Celebrating the latest accomplishments and achievements of our trainees, such as published papers, awards and honours for the excellence and impact of their research programs, defended theses, talks given or prizes won at meetings, etc. Please check this page regularly to keep up to date with the latest news pertaining to trainees and the trainee program at the LDI.
Marc-Antoine Leclerc, a Master’s student supervised by Shirin Abbasinejad Enger, Associate Professor of Oncology at McGill University and Principal Investigator at the LDI, is the recipient of a $24,000 over one year scholarship within the framework of the TransMedTech Institute Excellence Scholarships Fall 2024 Competition, for a project entitled Development of a radiation detector to measure the arterial input function noninvasively for dynamic positron emission tomography.
Use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which include Ozempic®, Rybelsus® and other widely used drugs, to treat type 2 diabetes is not associated with an increased risk of suicidality compared with two other groups of diabetes drugs known as DPP-4 inhibitors and SGLT-2 inhibitors, finds a large study of UK health data. The study led by Laurent Azoulay, Senior investigator at the LDI and first author Samantha B. Shapiro, a doctoral student in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health at McGill University working in Pr. Azoulay’s laboratory, was published by The BMJ on February 26.
Each grant is in the amount of $70,000 over two years.
 | Emma Ciccolini PhD student in the laboratory of Josie Ursini-Siegel Project: Investigating the impact of PGC-1alpha-coupled metabolic reprogramming on breast cancer metastasis |
 | Elias Maldonado PhD student in the laboratory of Josie Ursini-Siegel Project: The role of p66ShcA and PKR in promoting breast cancer malignancy through adaptation to chronic oxidative stress |
 | Theodoros Papadopoulos PhD student in the laboratory of Marie Hudson and Sonia del Rincon Project: Examining the role of the JAK-STAT pathway in ICI-arthritis and the effects of JAK inhibition on ICI in a novel tumor model of ICI-arthritis |
 | Maryam Ahmadi Postdoctoral fellow in Wilson Miller’s laboratory Project: Understanding why skin cancer spreads to other parts of the body $220,000 over 3 years Postdoctoral Research Training Award |
 | Islam Elkholi Postdoctoral fellow in April Rose’s laboratory Project: New treatment strategies for people with BRAF mutations in their tumours $220,000 over 3 years Postdoctoral Research Training Award |
 | Olivia Kovecses PhD student in François Mercier’s laboratory Project: A new, innovative treatment strategy for acute myeloid leukemia $94,000 over 2 years Doctoral Research Training Award |
Mirta Dumancic, Postdoctoral fellow in Shirin Enger‘s laboratory, received the Accelerated Computing for Women award through the DRI EDIA Champions program from Digital Research Alliance of Canada. The award aims to increase awareness and uptake of the Alliance’s digital research infrastructure (DRI) by equity-seeking groups, and provides an amount of up to $35,000 that is to be used primarily for stipends.
