Principal Investigator

James Rutka is a paediatric neurosurgeon and Senior Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children. Rutka is the former R.S. McLaughlin Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and is the Director of the BTRC.

Research Operations Manager

Christian has been working in the BTRC since 1999 and his current role is Research Operations Manager. He is also a published author and currently working on a novel and a screenplay. His professional life in the sciences began at the University of Guelph, where he studied molecular biology.

Tumour Biobank Manager

Andrew manages the Brain Tumour Biobank at the BTRC. This biological sample repository provides specimens that help principal investigators uncover targetable genetic alterations in brain tumours. He also chairs the Association of Research Technology Professionals.

Medical Illustrator

Stacey earned her Master of Science in Biomedical Communications at the University of Toronto in 2015, one of only four internationally accredited programs of its kind. She is the first in-house medical illustrator for the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre and the Journal of Neurosurgery.

PhD Candidate

Catherine is a current PhD student in the Rutka Lab. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, double majoring in Neuroscience and Immunology with a minor in Psychology. Her project focuses on application of magnetic-resonance guided focused ultrasound in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.

PhD Candidate

Alexx is a current PhD student with the Rutka and Ramaswamy labs. She previously completed her Master’s of Science degree with the Rutka Lab, and has worked in brain tumour research both here in Toronto and abroad. Her journey into research began when she applied to be a summer student at the BTRC.

PhD Candidate

Olga is a PhD student in the Department of Medical Biophysics. Her research focuses on identifying metabolic vulnerabilities in medulloblastoma leptomeningeal metastasis. She completed her undergraduate degree at UofT, where she majored in Neuroscience and Stem Cells/Developmental Biology. 

Research Associate

Sergio is a Cell and Developmental Biologist who spent many years having fun with Drosophila Genetics, Molecular Biology and Confocal Imaging of embryos as a model for fundamental cancer cell research. Sergio completed two Postdocs, one at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NY and one here at the University of Toronto.

Administrative Coordinator

Alison is the Administrative Coordinator for the Cell Biology Program at SickKids. She’s been working at SickKids for about five years, supporting four Senior Scientists and their lab’s within the program and the BTRC. Alison was born and raised in Toronto and enjoys trying out new food spots around the city.