Our People

Meet our current team of researchers as well as alumni.

Research Professors

Dr. Dingran Chang

Dr. Maria Cabezas

Research Assistant Professor
m-cabezas@northwestern.edu

Research Staff

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Dr. Sharif Ahmed

Senior Research Associate
sharif.ahmed@northwestern.edu

Postdoctoral Fellows

Connor Flynn

Connor Flynn

Graduate Students

Abdalla Abdrabou

Luis Fernando Ayala

Biomedical Engineering
luisayala2028@u.northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Jane Donnelly

Medical Scientist Training Program
jane.donnelly@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Sreenivas Eadara

Medical Scientist Training Program
sreenivas.eadara@northwestern.edu

Photo of Bill Duong

Fatemeh Esmaeili

Pharmaceutical Sciences
fatemeh.esmaeili@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Jonathan Fan

Abby Lo

Abby Lo

Biomedical Engineering
pei-yinglo2026@u.northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Jia Yi Huang

Abdalla Abdrabou

Julia Mayes

Abdalla Abdrabou

Scott Isaacson

Zaina Mosalam

Zaina Mosalam

Material Science and Engineer
zainamosalam2030@u.northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Yi Li

Biomedical Engineering
YiLi2027@u.northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Audrey Nashner

Abdalla Abdrabou

Ryan Neff

Medical Scientist Training Program
ryan.neff@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Kimberly Riordan

Abdalla Abdrabou

Andrew Sedlack

Medical Scientist Training Program
andrew.sedlack@northwestern.edu

Abdalla Abdrabou

Daniel Szames

Pharmaceutical Sciences
daniel.szames@mail.utoronto.ca

Abdalla Abdrabou

Zhenwei Wu

Biomedical Engineering
zhenwei.wu@northwestern.edu

Ruitao Zhang

Ruitao Zhang

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

Beverly Bernard

Abdalla Abdrabou

Tory Helgeson

Business Administrator 3
kelley-ofc@northwestern.edu

Alumni

Marya Ahmed

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

Justin Besant

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

Ranjit (Randy) Singh Atwal

McMaster University, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Intramural Programs, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago

Xiao Bin

University of Toronto PDF 2010
Research Scientist, Lam Research Corporation

Peter Aldridge

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

Ian Burgess

University of Toronto PDF 2014-2016
President, Validere

Abdalla Abdrabou

Northwestern University, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago

Dingran Chang

University of Kansas
Assistant Professor

Kangfu Chen

University of Florida
Professor, Beijing Institute of Technology 

Devleena Das

Ohio State University Ph.D. 2025

Zhichao Fang

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

Jenise Chen

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

Melissa Devlin

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

Sonali Fonseca

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

Amanda Clifford

University of Toronto PDF 2021
Assistant Professor, UBC Materials Engineering

Piriththiv Dhavarasa

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2025

Rahela Gasparac

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

Jay Carreon

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

Armin Geraili

Biomedical Engineering
University of Toronto Ph.D. 2025

Amin GhavamiNejad

Senior Scientist, Research, JDRF

Kristin Horton

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

Vuslat Juska

Tyndall National Institute Ph.D. 
Staff Scientist, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Surath Gomis

Biotech Founder, Director of R&D, ARMA Biosciences

Gloria Hu

Northwestern University Ph.D. 2025

Scientist, Alamar Biosciences

Leyla Kermanshah

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

Sae Rin (Rachael) Jean

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

Ivaylo Ivanov

University of Toronto RA 2017
Scientist, Wrana Lab

Mahmoud Labib

Lecturer, Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth

Brenda Green

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

Arturo Jimenez-Sanchez

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

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

Yuan Ma

University of Toronto PDF 2021
Associate Professor, Tsinghua University

Sahar Mahshid

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

Xingshu Li

University of Toronto PDF 2019
Nanjing University of Science and Technology

Laili Mahmoudian

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

Adam Mepham

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

Ludovic Live

University of Toronto PDF 2013
Chief Executive Officer, Affinité Instruments

Alam Mahmud

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

Carine Nemr

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

Nan Ma

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

Kerry Mahon

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

David Philpott

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

Terra Potocky

Boston College PDF 2007
Director, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Marc Roy

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

Julie Shi

University of Toronto PDF 2015
Associate Director, Bristol Myers Squibb

Mahla Poudineh

University of Toronto PhD 2017
Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo

Tina Saberi Safaei

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

Sarah Smith

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

Erin Prestwich

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

Tanja Sack

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

Leyla Soleymani

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

Marcel Roberts

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

Andrew Sage

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

Kelly Stewart

University of Toronto Ph.D. 2010

Xuping Sun

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

Ying Wan

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

Brad Taft

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

Guangli Wang

Visiting Faculty Member, 2016

Simon Wisnovsky

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

Grigory Tikhomirov

University of Toronto PDF 2010
Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley

Hansen Wang

Ph.D.

Lisa Wittenhagen

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

David Tulumello

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

Hansen Wang

University of Toronto, Ph.D.
Group Leader, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Fan Xia

Northwestern University PDF 2022
Senior Scientist, Molarray

Sophie Xiao

Research Associate – UCLA Health

Hanie Yousefi

University of Toronto Ph.D.
Systems Engineering and Technical Advisor, ARPA-H

Yige Zhou

University of Toronto PDF 2015
Professor, Hunan University

Jun Yang

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

Weijiang Yu

Zhejiang University, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Kefan Yang

University of California, Irvine, Ph.D.
Scientist, Twist Bioscience

Hossein Zargartalebi

University of Calgary, Ph.D.
Fellow, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Xiaolong Yang

Northwestern University PDF 2022
Director of Precision Oncology, Molarray

Wendi Zhou

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

Learn More About Our Research

The projects underway involve aspects of diverse disciplines!

VIEW OUR RESEARCH