Rachelle Haber, PhD student in Kristian Filion‘s laboratory, Omotayo Carolyn Olaoye, PhD student in Christel Renoux’s laboratory, and Stephen Ogbodo, PhD student in Laurent Azoulay‘s laboratory, were awarded first place in the global real-world evidence (RWE) Research Proposal Competition of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) held on August 26-28, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Their proposal was entitled Real-world comparative effectiveness and safety of GIP/GLP1 dual agonist and GLP1 receptor agonist among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
| Name | Supervisor | Graduate Program | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omotayo Olaoye Ranked 2 out of 188 | Christel Renoux & Samy Suissa | Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health | Prescribing Trends of Central Nervous System Depressants and the Risk of Adverse Respiratory Events in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
| Name | Supervisor | Graduate Program | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ariana Arduini | Chen Liang | Experimental Medicine | Investigating the role of accessory protein ORF8 secretion and immunomodulation in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants |
| Alexandra Goudreau | Mark Basik | Experimental Medicine | Characterizing the molecular and spatial interactions between carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF), immune cells, and tumour cells in metastases of triple negative breast cancer |
| Paige McCallum | Sonia Del Rincon & Wilson Miller | Experimental Medicine | Investigating the Role of the MNK1/2-eIF4E Signaling Axis by Spatially Profiling the Human Breast Cancer Tissue Tumor Microenvironment using Phenocylcer (CODEX) Multiplex Imaging |
| Ryan Tobin SSHRC | David Dunkley | Clinical Psychology | Self-Critical Perfectionism, Daily Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being Over Two Years |
| Yujing Zou NSERC | Shirin Enger | Medical Physics | From Bench to Bedside: multimodal learning-based cancer treatment outcome prediction modelling |
| Name | Supervisor | Graduate Program | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Megan Araujo | Sabrina Wurzba | Experimental Medicine | The Evaluation of Circulating Tumor Cells in Predicting Treatment Response for Patients with HPV Oropharyngeal Cancer |
| Monica D’Onofrio | Brett Thombs | Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health | An Updated Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis of the Geriatric Depression Scale to Determine Its Diagnostic Accuracy |
| Brianna Murray | Christel Renoux & Samy Suissa | Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health | Trends in the prescription of oral anticoagulants in adults with COPD in UK Primary Care (2010-2022) |
| Elliot Wadge | Shirin Enger | Medical Physics | Predicting Patient-Specific Radiosensitivity With Machine Learning and Genetic Profiling |
Jonathan Kalinowski, a PhD student in Medical Physics supervised by Shirin Abbasinejad Enger, Tier II Canada Research Chair in Medical Physics and Principal Investigator at the LDI, was awarded a TransMedTech Excellence Scholarship within the framework of the 8th TransMedTech Excellence Scholarships Competition 2023-24, for his project entitled Toward the clinical translation of intensity modulated brachytherapy for the treatment of rectal cancer.
Sahil Sharma, a postdoctoral fellow in Marc Fabian‘s Laboratory at the LDI, and postdoctoral candidate in Experimental Medicine at McGill University, is the recipient of the 2023 FRQS Student Award. The award is remitted to one student based on the best student author from all LDI Papers of the Month produced from January to December 2023 inclusively. Congratulations to Sahil who will receive $1,000!
Saleena Gul Arif, a master’s student in Experimental Medicine supervised by Jonathan Afilalo, Principal Investigator at the LDI and Cardiologist at the Jewish General Hospital (JGH), and her teammates were awarded 2nd place in the Social Impact Stream at the McGill University Bootcamp and Dobson Cup in April 2024, with their startup project entitled SimpliCITY- digital hub for the homeless population. The 2nd place award comes with a prize of $12,000.
Congratulations to Rémi Kurdian, a PhD candidate enrolled in a joint PhD/cotutelle international program, co-supervised by Colin Crist—Senior Investigator, Associate Director for Human Disease Modeling at the LDI, and Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Research Chair in Muscle Stem Cell Research—and Alicia Mayeuf-Louchart from the University of Lille, France, and Jonathan Kelebeev, a PhD candidate in the Crist Lab, for obtaining first and second prizes respectively in the 2024 McGill University Molecular and Regenerative Medicine (MRM) Photo Contest! Rémi Kurdian submitted a picture of mouse skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscles in development, while Jonathan Kelebeev submitted a photo of craniofacial muscles of the mouse embryo.
Sarah Ghezelbash, PhD student in Clinical and Translational Research under the supervision of LDI Principal Investigators Philippe Lefrançois and Mark Basik, is the recipient of the Graduate Oral Presentation Award at the third annual International Forum on Research Excellence (IFoRE) held in Washington, DC, on November 16, 2024. Over 200 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students competed with research presentations in oral and poster format. A judging committee of Sigma Xi members evaluated the presenters on their scientific thought, methods, and communication skills. Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society is the world’s largest multidisciplinary honor society for scientists and engineers.
