Our People

Meet our current team of researchers as well as alumni.

Research Professors

Research Staff

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Senior Research Associate
sharif.ahmed@northwestern.edu

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Jeffrey Blibo

Dr. Dingran Chang

Dr. Dingran Chang

Senior Research Associate
dingran.chang@northwestern.edu

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Dr. Hansen Wang

Research Associate
hansen.wang@utoronto.ca

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Sophie Xiao

Postdoctoral Fellows

Abdalla Abdrabou

Dr. Abdalla Abdrabou

Dr. Kangfu Chen

Dr. Kangfu Chen

Postdoctoral Fellow
kangfu.chen@northwestern.edu

Dr. Kangfu Chen

Dr. Devleena Das

Abdalla Abdrabou

Dr. Vuslat Juska

Abdalla Abdrabou

Dr. Daniel Wang

Hanie Yousefi

Dr. Ashan Wettasinghe

Hanie Yousefi

Dr. Kefan Yang

Postdoctoral Fellow
kefan.yang@northwestern.edu

Hanie Yousefi

Dr. Hanie Yousefi

Dr. Fan Xia

Dr. Hossein Zargartalebi

Graduate Students

Abdalla Abdrabou

Luis Fernando Ayala

Biomedical Engineering
luisayala2028@u.northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Piriththiv Dhavarasa

Abdalla Abdrabou

Jane Donnelly

Medical Scientist Training Program
jane.donnelly@northwestern.edu

Photo of Bill Duong

Fatemeh Esmaeili

Pharmaceutical Sciences
fatemeh.esmaeili@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Jonathan Fan

Connor Flynn

Connor Flynn

Abdalla Abdrabou

Armin Geraili

Gloria Hu

Gloria Hu

Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
gloria.hu@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Scott Isaacson

Abdalla Abdrabou

Yi Li

Biomedical Engineering
YiLi2027@u.northwestern.edu

Abby Lo

Abby Lo

Biomedical Engineering
pei-yinglo2026@u.northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Julia Mayes

Abdalla Abdrabou

Audrey Nasher

Abdalla Abdrabou

Kimberly Riordan

Abdalla Abdrabou

Daniel Szames

Pharmaceutical Sciences
daniel.szames@mail.utoronto.ca

Abdalla Abdrabou

Zhenwei Wu

Biomedical Engineering
zhenwei.wu@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Chenlin Zhao

Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
chenlin.zhao@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Lily Zhang

Pharmaceutical Sciences
yiyun.zhang@mail.utoronto.ca

Group Administration

Abdalla Abdrabou

Bob Christensen

Research Group Administrator – University of Toronto
bob.christensen@utoronto.ca

Abdalla Abdrabou

Cathleen Dettling

Senior Program Coordinator
cathleen.dettling@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Jessica Kooi

Alumni

Marya Ahmed

University of Toronto PDF 2016
Associate Professor, University of Prince Edward Island

Peter Aldridge

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2019
Senior Engineer Device Development, BlueRock Therapeutics

Justin Besant

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2015
Manager at ZS Associates

Xiao Bin

University of Toronto PDF 2010
Research Scientist, Lam Research Corporation

Ian Burgess

University of Toronto PDF 2014-2016
President, Validere

Jay Carreon

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Vassar College

Jenise Chen

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2021
Scientist, GenMark Diagnostics (Roche)

Amanda Clifford

University of Toronto PDF 2021
Assistant Professor, UBC Materials Engineering

Melissa Devlin

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Executive Director, CMC Lead & Strategy, Ring Therapeutics

Zhichao Fang

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2010
Associate Director, Bristol Myers Squibb

Sonali Fonseca

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2012
General Manager, Orthobiologicst, Aziyo Biologics

Rahela Gasparac

Boston College PDF 2006
Director, Drug Product Development & Manufacturing, Verastem Oncology

Surath Gomis

Biotech Founder, Director of R&D, ARMA Biosciences

Brenda Green

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2018
Research Fellow, FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology

Kristin Horton

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2010
Sr. Director, Oncology Early Development Asset Leader, Servier Pharmaceuticals

Ivaylo Ivanov

University of Toronto RA 2017
Scientist, Wrana Lab

Sae Rin (Rachael) Jean

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2017
Team Lead, Vital Bio

Arturo Jimenez-Sanchez

University of Toronto PDF 2017
Professor of Chemistry, Universidad Nacional Autonomy de Mexico (UNAM)

Leyla Kermanshah

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2017
Staff Engineer, Nicoya

Mahmoud Labib

Lecturer, Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth

Brian Lam

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2014
Director of Technology, Miru Smart Technologies

Eric Lei

University of Toronto PhD 2018
Scientist, National Research Council

Xingshu Li

University of Toronto PDF 2019
Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Ludovic Live

University of Toronto PDF 2013
Chief Executive Officer, Affinité Instruments

Nan Ma

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2009
Professor, Soochow University

Yuan Ma

University of Toronto PDF 2021
Associate Professor, Tsinghua University

Laili Mahmoudian

University of Toronto RA 2015
Nutritional Science Program, U. Ottawa

Alam Mahmud

Northwestern University P.h.D 2023
Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford

Kerry Mahon

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Senior Director Innovation, Valo

Sahar Mahshid

University of Toronto PDF 2018
Research Scientist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Adam Mepham

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2019
Software Engineer, Kaleidoscope

Carine Nemr

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2020
Assistant Professor, Harvey Mudd College

David Philpott

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2022
Analyst, Investment Banking, Bloom Burton

Terra Potocky

Boston College PDF 2007
Director, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Mahla Poudineh

University of Toronto PhD 2017
Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo

Erin Prestwich

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Assistant Professor, University of Toledo

Marcel Roberts

Boston College Ph.D. 2007
Assistant Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Marc Roy

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Senior Director, Design Therapeutics

Tina Saberi Safaei

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2017
VC Associate, Plaza Ventures

Tanja Sack

University of Toronto P.h.D 2023
Postdoctoral Scholar, Cerc Genomic Medicine

Andrew Sage

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2015
Assistant Scientist, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute

Julie Shi

University of Toronto PDF 2015
Associate Director, Bristol Myers Squibb

Sarah Smith

University of Toronto PDF 2018
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Bucknell University

Leyla Soleymani

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2010
Associate Professor, McMaster University

Kelly Stewart

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2010

Xuping Sun

University of Toronto PDF 2008
Professor of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Brad Taft

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Chief Scientific Officer, Phylagen

Grigory Tikhomirov

University of Toronto PDF 2010
Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley

David Tulumello

University of Toronto PDF 2012-2014
Head of Protein Biochemistry,
Sanofi Pasteur

Ying Wan

University of Toronto PDF 2013-2014
Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Guangli Wang

Visiting Faculty Member, 2016

Simon Wisnovsky

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2017
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia

Lisa Wittenhagen

Boston College Ph.D. 2006
Head of CE&O, Biogen

Fan Xia

Northwestern University PDF 2022
Senior Scientist, Molarray

Jun Yang

University of Toronto PDF 2007
Research Scientist, Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Singapore

Xiaolong Yang

Northwestern University PDF 2022
Director of Precision Oncology, Molarray

Wendi Zhou

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2018
Policy Analyst, Health Canada

Yige Zhou

University of Toronto PDF 2015
Professor, Hunan University

Learn More About Our Research

The projects underway involve aspects of diverse disciplines!

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