Current Trainees

PhD Students
Postdoctoral Fellows
CANSSI Ontario STAGE HostSeq

Alumni

Master’s Students
PhD Students
Postdoctoral Fellows
Visiting Faculty

PhD Students

Jianhui Gao

Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Jesse Gronsbell (primary),
Lei Sun, Andrew Paterson

Project Title:
Novel statistical methods for conducting genome-wide association test between erroneous phenotype and rare variants

Term: Nov 2022 - Nov 2024

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Alicia Grima

Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Jennifer Brooks (Primary), Andrew D. Paterson, Linda Hiraki

Project Title:
Genetic variants associated with incident autoimmune disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults in Ontario

Term: Dec 2023 - Dec 2025

Gengming He

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Lei Sun, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
Investigating human nasal epithelia as a respiratory model for Cystic Fibrosis using RNA-Sequencing

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2024

Tara Henechowicz

Music and Health Science (Collaborative Program in Neuroscience)

Mentor(s):
Daniel Felsky (primary),
Jun Young Park

Project Title:
Investigating the pleiotropy of motor traits, music training, and neuroendophenotypes through modelling the musician genome and transcriptome

Term: Nov 2022 - Nov 2024

Boxi Lin

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Lei Sun (Primary),
Lisa Strug, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
Development of robust statistical methods to enhance the power of genetic association studies in the presence of heterogeneity

Term: Sep 2021 - Sep 2023

Yu-Chung (Jerry) Lin

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary),
Lei Sun, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
Incorporating Robust Statistical Procedures into Model Selection Using Genomic Features with Small Effect Sizes

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2024

Hua (Henry) Lu

University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Rae S. M. Yeung

Project Title:
Genetic overlap between multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and other immunophenotypes: a multi-trait colocalization framework

Term: May 2023 - May 2025

Xiaoyu (Betsy) Men

Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
James Kennedy (primary), Daniel Felsky, Vanessa Gonçalves

Project Title:
Predicting Venlafaxine-Induced Adverse Effects in Late-Life Depression using mPRS and Population Pharmacokinetic Modelling

Term: May 2023 - May 2025

Eric Sanders

Hospital for Sick Children and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug

Project Title:
Statistical genetics of sex-dependent phenotypes

Term: Dec 2023 - Dec 2025

Dingke Tang

Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Linbo Wang (primary), Andrew Paterson, Celia Greenwood

Project Title:
Correcting for selection bias in Mendelian randomization studies with limited power

Term: Apr 2022 - Apr 2024

Yuan Tian

Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Jun Young Park (primary),
Daniel Felsky, Jesse Gronsbell

Project Title:
A novel mediation analysis pipeline to leverage high-dimensional and multimodal MRI as mediators in Alzheimer's disease GWAS

Term: Nov 2022 - Nov 2024

Beiwen Wu

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health

Mentor(s):
Rayjean Hung (primary),
Celia Greenwood, Geoffrey Liu

Project Title:
Comprehensive investigation of lipidomics in the risk and prognosis of aerodigestive tract (ADT) cancers by evidence triangulation

Term: Nov 2022 - Nov 2024

Changchang Xu

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Shelley Bull (primary), Irene Andrulis

Project Title:
Improving mixture cure modelling of multiple molecular factors in cancer prognosis

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2022

Dongyang Yang

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Wei Xu (primary), Andrew Paterson, Geoffrey Liu

Project Title:
Partition of Human Microbiome Sequencing Data and Analysis of genome-wide Genetic Association through a Distance-based Unsupervised Learning Model

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2024

Ziang Zhang

Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Lei Sun (primary), Andrew Paterson, Jerry Lawless

Project Title:
Interpretation and adjustment of covariate effects in the GWAS of binary traits

Term: Apr 2022 - Apr 2024

Lehang Zhong

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (Primary), Lei Sun, Johanna Rommers

Project Title:
Methodology for differential gene expression analysis in large samples: Application to cystic fibrosis lung disease