Each grant is in the amount of $70,000 over two years.
| Emma Ciccolini PhD student in the laboratory of Josie Ursini-Siegel Project: Investigating the impact of PGC-1alpha-coupled metabolic reprogramming on breast cancer metastasis |
| Elias Maldonado PhD student in the laboratory of Josie Ursini-Siegel Project: The role of p66ShcA and PKR in promoting breast cancer malignancy through adaptation to chronic oxidative stress |
| Theodoros Papadopoulos PhD student in the laboratory of Marie Hudson and Sonia del Rincon Project: Examining the role of the JAK-STAT pathway in ICI-arthritis and the effects of JAK inhibition on ICI in a novel tumor model of ICI-arthritis |
| Maryam Ahmadi Postdoctoral fellow in Wilson Miller’s laboratory Project: Understanding why skin cancer spreads to other parts of the body $220,000 over 3 years Postdoctoral Research Training Award |
| Islam Elkholi Postdoctoral fellow in April Rose’s laboratory Project: New treatment strategies for people with BRAF mutations in their tumours $220,000 over 3 years Postdoctoral Research Training Award |
| Olivia Kovecses PhD student in François Mercier’s laboratory Project: A new, innovative treatment strategy for acute myeloid leukemia $94,000 over 2 years Doctoral Research Training Award |
Mirta Dumancic, Postdoctoral fellow in Shirin Enger‘s laboratory, received the Accelerated Computing for Women award through the DRI EDIA Champions program from Digital Research Alliance of Canada. The award aims to increase awareness and uptake of the Alliance’s digital research infrastructure (DRI) by equity-seeking groups, and provides an amount of up to $35,000 that is to be used primarily for stipends.
Rachelle Haber, PhD student in Kristian Filion‘s laboratory, Omotayo Carolyn Olaoye, PhD student in Christel Renoux’s laboratory, and Stephen Ogbodo, PhD student in Laurent Azoulay‘s laboratory, were awarded first place in the global real-world evidence (RWE) Research Proposal Competition of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) held on August 26-28, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Their proposal was entitled Real-world comparative effectiveness and safety of GIP/GLP1 dual agonist and GLP1 receptor agonist among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
| Name | Supervisor | Graduate Program | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omotayo Olaoye Ranked 2 out of 188 | Christel Renoux & Samy Suissa | Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health | Prescribing Trends of Central Nervous System Depressants and the Risk of Adverse Respiratory Events in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease |
| Name | Supervisor | Graduate Program | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ariana Arduini | Chen Liang | Experimental Medicine | Investigating the role of accessory protein ORF8 secretion and immunomodulation in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants |
| Alexandra Goudreau | Mark Basik | Experimental Medicine | Characterizing the molecular and spatial interactions between carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF), immune cells, and tumour cells in metastases of triple negative breast cancer |
| Paige McCallum | Sonia Del Rincon & Wilson Miller | Experimental Medicine | Investigating the Role of the MNK1/2-eIF4E Signaling Axis by Spatially Profiling the Human Breast Cancer Tissue Tumor Microenvironment using Phenocylcer (CODEX) Multiplex Imaging |
| Ryan Tobin SSHRC | David Dunkley | Clinical Psychology | Self-Critical Perfectionism, Daily Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being Over Two Years |
| Yujing Zou NSERC | Shirin Enger | Medical Physics | From Bench to Bedside: multimodal learning-based cancer treatment outcome prediction modelling |
| Name | Supervisor | Graduate Program | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Megan Araujo | Sabrina Wurzba | Experimental Medicine | The Evaluation of Circulating Tumor Cells in Predicting Treatment Response for Patients with HPV Oropharyngeal Cancer |
| Monica D’Onofrio | Brett Thombs | Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health | An Updated Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis of the Geriatric Depression Scale to Determine Its Diagnostic Accuracy |
| Brianna Murray | Christel Renoux & Samy Suissa | Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Occupational Health | Trends in the prescription of oral anticoagulants in adults with COPD in UK Primary Care (2010-2022) |
| Elliot Wadge | Shirin Enger | Medical Physics | Predicting Patient-Specific Radiosensitivity With Machine Learning and Genetic Profiling |
Jonathan Kalinowski, a PhD student in Medical Physics supervised by Shirin Abbasinejad Enger, Tier II Canada Research Chair in Medical Physics and Principal Investigator at the LDI, was awarded a TransMedTech Excellence Scholarship within the framework of the 8th TransMedTech Excellence Scholarships Competition 2023-24, for his project entitled Toward the clinical translation of intensity modulated brachytherapy for the treatment of rectal cancer.
