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 registration 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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Sara Pour
Outreach Director
[+]Sara is a Ph.D. student in Computational Biology at the University of Toronto in the lab of Dr. Timothy Hughes. Her research focuses on better understanding the sequence elements that govern the definition and processing of human gene 3' ends, with the aim of advancing our understanding of gene expression and regulation
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Purav Gupta
Programs 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.
Izumi Ando
Communications Director
[+]Izumi is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying bioinformatics and computer science. She is currently completing her thesis on single-cell foundation models in the Campbell Lab while also leading the Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Student Association. In the field her main interests lie in harnessing machine learning to make drug development faster and cheaper.
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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.
Arvin Khoshboresh
Media Director
[+]Arvin is a Ph.D. student in the Gillis Lab at the University of Toronto, where he develops computational methods for analyzing spatial transcriptomics data. His research focuses on spatial integration techniques while preserving biologically meaningful variation. He is interested in statistical approaches to high-dimensional data, better registrations of machine learning techniques, and translating abstract computation methods into meaningful biological discoveries.
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Past Volunteers
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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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 registering 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 registering 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.