Team
Our team facilitates our robust research
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.
Dr. Kim obtained his PhD from Korea University, joining the Ivakine Lab in 2022 to further his interests in genetics and genome editing.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 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.
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 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.
Ameer is a 5th year undergraduate student from McMaster University, majoring in Biochemistry. He is completing his second Co-op term in the lab, where he is working on profiling SNVs within the ATM gene. Post-graduation, Ameer aims to pursue a PhD in Molecular biology.
Maya is a 4th year student in the Molecular Biology and Genetics program at McMaster University. She is working with Dr. Chan to characterize MECP2 duplication syndrome in a novel mouse model and test a single-gRNA CRISPR Cas9 therapy for the disorder.
Emily is a 4th year undergraduate student studying Molecular Biology & Genetics at the University of Guelph. She is helping optimize CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing technologies for correction of a nonsense point mutation in DMD, as well as characterize a mouse model of DMD.
Past lab members: