Team

Our team facilitates our robust research

Zhenya Ivakine
Zhenya IvakinePrincipal Investigator
Dr. Evgueni (Zhenya) Ivakine is a scientist working to apply genome engineering tools and strategies to therapy development for genetic conditions, with a focus on childhood neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Dong-Kyu Kim
Dong-Kyu KimResearch Fellow
Dr. Kim obtained his PhD from Korea University, joining the Ivakine Lab in 2022 to further his interests in genetics and genome editing.
Patrice Chan
Patrice ChanResearch Fellow
Dr. Chan graduated from her PhD at the University of Hong Kong. Her project in the Ivakine Lab aims to characterize a MECP2 Duplication Syndrome mouse model and to develop a single-gRNA CRISPR Cas9 strategy for duplication removal based on this disease model.
Sneh Lata
Sneh LataResearch Fellow
Dr. Lata completed her PhD at the University of Delhi, India. She is currently working as postdoctoral research fellow in the Ivakine Lab, generating an iPSC model cell line for Niemann-Pick Type C disease mutations which will be used for the screening of potential therapeutics.
Toan Nguyen
Toan NguyenResearch Fellow
Dr. Nguyen received his PhD from Nanyang Technology University of Singapore. His broad research interests include molecular and genome biology, structural biology, and lipid metabolism. In the Ivakine Lab, Dr.Nguyen uses CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to understand the biological variants of the NPC1 protein and exploring it at the molecular and genetic level.
Mairead McEwen
Mairead McEwenMSc Student
Mairéad completed her Honours B. Sc. with a specialization in Biochemistry at Queen’s University. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, where she is applying CRISPR-Cas9 mediated technologies to investigate revertant mutations in BRCA2.
Daniel Rappaport
Daniel RappaportTechnologist
Daniel completed his undergraduate studies at Concordia University, with a specialization in Biology. He completed his graduate studies at Toronto Metropolitan University, with an M.Sc. in Molecular Science. Currently, Daniel is working with CRISPR-Cas9 saturation prime editing to introduce identified mutations present in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene, modelling different variants of the disease ataxia telangiectasia (AT), and then describing the pathogenesis for each variant.
Hong Anh Truong
Hong Anh TruongTechnologist
Dr. Truong received her PhD in Biophysics from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She is currently working as a technologist in the Ivakine Lab and is responsible for supervising mice colonies and advising mice procedures.
Sydney Steiman Ph.D student
Sydney completed her Honours B. Sc. at the University of Waterloo in Biology and Philosophy. She completed her M. Sc. studying protein interactions at York University. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto where she is working on linking tubulin proteins to ciliopathy diseases.
Reid Brewer
Reid BrewerTechnologist
Reid completed his B.Sc. at the University of Toronto in Human Genetics. He then completed his Masters in the Department of Physiology, at the University of Toronto, where he studied novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment Niemann-Pick Type C.
Lujaina Elbakr
Lujaina ElbakrM.Sc. Candidate
Lujaina completed a Specialized Honours Biomedical Sciences degree at York University for her undergraduate studies. She is currently pursuing a Masters in the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto where she is working on characterizing a novel infantile Tay Sachs disease mouse model and interrogating CRISPR-mediated therapeutic strategies for TSD.
Georgiana Forguson
Georgiana ForgusonTechnologist
Georgiana completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, and completed her M.Sc. studying nematode neurobiology at McGill, where she focused on in vivo imaging. Apart from managing the lab, Georgiana works on mouse line characterization.
Enzhe Khazeeva
Enzhe KhazeevaTechnologist
Eva Colic
Eva Colic PhD Student
Eva obtained her Bachelor of Science in Honours Biochemistry at the University of Waterloo. Under the co-supervison of Dr. Zhenya Ivakine and Dr. Ronald Cohn, Eva is developing CRISPR-Cas9 based technologies to investigate the pathogenicity of variants within the gene Ataxia–telangiectasia Mutated (ATM).
Heyden Lam
Heyden Lam Masters Student
Heyden completed his Honours B.Sc. in Biotechnology at the University of British Columbia. He is co-supervised by the Ivakine and Dowling Labs, where he is developing a CRISPR activation therapy for RyR1-related myopathies.

Past lab members:

Ori Scott
PhD Student
Swadha Tewari
M.Sc. Student
Shagana Visuvanathan
Animal technologist
Cedric Happi-Mbakam
Research Fellow
Mehmet Cilek
Research Fellow
Katherine Matthew
Summer Student (2023)
Jana Abu-Alhaija
Summer Student (2023)
Connie Fierro
Summer Student (2023)
Nishtha Patel
Research Student (2023)
Safia Mohammad
Summer Student (2024)
Daphne Yang
Summer Student (2024)
Krystal Grover
Summer Student (2024)
Emily Huynh
Summer Student (2024)
Natalie Kozman
Research Student (2024)
Stephanie Ortega
Research Student (2024)
Ash Mowbray
Amgen Scholar (2024)
Emily Davis
Summer Student (2024)
Ashley Dong
Research Student (2024)
Yousef Jan
Summer Student (2024)
Lilac Juaneza
Research Student (2024)
Joshua Hung
MSc Student
Maya Klepfish
Co-op Student (2024)
Emily Bell
Co-op Student (2024)

Find us

Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning
686 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4