PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Omar has a Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering with a major in petroleum and petrochemical industries. His curiosity about bioengineering made him decide to move to McGill University to join Professor Corinne Hoesli's Stem Cell Bioprocessing Laboratory as a Master's student, where he applied principles of chemistry and biomaterial science to develop a novel surface modification strategy for the selective capture and expansion of human cells. This work was done to enhance the performance of endothelial progenitor cell capture stents by promoting vascular healing.

Outside the lab, Omar loves to read and to listen to violin music, which he has never yet learned to play. Whenever he feels anxious, Omar uses his small telescope to watch the moon and stars.

A recent graduate of the University of Alberta, Kieran completed his B.Sc. in Immunology and Infection. Inspired by the world class virology taking place on campus, he undertook his honours undergraduate thesis in the lab of Dr. Matthias Götte during his final year. Contributing to an excitingly active field of work, his research aimed at further understanding the biochemistry of non-influenza cap-snatching polymerases found within a class of viruses with high epidemic potential.

As a MASc student in the Shakiba Lab, he hopes to follow a long-harboured desire to play in the realm of systems and stem cell biology. When not giving his pipettes a good workout, you can probably find him bouldering, complaining about bouldering injuries, or talking about how bad the weather was in Edmonton (maybe all at once!).

Ali has finished his Bachelor's degree majoring in chemical engineering. He has gone through a long journey until now; in the beginning, he always thought that someday he might end up working at oil & gas companies. Suddenly, one case of applying engineering concepts into medicine and biology for healthcare made him dive into biomedical engineering. By discovering his genuine enthusiasm, he aims to combine both engineering methods and biology science to improve human pluripotent stem cells biomanufacturing, which has significant applications in biotechnology.

Ali loves photography, playing piano, table tennis, and video games. Wherever you find him, he wants to tell stories about games and show his recently taken photos. He thinks Vancouver has everything that he could ever imagine for fulfilling his photography desires.

Hourieh has a Bachelor's degree in Material Science and Engineering. Her interest in biomaterials led her to Biomedical Engineering as a Master's student. In her Master's project, she worked on a stimuli-responsive polymeric skin patch for treating chronic wounds. Also, she worked on a project using a synthetic polymer as a novel delivery vehicle for genes. Initially, she was curious about drug and gene delivery, and she got passionate about stem cell research along the way. She is interested in unveiling the clonal dynamics during beta-cell differentiation using DNA barcoding.

Outside the lab, she's all about adventure. She loves exploring new camping and hiking sites. Also, she is an avid baker with a sweet tooth.

Double-majoring in Biomechanics and Biomaterials Engineering made Yeganeh interested in Tissue Engineering during her Bachelor degree. Therefore, she developed a skin scaffold for promoting severe burn healing for her Master's thesis project at Sharif University of Technology. Through this journey, she found her passion for Cell Bioengineering, leading her to do a PhD rotation in SBME, UBC, working in three labs under the supervision of Dr. James Piret, Dr. Nozomu Yachie, and Dr. Nika Shakiba, respectively. Currently, as a PhD student in the Shakiba lab, Yeganeh studies human pluripotent stem cells in suspension culture.

Outside the lab, you can find Yeganeh playing the Native American Flute or Ocarina, practicing archery, seeing a play or a movie, or challenging herself with a new mountain to climb.

After obtaining a double Bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from the Université Côte d'Azur in France, Enzo moved to Sweden to be immersed in international research environment and living abroad. He graduated with a M.Sc. of molecular biology at Umeå University and his strong interest in organoids and synthetic biology will make him cross path with the Shakiba lab. In between climbing session, he focuses his research on uncovering clonal dynamics during blood vessel organoid formation to obtain a library of clones for organoid formation.

With the new challenges of the climate urgency Enzo is actively engaging with the scientific community around him to raise awareness on the situation and form discussion groups to make Science more sober and resilient to climate change.