Sahil Sharma, a postdoctoral fellow in Marc Fabian‘s Laboratory at the LDI, and postdoctoral candidate in Experimental Medicine at McGill University, is the recipient of the 2023 FRQS Student Award. The award is remitted to one student based on the best student author from all LDI Papers of the Month produced from January to December 2023 inclusively. Congratulations to Sahil who will receive $1,000!
Saleena Gul Arif, a master’s student in Experimental Medicine supervised by Jonathan Afilalo, Principal Investigator at the LDI and Cardiologist at the Jewish General Hospital (JGH), and her teammates were awarded 2nd place in the Social Impact Stream at the McGill University Bootcamp and Dobson Cup in April 2024, with their startup project entitled SimpliCITY- digital hub for the homeless population. The 2nd place award comes with a prize of $12,000.
Please join the Undergraduate Research Day committee in congratulating the following students as winners of the top oral presentations:
“3-Year Outcomes of Drug-Coated Balloons Versus Drug-Eluting Stents for Small Caliber Coronary Arteries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials”
Supervisor: Mark Eisenberg
“Adoptive transfer of T regulatory cells to understand disease biology”
Supervisor: Sonia Del Rincon
“Evaluating the Efficacy of SHP2 Inhibitors in Combination with MAPK and CDK4/6 Inhibitors in Class 1 BRAF-Mutant Tumors”
Supervisor: April Rose
Thank you to all students who participated and congratulations again to the winners. Hope to see you all next year!
Congratulations to Edgar Pinedo-Carpio, who just completed his PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University with Alex Orthwein as supervisor, for his first author paper in Science Advances: FIRRM cooperates with FIGNL1 to promote RAD51 disassembly during DNA repair
The LDI is pleased to announce the winners of the LDI Scholarship Awards February 2024 competition:
| Student | Supervisor / Co-Supervisor | Program year | Project Title | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmadi, Maryam | Sonia del Rincon / Wilson Miller | PDF year 1 | Deciphering the roles of MNK1 and MNK2 in the melanoma immune microenvironment | Inaugural Desjardins/LDI Postdoctoral Fellowship |
| Bouassaly, Jenna | Sabrina Wurzba | MSc year 1 | Understanding the genetic factors associated with treatment response and prognostic stratification in HPV-related head and neck cancer | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
| Brillinger, Julia | Kristian Filion | PhD year 2 | Opioids and the Risk of Cardiac Arrhythmias: A Population-based Study | TD Canada Trust Graduate Scholarship |
| Deamond, Haley | Melissa Henry | PhD year 4 | Biopsychosocial Risk Factors for Cancer-Related Pain in People Newly Diagnosed with Cancer: A Prospective Longitudinal Study | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
| Dos Santos, Erika Cristina | Mark Basik | PDF year 2 | Isolation and characterization of lipid droplets from drug resistant breast cancer cells | Inaugural LDI Director’s International Scholar Award |
| Giles, Braeden | Koren Mann / Bernard Robaire | PhD year 4 | Organophosphate esters disrupt the phenotype and function of macrophages | Galina Dorfman Graduate Fellowship |
| Gloeckler, Sara | Kyle Greenway / Soham Rej | PhD year 2 | Toward patient-tailored psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression | TD Canada Trust Graduate Scholarship |
| Jiogo, Holly | Colin Crist | MSc year 2 | Post-transcriptional Regulation of Muscle Stem Cell Activation by the NoBody Microprotein | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship Award |
| Kim, HyungDong | Antonis Koromilas | PhD year 3 | Molecular, biological, and therapeutic implications of the translation initiation factor eIF2B in the stimulation and treatment of mutant KRAS tumorigenesis | Dr. Mark Wainberg Memorial Graduate Fellowship* |
