Principal Investigators
Staff
Stephen Chung
Lab Manager
Julie Owens
Administrative Assistant
Anthony Joshua
MBBS, PhD
Affiliate Scientist
Stefano Marastoni
PhD
Scientific Associate
Stefano is a member of the Wouters and Joshua labs. He completed his PhD in Clinical Sciences in Italy and is currently a Scientific Associate.
Stefano’s research is focused on drug repurposing, drug development and targeting of lysosomal biology in cancer.
Lucie Malbeteau
PhD
Scientific Associate
Lucie is a member of the Koritzinsky lab. She completed her PhD at the Université of Lyon, in France and is currently a Scientific Associate.
Lucie’s project investigates whether disrupting redox homeostasis drives the activation of innate immunity signaling in pancreatic cancer and can be fully harnessed in combination with radio- and immune-therapy. She has a particular interest in one anti-oxidant protein, PRDX4.
Rob Cairns
PhD
Scientific Associate
Rob is a member of the Wouters lab. He completed his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and is currently a Scientific Associate.
Rob has long standing interest in the tumor microenvironment and tumor metabolism, with a focus on the role of oxygen. His work has focused on the effects of the tumor microenvironment on metabolism and on identifying opportunities to manipulate the tumor microenvironment to achieve improved clinical outcomes.
Ronal Wu
PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ron is a member of the Wouters lab. He completed his PhD in the department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow.
Jasmine Randhawa
MSc
Research Technician II
Jasmine is a member of the Koritzinsky lab. She completed her Masters at McGill University and is currently a Research Technician.
During her graduate degree, Jasmine’s research was focused on female reproductive physiology. Specifically, she conducted her research on mice models to explore the role of Cnr1 receptor in ovarian granulosa cells. As a technician, she now plays a key role in supporting all in vivo work ongoing in the lab.
Matthew Horn
MSc
Research Technician II
Matthew is a member of the Koritzinsky lab. He completed his Masters at the University of Guelph and is currently a Research Technician.
Graduate Students
Ji Zhang
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Ji is supervised by Dr. Wouters. He completed his undergraduate degree in Human Biology from the University of Toronto. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
The genetic drivers determining an individual tumour’s hypoxia level is currently unknown. Ji’s research is focused on using a matching panel of primary PDAC, patient-derived-xenografts, and organoids, to create a predictive model of tumour hypoxia consisting of the genes/pathways driving cellular oxygen consumption rate, hypoxia tolerance, and perfusion
Saeid Shahidi
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Saeid is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his Masters degree from Simon Frasier University. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Saeid is focused on studying the potential role of the Mitochondria-Associated Membrane (MAM) in the secretome profile of glioblastoma cells
Emily Poulton
PhD Candidate
Graduate Student
Emily is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She completed her undergraduate degree in Human Biology at the University of Toronto. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
Emily is focused on understanding the role of redox homeostasis and antioxidants within the context of pancreatic cancer.
Vishal Pandya
MSc Student
Graduate Student
Vishal is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from McMaster University. He is currently a Master’s student in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Vishal’s project involves understanding if/how metabolic stress can initiate anti-tumour immune responses in pancreatic cancer.
Phoebe Lombard
MSc Student
Graduate Student
Phoebe is supervised by Dr. Wouters. She completed her undergraduate degree in physiology from McGill University. She is currently a Masters student in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.
Phoebe is studying the spatial organization of transcriptional states in glioblastoma.
Favian Retnavarathan
MSc Student
Graduate Student
Favian is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Toronto.
Favian’s project looks at the role nutrients and metabolites play in disulfide bond formation under hypoxic conditions. He is looking at whether nutrients or metabolites play a role in being the terminal oxidant to drive protein folding in the absence of molecular oxygen.
Norman Fu
MSc Student
Graduate Student
Norman is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. He completed his undergraduate degree in Pharmacology from University of Toronto. He is currently a Master’s student in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Norman’s project is focused on high-throughput screening to develop a small molecule inhibitor of peroxoredoxin 4 (PRDX4).
Rosemund Ragetli
MSc Student
Graduate Student
Rosemund is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She completed her undergraduate degree in biochemistry with a minor in music from the University of Ottawa. She is currently a Masters student in the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Rosemund’s research is focused on understanding mechanism by which disulfide bonds are formed under hypoxia. Disulfide bonds are required for the stability of most secreted proteins, and given the significant relevance of hypoxia in both pathological and physiological contexts, it would be beneficial to our fundamental understanding to gain a deeper insight into how these bonds are formed in the absence of oxygen.
Undergraduate Students & Volunteers
Habiba Ali
4th Year Thesis Student
Undergraduate Student
Habiba is supervised by Dr. Koritzinsky. She is currently in her 4th year at the University of Toronto.
Habiba is working with graduate student Emily, to further our understanding of the effects of redox disruption in pancreatic cancer cells.
Lab Alumni
Koritzinsky Lab
Undergraduate Education
Ayeisha Desjardins, Summer student
Isabel Hodora, Co-op student
David (Ziyi) Yang, Thesis student
Helia Mohammadi, Thesis student
Jessica Cui, Summer Student
Jenny Liao
Eleni Giannopoulos
Erin Lloyd
Parth Vora
Steven De Michino, Co-op student
Michael Xie
Chantal van Heugten
Wenqiao Jia
Pranathi Ari
Eric Yung
Brandon Sit
Paul Zamiara
Melanie Kalbfleisch
Diana Sun, undergraduate MD
Hala Muaddi, undergraduate MD
MSc Graduates
Serina Cheung
Stephanie Hulme
Christine Strelchuk
Marmendia Meester
Erik Mollen
Amy Wong
Manlio Fusciello
Sanjana Chowdury
Selim Chaib
Susan Hilgendorf
Ryan Rumantir
Vanessa Zannella
Anne van Brussel
Yvette Paulis
PhD Graduates
Sandy Lee
Lianne Jacobs, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Nila Wu
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Pallavi Jain
Michael Cohen
Man Tek Yeung
Fiana Levitin
Mei Ding
Technicians
Alina Jaglanian,
Fatima Jessa
Hui Fang
Piriththiv Dhavarasa
Wouters Lab
Undergraduate Education
Nicolle Rapallo
Harkamal Samra
Patrick Policicchio
Samantha Brazier
Jessie Anne Brazier
Mark Zaidi
Matthew Goldstein
Elisabeth Liedtke
Sarah Elizabeth Tsimerman
Prathiba Thape
Cameron Irani
Lisa Tsimerman
Sarah Ryan
Asm Borham
Andy Seo
Jae Boem Ahn
Hilary Stone
Brandon Sit
Paul Zamiara
Melanie Kalbfleish
Marian Zulueta
MSc Graduates
Pedro Boasquevisque
Ryan Rumantir
PhD Graduates
Mark Zaidi
Ronald Wu
Elizabeth Koch
Dan Cojocari
Hilda Mujcic
Chantal Ramaekers
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Maria Kondratyev
Elizabeth Koch
Sergio Rey
Luana Schito
Sujeeve Jegananthan
Anthony Joshua
Twan van den Beucken
Sue Li
Yi Wang
Javier Menendez
Fahima Khan
Wissam Assaily
Technicians/Scientific Associates
Aleksandra Pesic
Ravi Vellanki, Scientific Associate
Laura Capporicio
Christine Crossman
Zvi Shalev
Kitty Ki
Sri Nair
Zhen Li
Sheng Xue
Natalia Sanina
Mahbuba Meem
Lifang Song
Junyan Zang
Quinquan Li, Scientific Associate
Kenneth Chu, Scientific Associate