Term: Sep 2021 - Aug 2024

Postdoctoral Fellows

Samar Salah Mohamedahmed Elsheikh

Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Pharmacogenetics Research Clinic

Mentor(s):
Daniel Felsky (Primary), Guillaume Paré, James Kennedy

Project Title:
Integrative and Multifactorial Prediction of Antidepressant Remission in Late-Life Depression Using Structural Equation Modelling

Term: Apr 2022 - Apr 2024

Jingxiong (Amelia) Xu

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Mentor(s):
Laurent Briollais (primary),
Wei Xu, Stephen Lye,
Rayjean Hung

Project Title:
Analysis of genome-wide G by E interaction studies through Bayesian graphical modeling

Term: Sep 2021 - Aug 2023

CANSSI Ontario STAGE HostSeq Trainees

Ohanna Bezerra

Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s): France Gagnon, Celia Greenwood

Project Title:
In silico evaluation of the impact of pandemic-inherited study design biases with application to a thromboembolism-informed HD-GWAS of COVID-19 severe outcomes

Term: Sep 2021 - Aug 2022

Qian Liu

Departments of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Computer Science and Statistics, University of Manitoba

Mentor(s): Pingzhao Hu

Project Title:
DeepHostSeverity: Deep learning and genomic-driven COVID-19 severity assessment tool

Term: Sep 2021 - Aug 2022

Tianyuan Lu

Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University

Mentor(s): Celia Greenwood

Project Title:
Dissecting the genetic architecture of COVID-19 comorbidities and identifying biomarkers for high-risk individuals

Term: Apr 2022 - Apr 2023

Diogo Pellegrina

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Computational Biology Program

Mentor(s): Jüri Reimand

Project Title:
Integrative analysis of population polymorphism interference in host phospho-signaling response networks to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Term: Sep 2022 - Sep 2023

Xiaoke Qin

School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University

Mentor(s): Sanjeena Dang

Project Title:
Cluster analysis of patients infected by COVID-19 and a risk forecast model based on clustering

Term: Apr 2022 - Apr 2023

Alumni

Master's Students

Tabitha Kung

Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Queen's University and Clinician-scientist at KGH Research Institute (updated on 2021)

Mentor(s): France Gagnon

Project Title:
Genetic Predictors of Response to Treatment in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis

Term: May 2011 - Jun 2012

PhD Students

Darren Brenner

Associate Professor, University of Calgary (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Shelley B. Bull, Rayjean Hung (primary), Geoffrey Liu
Project Title:
A histology-specific genome-wide investigation of lung cancer

Term: Jan 2011 - Jun 2012

Jessica Dennis

Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Genetics at UBC and Investigator at BC Children's Hospital Research Institute (updated on 2021)

Mentor(s):
France Gagnon (primary), Zdenka Pausova, Lisa Strug

Project Title:
Genetic and epigenetic factors in the regulation of tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) plasma levels and role in venous thromboembolism

Term: Oct 2011 - Jan 2016

Andriy Derkach

Assistant Attending Biostatistician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (updated on 2021)

Mentor(s):
Andrew Paterson, Johanna Rommens, Lei Sun (primary), Jerry Lawless

Project Title:
Statistical methodologies for genetic association studies with rare variants

Term: Jan 2011 - Jun 2014

Osvaldo Espin-Garcia

Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Shellley Bull (primary), Wei Xu, Andrew Paterson, Geoffrey Liu

Project Title:
Integrative methods for design and analysis of genetic association studies

Term: Sep 2016 - Aug 2018

Karl Everett

Senior Research Analyst ICES (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
France Gagnon (primary), Michael Wilson

Project Title:
Genetic and epigenetic determinants of apolipoproteins B and A1 plasma levels and their associations with hypercoagulability

Term: Sep 2016 - Aug 2017

Laura Faye

Director, Performance Accountability and Funding, Toronto Region Ontario Health (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Shelley B. Bull (primary), Lei Sun

