OUR TEAM
Current Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Dr. Leonardo Salmena
Hon. BSc Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto
M.Sc. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto
Ph.D. Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
PDF Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
PDF Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center at Harvard Medical School
Dr. Leonardo Salmena investigates the molecular drivers of cancer progression, signal transduction pathways, and therapy resistance to uncover novel therapeutic targets across solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
Core Research Areas
Phosphoinositide Signaling & Lipid Phosphatases: Examining the functional roles of lipid phosphatases like INPP4B and PTEN in oncogenesis, lysosomal dynamics/exocytosis, and cancer cell survival.
Non-Coding RNA Networks & Functional Genomics: Mapping competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) crosstalk and utilizing high-throughput CRISPR-Cas9 miRNA screens to identify critical non-coding regulators of tumor fitness.
Chemoresistance & Target Discovery: Dissecting the cellular and metabolic mechanisms underlying chemotherapy resistance (e.g., gemcitabine in PDAC) to translate molecular vulnerabilities into targeted therapeutics.
Ph.D. Candidate
Jonathan Chow
BSc. Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.
Research
Jonathan developed the Salmena Lab's miRNA focused CRISPR Cas9 library (miRKOV2) and he is currently utilizing CRISPR screens to identify miRNA that are involved in prostate cancer cell growth and chemoresistance.
Ph.D. Candidate
Iulia Grigore
MRes Biosciences, Cell Biology, University College London
BSc Applied Medical Sciences, University College London
Research
Iulia's project focuses on the role of miRNA in the development and progression of glioblastoma. Her goal is to identify miRNA that support the survival of glioblastoma stem cells using a miRNA-focused CRISPR/Cas9 screening paltform.
Ph.D. Candidate
Mike Byeong Lee
BSc. Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto.
Research
Mike's project focuses on studying the roles of miRNA in AML chemoresistance.
Ph.D. Candidate
BSc. Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.
Research
Che's research focuses on the use of genetically engineered mouse models in defining the contribution of inositol polyphosphate-4-phosphatase type II (INPP4B) to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression and gemcitabine resistance.
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Ph.D. Candidate
Candaice Newell
Honours BSc, Life Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON
Research
Candaice's project aims to identify the role of INPP4B dysregulation and lysosomal function in normal hematopoiesis and leukemic stemness and chemoresistance in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
Undergraduate Trainees
Undergraduate Student
Linda Lee
Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.
Undergraduate Student
Sophia Lei
Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.
Undergraduate Student
Sukhleen Randhawa
Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.
Undergraduate Student
Trevor Tseng
Medical Sciences, Western University
Undergraduate Student
Cuyler Yu
Biomedical Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa.
Undergraduate Student
Kelvin Zhang
Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.
Salmena Lab Graduates
September 2025
Ana Tregubenko M.Sc
Thesis Title:
Investigating the Role of miR-29b2 in the Progression and Chemosensitivity of Acute Myeloid Leukemia
December 2024
Dr. Keyue Chen Ph.D.
Thesis Title:
Investigating Roles for Inositol Polyphosphate-4-Phosphatase
Type II (INPP4B) in Cancer Signaling
August 2024
Dr. Daniel Lee Ph.D.
Thesis Title:
Identifying Novel Roles of Phosphoinositide Signaling in Cancer
March 2023
Dr. Erin Sellars Ph.D.
Thesis Title:
Screening for Modifiers of Tumour Suppressor Protein Levels for Cancer Prevention and Therapy
July 2022
Dr. Martino Gabra Ph.D.
Thesis Title:
Roles of microRNAs in AML Cell Survival and Drug Response
August 2021
Alexandra Uzelac M.Sc.
Thesis Title:
Investigating the Role of BRCA1 in the Regulation of Osteoprotegerin
August 2019
Lydia To M.Sc.
Thesis Title:
Investigating the Role of Inositol Polyphosphate 4-Phosphatase
Type II (INPP4B) in Pancreatic Cancer
September 2018
Tasnim Zaman M.Sc.
Thesis Title:
Circulating RANKL and Osteoprotegerin and Breast Cancer Risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers
September 2017
Emily Mangialardi M.Sc.
Thesis Title:
Investigating the Role of Inositol Polyphosphate 4-Phosphatase Type II (INPP4B) in Cellular Transformation
September 2016
Mark Sharobim M.Sc.
Thesis Title:
Investigating the Role of Inositol Polyphosphate 4-Phosphatase Type II (INPP4B) Overexpression on Autophagy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
Past Post Doctoral Fellows
2015-2019
John F. Woolley Ph.D.
Principal Investigator University of Liverpool
2016-2018
Meong Hi Son M.D.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Emergency Medicine Samsung Medical Center
2021- 2024
Golam Saffi Ph.D
Salmena Lab Alumni
Peter Boulos
Illia Bright
Sabrina Cancelliere M.D.
Stephanie Chau
Ayeisha Desjardins
Lana Ran Du
Robert Duba-Kiss
Irakli Dzneladze M.D.
Leila El-Eryan
Thais Fontanezi Maciel
Shayne Greenberg M.D.
Sarvenaz Ghorbanian
Angelo Gonzales
Marigrace Gorospe PharmD, RPh
David Guo
Aobo He
Ruijuan He
Nicholas Kleine
Christophe Langlois M.D.
Lance Li
David Liubart
Ryan Loke
Nicole Machado M.Sc.
Myley Marin PharmD, RPh
Mikela Mero
Menglu Ni
Nathan Ng
Parwaiz Nijrabi
Athulram Rajagopal
Brittany Salmon
Margarita Savguira
Melissa Sgambelluri
Evanka Singh
Yasamin Tayefechamani PharmD, RPh
Anthony To PharmD, RPh
Filip Todorovic
Alisa Ugodnikov Ph.D.
Sami Ul-Haq M.Sc.
Bell Wu
Cynthia Wu
Liam Zhang
Jennifer Zhou