Contributors

Contributors Winter 2022

S. Hussain Ather

is a first year PhD student working under John Griffiths at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). He uses and develops computational modeling techniques to investigate the brain connectivity structures underlying neuropsychiatric disorders. He also likes cosplaying.

Dorsa Derakhshan

is a MSc student at IMS investigating the cognitive effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment resistant depression under the supervision of Dr. Peter Giacobbe. She enjoys photography, painting, and working on creative projects in her leisure time.

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Shu’ayb Simmons

(they/them) is a first year MSc candidate working with Dr. Tripathy at the CAMH Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics. Their research pertains to the biological crux of disparity, aiming to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of racial disparity in neuropsychiatric illnesses - using bulk RNAseq data. Shu‘ayb enjoys social activism, lyricism, and fashion in their free time.

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Junayd Hussain

is a first year MSc candidate at University of Ottawa’s School of Epidemiology and Public Health. His research interests lie in clinical epidemiology and health services research, specifically looking at new ways to employ large administrative databases and patient-reported outcomes to improve clinical management of chronic kidney disease. When not aggressively coding and cleaning datasets, Junayd is an avid runner, reader, and smartphone photographer.

junayd_h27 junayd_h27, shots_by_jh Vritika Batura is a third year PhD student with Dr. Aleixo Muise at Sickkids Hospital. She is investigating the role of genetic aetiologies and targeting the associated signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She is using patient samples, including patient derived organoids, to understand the mechanism involved in the onset of patient IBD. Apart from research, she loves traveling with the incentive to explore new places, culture and food!

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Nayaab Punjani

is a second year MSc student at IMS working with Dr. Michael G. Fehlings. Her research is examining a preclinical drug treatment that aims to provide a multifaceted approach targeting neural regeneration and inflammation following cervical spinal cord injury. She enjoys watching action and mystery genre movies and TV shows, and loves sketching in her free time.

Stacey J Butler

is a third year PhD student at IMS, specializing in respiratory medicine and epidemiology, under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Gershon. Outside of academia, Stacey enjoys creative activities, board games and cooking hearty vegetarian meals.

Iciar Iturmendi

Sabater is a first year PhD student working with Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. Her research focuses on understanding how people with autism spectrum disorder cover-up or mask their social and communication differences, a process known as ‘camouflaging’. Iciar enjoys traveling, meeting new people, and spending time with family and friends.

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Vaidhehi (Veena) Sanmugananthan

is a second year MSc student under the supervision of Dr. Karen Davis at the Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital. Her research focuses on examining pain and attention interactions in people that suffer chronic pain. Outside of the lab, Veena loves to run, play squash, sketch, and challenge herself to learn new art mediums!

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Bahar Golbon is a first year MSc student investigating the diagnostic study and surgical management of primary hyperparathyroid patients under the supervision of Dr. Jesse Pasternak. In her free time, you can find Bahar struggling to complete her millionth puzzle, and drinking coffee!

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Carmen Li is a second year MSc student under the co-supervision of Dr. Thomas Eiwegger and Dr. Theo Moraes at SickKids Hospital. Her work focuses on utilizing flow and mass cytometry to understand the immunological mechanisms of oral immunotherapy in food allergic children undergoing treatment. In her spare time, you can catch her baking or reading in a coffee shop. Kyla Trkulja is a first year MSc student at IMS studying under the supervision of Dr. Armand Keating, Dr. John Kuruvilla, and Dr. Robert Laister at Princess Margaret Hospital. Her work focuses on novel cancer therapies for lymphoma. Outside of academia, Kyla enjoys reading, writing, road trips, and going for walks in nature

Rehnuma Islam

is a PhD student at IMS under the supervision of Dr. Cindi Morshead. She explores the role of neural stem cells in promoting recovery after stroke. Her favorite pastimes involve painting, piano, or a good read.

Sumiha

Karunagaran is a first year MSc student at the Latner Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratories. Under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Juvet, she is investigating the role of B cells in lung transplant rejection using mouse models. On weekends, you can find Sumi working as a barista at Balzac’s on Market Street. Is there a better match than grad student + coffee?

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Madhumitha (Madhu)

Rabindranath is a first year MSc student at IMS who is supervised by Dr. Mamatha Bhat. Her research focuses on leveraging AI to non-invasively diagnose liver graft fibrosis in post-transplant patients. Outside the lab, Madhu likes reading a good book and exploring the city.

Social Media Team

Sandy Che-

Eun Lee is a fifth year PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Marianne Koritzinsky at the Princess Margaret Cancer Research Center. Her research focuses on characterizing a novel oxygen sensitive enzyme in the hypoxic tumour microenvironment. Outside of the lab, Sandy enjoys running and exploring new activities like rock climbing!

2T2 IMS Design Team

The 2T2 IMS Design Team is a group of second year MSc students in the Biomedical Communications (BMC) program. Turning scientific research into compelling visualizations is their shared passion, and they are thrilled to contribute to the IMS Magazine.

Amy Assabgui

amya_visuals amyassabgui.com

Mimi Guo

mimi.guo.art mimiguoart.com

Amy Zhang

(Director) amykzhang.com

Abeeshan Selvabaskaran Sherry An

sher.i.an

Michie Wu

michiewu michiewu.com