Ipek is a Master's student in the Genome Sciences and Technology program. She completed her undergrad in Cellular Bioengineering in UBC's School of Biomedical Engineering. As a lifelong lover of science, she is hoping to work at the intersection between biology and engineering, using engineering tools to solve biological problems. Particularly, she has been fascinated by synthetic biology and how tools developed in this field can be used to manipulate the immune system in order to use existing defence mechanisms to mitigate diseases like cancer and diabetes. In the Shakiba Lab, Ipek is working on developing and optimizing culture protocols for the generation of blastocyst-like structures from naive embryonic mouse stem cells and trying to understand how heterogeneity in a stem cell population can impact cell fate decisions.

Outside of academia, Ipek is one of the founding members of the non-profit Building Blocks Employment that provides personalized help and tech assistance to the members of Vancouver's Downtown East Side community. She enjoys long and complicated novels with paragraph long sentences, aimless walks along the water and regularly annoys her roommate with her attempts at trying to play the cello.

Joud is a fifth year undergraduate in Honours Cell and Developmental Biology with a passion for cancer genetics and synthetic biology. After investigating the role of epigenetics in hematopoietic differentiation at the Hirst Lab, She became intrigued in learning more about stem cell differentiation and the factors that play into it. At the Shakiba lab, She is investigating cell competition in mouse embryonic stem cells using DNA barcoding technologies.

Outside of the lab, you can find Joud experimenting with a recipe from a new cuisine, playing basketball at kits beach or exploring a new hike.

Pattarin is a third-year Chemical and Biological Engineering student with a passion for synthetic biology and cell engineering. In branching out of his program through UBC's International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team, and the Shakiba Lab, he hopes to arrive at the intersection between bioprocess engineering and synthetic biology. As a co-op student, he is helping to investigate intra- and intercellular communication during embryonic development using stem cell-based models, bioinformatics, and synthetic reporting tools.

Outside the lab, Pattarin is also pursuing a Minor in Economics, spending weekends cooking up new recipes, and religiously keeping up with Formula 1.

Born and raised in Recife, Brazil, and shaped by his time studying in Costa Rica, Rafa hopes to bring an interdisciplinary approach to the computational work at the Shakiba Lab. With an undergraduate background in ecology and evolution, and a keen interest in the mechanisms of diversification, Rafa aims to merge these insights with modern computational techniques. His undergraduate thesis, in partnership with Dr. Abou Chakra at the University of Toronto, harnesses Evolutionary Game Theory and modelling to explore the nuances of cell competition in embryonic development. This fusion of computational and interdisciplinary knowledge underscores Rafa's professional aspiration: to collaborate across fields, harnessing computational and evolutionary insights to enrich biological research.

Outside of the lab, Rafa can often be spotted looking at plants, attempting to identify birds, or at home with his cat, Leni.

Wenshuang is a virologist by training, a graduate of Imperial College London. He studied plant viruses and plant biology in several research labs. Long dreaming of biomedical research, he joined the Shakiba lab for stem cell research.

Outside of the lab, Wenshuang enjoys listening to music and playing table tennis and badminton and loves to explore the trails around UBC.

Harry previously focused on muscle stem cells in the past few years and finished his Master of Science degree at McGill University. His favorite techniques are FACS and imaging. His interest in pluripotent stem cells originates from his curiosity about how lineages diverge during directed differentiation. In the Shakiba lab, he aims to further explore lineage determination with the aid of synthetic and computational biology. Outside the lab, Harry enjoys judo, frisbee, and skiing. All his other time is probably devoted to walking the dogs (Hugo and Bruno). His favorite dog is always Hamlet.

Kai-Wei was a postdoc in Medical Genetics, UBC researching on the initiation of genomic imprinting during germ cell development using mouse model. He has tremendous research interests in the roles of repeated elements in early life development. Kai-Wei went through an extraordinary journey in biology research. He received PhD of Genome & Systems Biology from National Taiwan University for his works in the epigenetic regulations over cell fate decision using chicken model. His expertise led to his first postdoc position to research on the parent-of-origin-dependent neurobehavioural patterns using mouse model. As a Master of Science from Experimental Medicine, McGill University, and a Bachelor in Bioinformatics, University of Waterloo, Kai-Wei also has long history in bioinformatics skills in supporting high throughput sequencing analysis.

