Life Sciences program (October-December 2023)
Matthew Schinwald is a PhD rotation student under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Taliun at the McGill University Department of Quantitative Life Sciences. He obtained his M.Sc. in Epidemiology at the University of Guelph where he became familiar with machine learning and computational biology. He has worked at the Wisconsin Department of Public Health to develop surveillance systems for wastewater-based epidemiology. Currently, his research interests are in building computational algorithms and software tools to analyze clinical and genomic data. → LinkedIn profile
MSc students
Mohadese Sayahian Dekhordi
MSc Student - Human Genetics PROGRAM (September 2021-December 2023)
Mohadese Sayahian Dehkordi is a Human Genetics Master Student at McGill University. She received her B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from the University of Tehran in Iran. Her research interests lie in Artificial Intelligence, Massive Data Analysis, Statistical Models, and their intersection with Medical Data Analysis. She currently works on Genotype Imputation under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Taliun and Dr. Claude Bherer within the CERC team. → LinkedIn profile
Undergraduate trainees
Clare Wei
Undergraduate research trainee (MAY 2020-DeC 2020)
As a biomedical engineering undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, Clare Wei is fascinated by the intersection of technology and medicine. Over the duration of her post-secondary experience, she seeks to further develop both technical and professional skills, learning from the people she gets to work with. Her goal is to tackle current challenges in healthcare through the application of modern tools in an integrated/systems approach. Within the CERC program in Genomic Medicine, she worked under the supervision of Claude Bhérer. → LinkedIn profile.
Geneviève Gagnon
Undergraduate research trainee (MAY-AuG 2021, May-Aug 2022 & May-Aug 2023)
Genevieve Gagnon is a medical student at Laval University, in Quebec City. She also obtained her B.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences at this institution. By drawing on her research experience, her goal is to bridge the gap between genomics research and clinical practices in order to address current healthcare problems. Within the CERC program in Genomic Medicine, she works under the supervision of Claude Bhérer. → LinkedIn profile
Emmanouil Saitis
Undergraduate trainee (JULY 2023)
Emmanouil Saitis is an undergraduate student working under Dr. Delabays supervision. He is in the 3rd year of medical school at the University of Crete (Greece). He has an insatiable curiosity for the intricacies of genetics and bioinformatics and how they can improve health care.
Janice Tang
Undergraduate research trainee (MAY 2023-AUG 2023)
Janice Tang is an undergraduate student under the supervision of Dr. Sirui Zhou at McGill University in the department of Human Genetics. She is currently completing her B.MSc. at Western University, double majoring in Biochemistry and Pathology. She has experience in modifying gene expression in E. coli with CRISPR. Janice is interested in identifying biomarkers and drug targets using omics data, such as genomics and proteomics. → LinkedIn profile
Seyla Wickramasinghe
Undergraduate student trainee (maY-Aug 2023, FEB-APR 2024)
Seyla Wickramasinghe is an undergraduate student working under Dr. Daniel Taliun supervision. She is completing her B.Sc at McGill University, majoring in Computer Science and Biology. She is interested in the development of computational tools to investigate the genetic basis of disease, particularly cancer.
Natalie Abuelsamen
Undergraduate student trainee (mar-Aug 2023)
Natalie Abuelsamen is an undergraduate student pursuing her B.S.c degree at McGill University, specializing in Microbiology and Immunology. She is currently engaged in a collaborative research endeavor with Dr. Daniel Taliun, focusing on the development of innovative "Methods and Tools for Data Analyses in Genetic Association Studies". Throughout her academic tenure, Natalie has actively participated in intensive bioinformatics and computational genetics workshops, refining her proficiency in analyzing extensive biological datasets. → LinkedIn profile
Hongyu Xiao
Undergraduate student trainee (maY-Aug 2023)
Hongyu Xiao is an undergraduate student working under Dr. Daniel Taliun supervision. He is completing his B.Sc at McMaster University, majoring in Neuroscience. He is interested in developing computational tools and web-based servers to study human genomic variants in Quebec based on the BRAVO project. → LinkedIn profile
Graduate trainees
Abdul Waheed
Graduate Research Trainee (Sep 2022-Feb 2023)
After completing a M. Phil in Zoology at the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) in Pakistan, Abdul Waheed is now a Ph.D. student in the department of Biotechnology at UAJK. He is currently working under the supervision of Vincent Mooser and Daniel Taliun on the identification of genes involved in neurological and hair disorders in consanguineous families. His research interests are identification of novel genes and mutation responsible for autosomal recessive genetic disorder in humans in consanguineous families, analysis of WGS data and pharmacogenomics. → LinkedIn profile
Visiting scholar
Maryam Marzban, Ph.D.
Visiting scholar (DEC 2022-MAY 2023)
Maryam Marzban is an Associated professor of epidemiology in Bousher University of Medical Science (BUMS). She obtained her Ph.D in epidemiology from Shiraz University of Medical Science with over 10 years of work experience as a medical researcher and executive manager in several research centres along with her academic appointment as an Assistant Professor at BUMS. Her research has mainly focused on cancer and HIV/AIDS, geriatric disease, and artificial intelligence. Within the CERC team, her research focus on Pharmacogenetic and peripheral arterial disease. → LinkedIn profile