| Lopez Naranjo, Carolina | Sonia del Rincon / Wilson Miller | MSc year 1 | Investigating the role of PEX3 in the tumor microenvironment. | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
| Moiz, Areesha | MarK Eisenberg | MSc year 1 | GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Co-Agonists for Weight Loss Among Individuals without Diabetes | TD Canada Trust Graduate Scholarship |
| Nassour, Hassan | Uri Saragovi | PDF year 1 | Neuro-protective and anti-degenerative pharmacological strategies for therapy of retinal diseases | Inaugural Desjardins/LDI Postdoctoral Fellowship |
| Orozco-Alonso, Eduardo | Volker Blank | MSc year 2 | The function of the MAFF and NRF2 transcription factors in myometrial cells and preterm labor | TD Canada Trust Graduate Scholarship |
| Pallotto, Linda | Chantal Autexier | MSc year 2 | Role of the human telomerase insertion in fingers domain in telomerase activation at telomeres | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
| Rahbaran, Maryam | Shirin Enger | MSc year 2 | Design and Development of a Novel Intravascular Brachytherapy System | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
| Rahimirad, Shima | Ernesto Schiffrin | PhD year 2 | CD28 expressed by yo T cells plays an essential role in Angil-induced BP elevation, vascular injury and T cell activation. | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
| Zapata-Bravo, Estefania | Kristian Filion | PhD year 2 | Comparative Effectiveness of Long-Acting Insulins wersus Intermediate-Acting Neutral Protamine Hagedorn (NPH) Insulin for the Prevention of Macro- and Microvascular Complications in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus | Eileen and Louis Dubrovsky Graduate Fellowship |
* The Dr. Mark Wainberg Memorial Graduate Fellowship is awarded to the top ranked application in the LDI Scholarships competition.
LDI Scholarships are open to highly qualified graduate students at the LDI who are registered full-time at McGill University in a research training program leading to a MSc, a PhD or a Postdoctoral degree. They are made possible thanks to the support of the following generous donors: Desjardins Financial Group, TD Bank, the Dubrovsky Family, and Galina Dorfman.
The LDI is committed to the ideal that research excellence is greatly enhanced by ensuring equity of opportunity in research and every graduate that met the merit criteria were funded this year. Winners of the postdoc competition were selected by Melissa Henry and Shirin Enger; those of the PhD competition by Volker Blank and Christel Renoux and those of the master’s competition by April Rose and Kostas Pantopoulos. Chantal Autexier and Michael Witcher, Associate Director for Faculty Development at the LDI, coordinated the process. Criteria used in the selection process were weighted differently for MSc, PhD and postdoc students, and included: Academic Record, Awards and Studentships/Fellowships, Peer-Reviewed Publications, Presentations (Oral and Poster), Research Project and Training Environment/Expectations.
You have the power to make a difference! Your gift will support vital research at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) that will translate into disease prevention, improved diagnoses, earlier detection, new and enhanced therapies, a better quality of life, wellness and hope for all of us.
Faire la différence, vous avez ce don! Votre contribution soutiendra la recherche essentielle menée à l’Institut Lady Davis qui permettra la prévention des maladies, des diagnostics plus précis, des dépistages plus rapides, des traitements innovants et plus performants, une meilleure qualité de vie, le bien-être et l’espoir pour nous tous.
Copyright © 2024 | Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research/Jewish General Hospital
Conception et développement : Yankee Media
