Jacob Fine
Operations Director
[+]Jacob is a PhD student in the Blencowe Lab at the Computational Biology in Molecular Genetics (CBMG) program in the University of Toronto, passionate about bioinformatics and RNA biology. His research involves the development and application of statistical and bioinformatic methods to process, integrate, and analyze large repositories of sequencing data to explore and characterize the cis-regulatory code.
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Emily Hashimoto-Roth
Communications Director
[+]Emily is a graduate student at the University of Toronto, pursuing a Ph.D. in Computational Biology and Molecular Genetics under the supervision of Dr. Hannes Röst. Her research aims to leverage mass spectrometry-based proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, and computational methods to better understand the onset and progression of gestational and type II diabetes mellitus. Beyond the lab, she is dedicated to fostering community and creating opportunities for early career researchers through her work with the Human Proteome Organization and Canadian National Proteomics Network.
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Ira Horecka
Data Management Co-Director
[+]Ira completed his BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2016. His current research is focused on discovering significant sets of genetic interactions between functional modules in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Once this phase is complete, his next goal is to use MS-based metabolomics to pinpoint the specific metabolites that drive these inter-functional module interactions. Outside of his research, Ira dedicates time to bicycle repair, bass fishing, and working on various computer programming projects.
Elia Afanasiev
Data Management Co-Director
[+]Elia is a graduate student at McGill University in the Stratton laboratory, where he works on investigating the role of ependymal cells in the context of neuroinflammation. He's highly interested in leveraging his computational skillset to be able to better answer questions about cell biology, and is passionate about establishing good practices for open, reproducible, and accessible research.
Owen Tsai
Media Director
[+]Owen is a graduate student at the University of Toronto, co-supervised by Dr. Hannes Röst and Dr. Ji-Young Youn. His current research is centred on applying quantitative proteomics and computational methods to study the dynamics and compopsitions of the biomolecular condensates, with a primary focus on stress granules.
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Hyunbeen (Jason) Lee
Outreach Director
[+]Hyunbeen (Jason) is a graduate student in the Blencowe Lab at the Department of Molecular Genetics in the University of Toronto. His research interests involve RNA secondary structure and single-cell RNA-seq analysis. He is highly interested in using computational skills and tools to represent and manipulate RNA secondary structures, as well as in understanding how these structures influence biological processes.
Ali Rasoulzadeh
Programs Co-Director
[+]Alireza (Ali) Rasoulzadeh is a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, working in the Roth Lab on genomic variant interpretation. His interests include applying ML principles to biological data to both model and help better understand biological phenomena. He is interested in combining statistical modelling, ML algorithms, and biochemical understanding to help guide experimental analyses.
Purav Gupta
Programs Co-Director
[+]Purav is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, pursuing Bioinformatics. He works in the RNAlab under the guidance of Dr. Artem Babaian. The lab’s focus lies in understanding the interplay between RNA elements and genetics by exploring the Earth’s RNA virome. His work aims to use bioinformatics algorithms and methods to probe Earth’s “Dark Virome” to discover and characterize novel viruses and viroid-like entities.