Project Title:
Accurate and efficient estimation of genetic effect in genome-wide association and genetic sequencing studies

Term: Jan 2011 - Jul 2013

Linda Kachuri

Assistant Professor, Stanford University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Rayjean Hung (primary), Lei Sun, Geoffrey Liu

Project Title:
Comprehensive investigation of telomere length and its genetic determinants in cancer risk and clinical outcomes

Term: Sep 2014 - Aug 2016

Sangook Kim

University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and The Hospital for Sick Children

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Shelley Bull, Johanna Rommens,
Anne Stephenson

Project Title:
Development of a phenotype for Lung Disease in Cystic Fibrosis: applications to genetic association across cohorts and countries

Term: Nov 2017 - Aug 2023

Michael Lebenbaum

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison (updated on 2023)

Mentor(s):
France Gagnon (primary) Laurent Briollais

Project Title:
Genetic endowments and social capital: An examination of the association between Polygenic scores for educational attainment and adult social capital

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2022

Michael Lerro

In Loving Memory
June 9, 1990 ~ Feb. 15, 2021

University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Mentor(s):
France Gagnon (primary), Michael Wilson

Project Title:
Epistatic mechanisms dictating the thrombotic risk factor endogenous thrombin potential

Term: Sep 2016 - Aug 2020

Weili Li

Manager of The Centre for Applied Genomics (TCAG) Statistical Analysis Facility (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Johanna Rommens, Rayjean Hung

Project Title:
Developing novel statistical methods under the evidential framework with a focus on analyzing sequence data

Term: Oct 2011 - Aug 2015

Victoria Marshe

University of Toronto, Institute of Medical Sciences, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
James Kennedy (primary), Anna Goldenberg, Andrew Paterson

Project Title:
Applying machine learning to genomic data to identify diagnostic subtypes in late-life depression

Term: Sep 2016

Dave Soave

Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Lei Sun (primary), Lisa Strug, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
Predicting cystic fibrosis-related diabetes using longitudinal measures of pancreatic damage from birth for better patient management

Term: Feb 2013 - Aug 2016

Sarah Gagliano Talin

Principal Investigator, Montreal Heart Institute; Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine and Neurociences, Université de Montréal (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Jo Knight (primary), Andrew Paterson, Cathy Barr

Project Title:
Identification of risk variants in genome-wide association studies using functional characteristics

Term: Sep 2015 - Nov 2016

Fan Wang

Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary),
Lei Sun, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
Co-localization Method with Application in Cystic Fibrosis

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2022

Matthew Warkentin

PhD Candidate in Epidemiology at Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto (updated on 2021)

Mentor(s):
Rayjean Hung (primary), Geoffrey Liu, Laurent Briollais

Project Title:

Term: N/A

Lin Zhang

Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University (updated on 2024)

Mentor(s):
Lei Sun (primary),
Lisa Strug, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
A robust and unifying regression framework for allele-based association test

Term: Dec 2017 - 2021

Nora Zwingerman

Mentor(s):
France Gagnon (primary), Zdenka Pausova, Matthieu Lemire

Project Title:
The association of DNA variants and DNA methylation levels with fibrinolytic protein levels

Term: Jul 2013 - Aug 2015

Postdoctoral Fellows

Myriam Brossard

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Mentor(s):
Shelley Bull (primary), Radu Craiu, Rayjean Hung

Project Title:
Development of novel statistical methods for genetic analysis of complex traits

Term: Dec 2017 - Nov 2019

Christie Burton

Senior Research Associate, The Hospital for Sick Children (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Paul Arnold, Andrew Paterson,

Project title:
Examining the possible role of dopamine and glutamate gene networks in response to inhibition to understand the genetics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Term: Feb 2013 - Jan 2015

Zhijian (Charlie) Chen

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital

Mentor(s):
Shelley B. Bull (primary), Radu Craiu, Andrew Paterson

Project title:
Design and analysis of genome-wide studies of complex diseases and traits

