Team | salmenalab

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

Ph.D. Candidate

Keyue Chen

BSc. Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.

Research

Keyue's project is focused on identifying the role of INPP4B in AML pathogenesis

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

Ché Melo

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.

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).

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Research Associate

Golam Tanjib Saffi Ph.D.

Ph.D. Department of Molecular Science, Toronto Metropoloitan University.

Research

Golam is investigating the role of INPP4B in pancreatic cancer metastasis. He previously identified INPP4B as a regulator of lysosomal exocytosis and is currently investigating INPP4B's effect on TFEB, the primary lysosome biogenesis transcription factor, in this pathway.

Ph.D. Candidate

Anastasia Tregubenko

BSc. Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.

Research

Anastasia's project investigates the role of miRNA in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), focusing on validating the biological functions and chemoresistance mechanisms of miR-29b-2.

Current Undergraduate Trainees

Undergraduate Student

Angelo Gonzales

Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.

Undergraduate Student

Nathan Ng

Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.

Undergraduate Student

Liam Zhang

Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Toronto.

Undergraduate Student

Jennifer Zhou

Biochemistry and Human Biology, with a minor in Environmental Chemistry.

Recent Salmena Lab Graduates

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

June 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

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July 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

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

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

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