Page 7 - Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre Annual Report 2022 to 2023

TIGATORS
LABORATORY PERSONNEL
Zoya Aamir, Graduate Student
Yuan Chang, Graduate Student
Ayse Bahar Ercan, Graduate Student
Nicholas Fernandez, Graduate Student
Jacalyn Kelly, Graduate Student
Vienna Mazzoli, Graduate Student
Logine Negm, Graduate Student
Benjamin Laxer, Research Student
Brian Chung, Postdoctoral Fellow
Anirban Das, Clinical Postdoctoral Fellow
Victoria Forster, Postdoctoral Fellow
Reza Mokhtari, Postdoctoral Fellow
Liana Figueiredo Nobre, Clinical Postdoctoral Fellow
Nuno Miguel Nunes, Postdoctoral Fellow
Santiago Sanchez-Ramirez, Postdoctoral Fellow
Melyssa Aronson, Genetic Counsellor
Julie Bennett, Staff Physician
Vanessa Bianchi, Program Manager
Owen Crump, Research Technologist
Sheradan Doherty, Clinical Research Project Coordinator
Melissa Edwards, Clinical Research Project Manager Melissa Galati, Clinical Research Project Assistant Emma Gatoni, Research Technologist
Martin Komosa, Research Project Coordinator
Olha Kos, Research Technologist
Rodney Lyn, Research Project Coordinator Lucie Stengs, Research Technologist Sumedha Sudhaman, Bioinformatician Susie Wang, Research Technologist
Cindy Zhang, Research Project Manager
Dr. Uri Tabori
Senior Scientist, Principal Investigator
Dr. Tabori’s group investigates the genetic mechanisms that control tumour progression and survival and his program has three areas of research: 1) Telomere maintenance in cancer. Since telomeres and telomerase control the ability of cancers to recur, the Tabori lab has been studying how inhibiting this pathway can exhaust the ability of cancer cells to regrow causing relapse. 2) Dr. Tabori is studying factors which contribute to aggressiveness
and spontaneous growth arrest of paediatric low-grade astrocytomas. Together with Drs. Hawkins, Bouffet and others, he established the PLGG taskforce and constructed a database of >1,000 patients and tumours allowing for the utilization of genomic tools and techniques to study specific mechanisms affecting survival in these children. 3) Dr. Tabori established
the International Biallelic Mismatch Repair Deficiency Consortium. Biallelic Mismatch Repair Deficiency is a genetic syndrome that is associated with a high risk of glioma formation during childhood. Using genomic and genetic tools, the Tabori lab is studying which genetic events can be traced and treated to prevent cancer initiation and progression.
Research Support: AACR Stand Up To Cancer, BioCanRx, Brain Canada, b.r.a.i.n.child, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Children’s Oncology Group, C17 Research Network, Genome Canada, Kindred Foundation, LivWise Foundation, Meagan’s HUG (Meagan Bebenek Foundation), National Cancer Institute, PLGA Foundation, Public Health Institute, SickKids Foundation, SickKids Garron Family Cancer Centre, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, U of T Hold’em for Life Oncology Fellowship, V Foundation for Cancer Research
Dr. Michael D. Taylor
Senior Scientist, Principal Investigator
Dr. Taylor’s laboratory uses genetic tools to investigate how normal cells turn into brain tumours. Genomic analyses and genetic tools allow the team to create new animal models
of medulloblastoma and ependymoma so that novel targeted therapies can be developed. This multi-layered approach using laboratory-driven scientific discovery and bioinformatics allows for rapid clinically-important changes to brain tumour therapy, such that the quality of life of patients can be drastically improved.
The Taylor group is in an enviable position, as they have direct access to the more than 2,000 tumours and associated sequencing data that form part of the Medulloblastoma Advanced Genomics International Consortium (MAGIC). MAGIC is a SickKids based consortium that consists of clinicians, scientists, and pathologists from around the world who have collectively contributed medulloblastoma samples to the genomics efforts in Toronto. This sequencing project is likely the largest single RNA-Seq dataset on a specific cancer type sequenced
to date and represents a rich source of data on medulloblastoma for their lab and for others.
Research Support: b.r.a.i.n.child, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Cancer Research UK, CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, Genome BC, Genome Canada, Genome Quebec, Matthew Larson Foundation, Meagan’s HUG (Meagan Bebenek Foundation), National Institutes of Health US NIH, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Ontario Research Fund, Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, SickKids Garron Family Cancer Centre, Stand Up To Cancer, SWIFTY Foundation,
Terry Fox Research Institute, The Brain Tumour Charity, V Foundation for Cancer Research, Worldwide Cancer Research
LABORATORY PERSONNEL
Polina Balin, Graduate Student
Anders Erickson, Graduate Student
Vernon Fong, Graduate Student
Liam Hendrikse, Graduate Student
Kyle Juraschka, Graduate Student
Kaitlin Kharas, Graduate Student
Bryn Livingston, Graduate Student
Ncedile Mankahla, Graduate Student Winnie Ong, Graduate Student
David Przelicki, Graduate Student Alexandra Rasnitsyn, Graduate Student Cory Richman, Graduate Student
Olga Sirbu, Graduate Student
Randy Van Ommeren, Graduate Student Evan Wang, Graduate Student
Namal Abeysundara, Postdoctoral Fellow Chai-Jin Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow
John Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow
Carolina Nör, Postdoctoral Fellow
Olivier Saulnier, Postdoctoral Fellow
David Scott, Postdoctoral Fellow
Abhirami Visvanathan, Postdoctoral Fellow Jiao Zhang, Postdoctoral Fellow
Craig Daniels, Senior Project Manager
Ning Huang, Research Technologist Haipeng Su, Research Technologist
Raul Suarez, Research Technologist William (Hao) Wang, Research Technologist Xiaochong Wu, Senior Research Associate
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