Outside the lab, Kai-Wei enjoy exploring city and rural area. He also enjoy board games, mind games, and puzzles – he can spend hours for those.

Joshua completed his Bachelor of Science degree in the UBC-BCIT joint Biotechnology Program. With his interest in virology and cell biology he joined Dr. François Jean’s lab at UBC to complete his Master of Science degree in Microbiology and Immunology. There he identified novel 3-chymotrypsin-like viral protease inhibitors as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. In the Shakiba lab, he aims to apply principles in biotechnology to explore the role of cell competition in stem cell development and its applications in regenerative therapies.

Outside the lab, Joshua has a bunch of hobbies and interests which include board games (he has too many!), playing piano, drawing, and going on hikes.

Vivian completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences degree at McMaster University, and it was here where she was first captivated by stem cells. Her Senior Thesis, supervised by Dr. Tobias Berg, investigated pharmacological induction of cancer stem cell differentiation. As an M.A.Sc. student in the Shakiba lab, she is investigating microenvironmental factors which contribute to cell competition, using mouse embryonic stem cells as a model system. Outside the lab, Vivian is a synchronized swimmer, she adores ultimate frisbee, and loves learning about different cultures through trying new recipes.

Karen is a third-year Biomedical Engineering student specializing in Cellular Bioengineering. She has always been intrigued by the diverse applications of stem cells in regenerative therapeutics. In particular, she is curious about how mathematical models are used to explore stem cell fitness and aid the development of more effective therapies. At the Shakiba Lab, Karen is completing the CBR-SBME Studentship. She is responsible for running mathematical simulations on deterministic and stochastic models in MATLAB to help identify the role of asymptomatic spreaders in COVID-19 outbreaks. Outside the lab, Karen enjoys learning Japanese and exploring new hiking trails with her dog.

Janella is a fifth year undergraduate in Honours Applied Biology with a passion for mammalian synthetic biology and cellular systems. Having been involved in synthetic biology since high school through the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, with three years in UBC's team, she admires the ability of synthetic systems to transform cell populations forwards directed outcomes. She has been a mentee and co-op student at the lab and is currently an undergraduate thesis student. Beyond the books, Janella holds a dedicated passion in the outdoors, where she spends all the time she can spare, and which has taken her across the world to complete treks like Everest Base Camp and the Inca Trail.

Dustin completed his Bachelor’s at the University of Winnipeg in Biopsychology before obtaining a Master’s at the University of Manitoba, studying lung development. After, he dove into containment to battle foreign viruses and emerged at the other end to begin a PhD at UBC’s Biomedical Engineering program. In the Shakiba lab, he is working to understand what makes a stem cell tick and why some are better at it than others.

As a flatlander, outside the lab he spends most of his time misidentifying mountains as strange clouds, wondering what hike he should try, and comparing Vancouver traffic to Winnipeg.

Anne is a Comparative Physiologist by training, and is currently wrapping up her Ph.D. research at UBC. She studied the mechanisms of metabolic rate suppression in hibernating rodents such as 13-lined ground squirrels and Syrian hamsters. Currently, her research in the Shakiba lab combines her love for metabolic physiology and stem cell biology to investigate whether differences in metabolic phenotypes contribute to increased fitness in hPSCs. Anne is also passionate about advocating for women in STEM, pedagogical teaching, and effective science communication. Outside of the lab, Anne is an avid baker, mum to her dog (confusingly named Mama), and a Kiwi turned Vancouverite, exploring the best gastronomic experiences this city has to offer.

Alex is a recent graduate of the third-ever cohort of the M.H.Sc. in Medical Genomics professional program at the University of Toronto. Prior to this, she completed her Honours B.Sc. at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. There she did her honours thesis in the lab of Dr. Deanna Gibson on the effects of the herbicide Glyphosate on intestinal permeability and inflammation. Alex is very passionate about precision and regenerative medicines and believes the key to these advancements lies at the cellular level. Outside of the lab, Alex loves spending time outdoors with her Shepherd Retriever dog Zeit and being active by hiking, kayaking, and running. She is also a Girl Guide leader and loves taking her girls camping and doing crafts with them.