Trainee Organizers

Volker Nitschko

Volker is a postdoc in Dr. Julie Claycomb’s lab at the University of Toronto, and is studying the role of miRNA-binding Argonautes during spermatogenesis. He joined the TREnD organizing committee to help connect RNA researchers and foster new collaborations.

Sharanja Premachandran

Sharanja is a graduate student in Dr. John Calarco’s lab at the University of Toronto. She is investigating novel genetic interactions between neuronally-enriched RNA-binding proteins in C. elegans and the consequences of these interactions for neurite development. Having participated in TREnD before, she recognizes the value of celebrating student achievement in all aspects of RNA biology and is thrilled to be helping out!

Charlotte Martin

Charlotte is a fifth year PhD student in the Calarco Lab. She studies how tissue-specific alternative splice isoforms affect protein function in the nematode C. elegans. As a past TREnD attendee she is excited to now help organize this great conference.

Michael Zoberman

Michael Zoberman is a Ph.D. student in the Calarco Lab at the Department of Cell and Systems Biology in the University of Toronto. He is researching the role of intracellular signalling pathways in the regulation of RNA-binding proteins to control neuronal alternative splicing networks in C. elegans. As an organizing member, Michael hopes to help RNA researchers meet and learn from each other to promote and strengthen the local RNA community.

Anna Girtle

Anna is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto in Dr. Philipp Maass’s lab. She is currently exploring the role of a novel long non-coding RNA in blood pressure control and hypertension. This is her first year with TREnD and she is excited to get involved with the RNA community.

Farnaz Mansouri-Noori

Farnaz is a PhD candidate in Dr. Mark Bayfield’s Lab at York University. Her research involves characterizing the function of La-related proteins in the yeast S. pombe and in humans. She is interested in all aspects of RNA biology, especially mRNA translation and decay. As a Toronto RNA Club organizer, Farnaz is excited to facilitate interactions between international RNA research groups and in doing so encourage communication, new ideas, as well as collaborations.

Samuel Nyandwi

Samuel is a PhD student in Dr. Haissi Cui’s lab at the University of Toronto. He conducts research on the involvement of tRNA synthetases in a white matter disorder. Through his involvement in Toronto RNA Club, Samuel is looking forward to helping consolidate the membership and their engagement in spaces devoted to RNA research.

Brittney Remnant

Brittney is a MSc student in Dr. Mark Bayfield’s lab at York University. She is investigating the La protein Mlp1 in Tetrahymena thermophila and its involvement in the biogenesis of non-coding RNAs. As an organizing member of the Toronto RNA Club, she hopes to foster connections between individuals in the RNA community across training levels and encourage the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Trainee Alumni

Sameen Ahmed, Pallavi Pilaka-Akella, Giovanni Burke, Yifan (Eva) Wang, Evelyne Collignon, Giacomo Furlan, Mathias Renaud, Negin Khosraviani, Lamisa Mizan, Janine Truong, Amanda Charlesworth, Lauren Ostrowski, Marat Mufteev, Matthew Hildebrandt, Akashdeep Dhillon, Geraldine Seydoux, Eesha Sharma, Nevraj Kejiou, Amanda Hall, Julia Sobotka, Monica Wu, Miranda Wang, Chris Wedeles, Melissa Wong, Danielle Bilodeau, Ashrut Narula.

Faculty Mentors

Dr. Julie Claycomb

Julie Claycomb is Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. Work in the Claycomb lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms of germline small RNA pathways using the nematode C. elegans as a model system.

Dr. John Calarco

John Calarco is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on understanding mechanisms governing post-transcriptional gene regulation in the nervous system, with a particular focus on alternative splicing. John is excited to be serving as a faculty mentor for TREnD.

Dr. Haissi Cui

Haissi Cui is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. The Cui lab develops new chemical tools to probe RNA processes in mammalian cells, specifically tRNA dynamics and aminoacylation. Further, the group characterizes cell line and animal models to study rare neurodevelopmental disorders caused by a dysregulation of RNA-binding and modifying proteins and explores new approaches to RNA therapies.

Dr. Philipp Maass

Philipp Maass is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. The Maass lab’s central objective is to gain mechanistic insight into regulatory functions of the non-coding genome. By applying systems biology approaches in RNA & genome biology, they address 1) how yet uncharacterized long non-coding RNA genes function, 2) how chromosomal territories are organized, and 3) how inter-chromosomal contacts facilitate gene regulation and genome organization to better understand biology and etiology of disease.

Dr. Amanda Hargrove

Amanda Hargrove is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto and the Canada Research Chair in RNA-Targeted Drug Discovery. The Hargrove Lab works at the interface of chemistry and biology, using organic chemistry to study the structure and function of regulatory RNAs, including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and viral RNAs, and leveraging these insights toward therapeutic targets.