Term: Jan 2011 - Aug 2013

Elizabeth Corfield

Researcher, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (2022)

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Andrew Paterson, Anne Bassett

Project title:
Characterizing the genetics of ADHD traits with cognitive deficits in a pediatric community-based sample

Term: Dec 2017 - Nov 2018

Eileen Crowley

Scientist, Lawson Health Research Institute (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Andrew Paterson (primary), Lisa Strug

Project title:
Whole exome sequencing of veo-IBD patients from the NEOPICS International Cohort Study

Term: Jul 2018 - Jun 2019

Robbie (Robert) Davies

Associate Professor of Statistical and Population Genomics, University of Oxford (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Stephen Scherer (primary), Andrew Paterson, Lisa Strug

Project title:
Using genetic variants across the allele frequency spectrum to study autism spectrum disorder

Term: Jun 2018 - Jul 2019

Gord Fehringer

Linkage Analyst, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Rayjean Hung (primary), Laurent Briollais, Geoffrey Liu

Project title:
Genome-wide and post genome-wide studies of lung cancer and head and neck cancer

Term: Jan 2011 - Jan 2012

Vanessa Gonçalves

Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Independent Scientist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
James L. Kennedy (primary), Andrew Paterson, Lei Sun

Project title:
Variability of the DRD4 gene in behavioural phenotypes

Term: Sep 2011 - Aug 2013

Linda Hiraki

Staff Physician, Division of Rheumatology; Scientist, Genetics & Genome Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children; Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics & Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Andrew Paterson (primary), Shelley Bull, Zdenka Pausova

Project title:
Identification of genetic variants associated with renal function in type 1 diabetes

Term: Jul 2013 - June 2015

Yue (Cindy) Jiang

The Hospital for Sick Children (updated on 2015)

Mentor(s):
Jayne Danska (primary), Andrew Paterson, Lisa Strug

Project title:
A systems based analytical framework for metatranscriptomic studies of type 1 diabetes

Term: Sep 2012 - Aug 2015

Sareh Keshavarzi

Assistant Professor, Biostatistics Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Senior Biostatistician, Biostatistics Department, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Andrew Paterson (primary), France Gagnon, Angelo Canty

Project title:
Multivariate meta genome-wide association of cardiovascular disease risk factors in Type 1 diabetes

Term: Sep 2016 - Aug 2018

Agnieszka Krol

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, AstraZeneca (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Laurent Briollais (primary)

Project title:
Development of multistate models for rare variant analysis in familial cancer studies

Term: Jul 2017 - Nov 2017

Martin Ladouceur

Alimentiv Inc. (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
France Gagnon (primary), Mathieu Lemire, Arturas Petronis

Project title:
Statistical models to characterize genome-wide DNA methylation from multigenerational families

Term: Nov 2012 - Dec 2013

Kexin Luo

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Mentor(s):
Shelley Bull (primary), Andrew Paterson, Irene Andrulis

Project Title:
Statistical methods for region-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis of common and rare variants

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2022

Melissa Miller

Director of Human Genetics, Internal Medicine Research Unit, Pfizer (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), France Gagnon, Johanna Rommens

Project title:
Identifying Genetic Modifiers of Immunoreactive Trypsinogen Levels in a NBS Population in Cystic Fibrosis

Term: Mar 2011 - Feb 2014

Saira Mirza

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Mentor(s):
Joanne Knight (primary)

Project title:
The association between genetic and imaging markers of neurodegeneration across dementias-A data-driven approach

Term: Sep 2016 - Aug 2018

Elham Khodayari Moez

Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Mentor(s):
Rayjean Hung (primary),
Stephen Lye, Lisa Strug

Project Title:
Investigating host genomics and epigenomics for early childhood cytomegalovirus sequelae based on birth cohort

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2022

Marie Pigeyre

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Endocrinology Division, McMaster University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s): Guillaume Paré (primary)

Project title:
Identification of novel biomarkers to predict vascular complications of Type 2 diabetes: A Mendelian Randomization approach

Term: Dec 2017 - Jun 2019

Alejandra E. Medina Rivera

Junior Faculty, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Campus Juriquilla; Research Associate, International Laboratory for Human Genome Research (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Michael Wilson (primary), France Gagnon, Jo Knight

Project title:
Leveraging functional genomics data to enhance GWAS analyses and causal variant identification

Term: Sep 2014 - Mar 2015

Razvan Romanescu

Assistant Professor, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Shelley Bull (primary), Irene Andrulis, Julia Knight

Project title:
Pathway-based detection of rare mutations in affected relatives

Term: Dec 2017 - Jan 2020

Delnaz Roshandel

Senior Bioinformatician, The Hospital for Sick Children (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Shelley Bull (primary), Irene Andrulis, Julia Knight

Project title:
Pathway-based detection of rare mutations in affected relatives

Term: Dec 2017 - Jan 2020

Divya Sharma

Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):
Wei Xu (primary), Andrew Paterson, Geoffrey Liu

Project Title:
Application of machine learning in longitudinal microbiome data analysis for disease prediction

Term: Sep 2020 - Aug 2022

Mohammad Shoaib

The Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

Mentor(s):

Jennifer Crosbie (primary), Daniel Felsky, Frank Wendt

Project Title:
Evaluation of polygenic risk-environment (GxE) interaction models for ADHD traits

Term: May 2023 - Nov 2023

Talisa Silzer

Medical Communications Writer at Sixsense Strategy Group (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Lisa Strug (primary), Dehan Kong

Project title:
Genetic and environmental influences on pediatric neuropsychiatric traits

Term: Sep 2021 - Oct 2021

Fodé Tounkara

Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Division of Biostatistics and Population Health (updated on 2024)

Mentor(s):
Laurent Briollais (primary), Julia Knight

Project title:
Extending risk prediction models for hereditary breast ovarian cancer (HBOC) families

Term: Jul 2018 - Dec 2018

Yan Yan Wu

Associate Professor, Office of Public Health Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Laurent Briollais (primary), Julia Knight, Stephen J. Lye

Project title:
Development of statistical methods for BMI growth curves estimation and analysis on longitudinal GWAS data in relation to metabolic traits in children

Term: Aug 2012 - Aug 2014

Lizhen Xu

Senior Principal Biostatistician, PHRI Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton Health Sciences (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Wei Xu (primary) Andrew Paterson

Project title:
Development of statistical methods for BMI growth curves estimation and analysis on longitudinal GWAS data in relation to metabolic traits in children

Term: Jul 2013 - Oct 2014

Yildiz Yilmaz

Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Statistics, Memorial University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Irene L. Andrulis, Shelley B. Bull (primary), Julia Knight

Project title:
Statistical methods for molecular genetic analysis of breast cancer

Term: Jan 2011 - May 2013

Yanyan Zhao

Assistant Professor, Shandong University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Lei Sun (primary), Lisa Strug, Johanna Rommens

Project Title:
A unified regression framework for polygenic risk score, PrediXcan, and TWAS tests

Term: Dec 2017 - 2021

Visiting Faculty

Hance Clarke

Director of Pain Services, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and University Health Network (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Jo Knight (primary), Andrew Paterson, Michael Wilson

Project title:
Chronic post surgical pain - A pilot genome-wide association study

Term: Jul 2013 - July 2014

Sara Good

Professor, Biology Department, University of Winnipeg (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Jo Knight (primary), Andrew Paterson, Michael Wilson

Project title:
Using imputed gene expression values to look for genetic risk factors associated with complications of Type 1 diabetes

Term: Jan 2017 - Dec 2017

Marc Woodbury-Smith

Clinical Senior Lecturer/Hon Consultant, Newcastle University (updated on 2022)

Mentor(s):
Andrew Paterson (primary), Stephen Scherer, Lei Sun

Project title:
Identifying functional rare variants in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) families

Term: Jan 2012 - Dec 2013