Dr. Padmaja Subbarao, MD, M.Sc., FRCP (C)
A world-renowned leader in infant and preschool lung function, Dr. Subbarao is a clinician-scientist in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, trained in both epidemiology and infant and preschool lung function, who specializes clinically in severe asthma.
She is a Staff Respirologist in Respiratory Medicine, Co-lead of Precision Child Health, and Associate Chief of Clinical Research at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), where she holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Paediatric Asthma and Lung Health. She is also a Senior Scientist in the Translational Medicine Program of SickKids Research Institute; Professor in Paediatrics, Physiology and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto; and Adjunct Professor in Respirology and Medicine at McMaster University.
Dr. Subbarao is also the Director of the world-leading CHILD Cohort Study, a national birth cohort study of 3500 families that is advancing knowledge about the early-life genetic and environmental determinants of health and disease.
Makiko Nanishi, MD
Makiko obtained her MD and completed her pediatric residency and clinical fellowship in pediatric allergy in Japan. After working as a pediatric allergist, she started a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in the U.S. where she studied bronchiolitis during infancy and childhood asthma under the mentorship of Dr. Hasegawa. She joined the Subbarao Lab in July 2023 with an interest in childhood asthma. Her main project focuses on early-life indoor allergen exposure and the development of allergy and asthma.
Wei Wei Thwe Khine, MBBS, MSc., PhD
Wei Thwe holds a Ph.D. in clinical research, an M.Sc. in molecular biology, and an M.B., B.S. degree. Her research conducted at the National University of Singapore involves a wide range of age groups, from infants to older adults, across both healthy and diseased cohorts with an emphasis on microbiome, metabolome, and immunological biomarkers. During her Ph.D. at the University of Turku, she studied the impact of microbiota and dietary factors from infancy to adulthood. In her current role at the Subbarao lab, she investigates the influence of microbiomes on clinical outcomes and their link to environmental exposures in children.
Myrtha E. Reyna
PhD Student
Myrtha received her M.Sc. in Biostatistics from UofT and her B.Sc. in Bioengineering from the Autonomous University of Baja California, Mexico. She joined the Subbarao Lab in October 2018, conducting inferential analysis of clinical and questionnaire derived data, primarily association and clustering studies. Her current projects focus on identifying growth trajectories, overweight and obesity status, and their association with environmental and perinatal risk factors, as well as the gut microbiome.
Anglin Dent
MD/PhD Student
Anglin is an MD/PhD Student at the University of Toronto and is currently completing her PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. She previously completed an MSc at the University of Toronto and a HBSc at the University of Guelph. For her thesis work, Anglin aims to examine the predictive capabilities of CHART, the Subbarao lab’s novel screening tool for the early evaluation of preschool asthma risk, with the inclusion of novel CHILD cohort variables and through clinical validation studies.
Jacob McCoy
MSc Candidate
Jacob is currently completing a subspecialty fellowship in Pediatric Asthma at SickKids, with a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology at IHPME, University of Toronto. He previously completed his medical school at Queen’s University, Pediatrics residency at Western University, and Pediatric Respiratory Medicine fellowship at SickKids, University of Toronto. His current research projects focus on novel therapy approaches in patients with preschool asthma, and identifying predictors of treatment response.
Tabina Ahmed
MSc candidate
Tabina received her BSc. from the University of Toronto (UofT) in 2022, focusing on Health & Disease, Cell & Systems Biology and Physiology. She is currently a MSc. Candidate at the Subbarao Lab under UofT’s Department of Physiology. For her thesis work, she aims to uncover the healthcare burden of the cough symptom among preschool children, and its potential role in asthma phenotyping.
Yaminee Charavanapavan, M.H.Sc.
Research Program Manager
Yaminee received her M.H.Sc in Health Administration and H.B.Sc in Biochemistry and Mental Health Studies at the University of Toronto. Yaminee began at the Subbarao Lab in January 2016 as a Research Assistant and since progressed to Research Coordinator and now Research Program Manager where she oversees lab activity and supports the team in new and ongoing research initiatives.
Vera Dai, M.Sc.
Senior Biostatistician
Vera’s background is in math and statistics. She completed her M.Sc. of biostatistics, supervised by Dr. Wendy Lou, in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She joined the Subbarao Lab in 2016, where she has been applying stats methods to identify longitudinal patterns in research areas such as asthma and lung function, with an interest in data science.
Marija Pajdakovska, M.Sc.
Biostatistician
Marija holds a H.B.Sc in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Toronto and a M.Sc in Biostatistics from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She joined the Subbarao Lab in 2024 as a Biostatistician, where her research focuses on applying statistical methods to uncover insights about pediatric asthma and pulmonary function.
Olivia Tetreault, BBA.
Program Coordinator
Olivia received her BBA in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Diploma in Health Administration from Seneca College. She joined the Subbarao Lab in March 2022 as Dr. Subbarao’s Administrative Coordinator where her primary role was calendar management, HR practices and financial management. She transitioned into the Subbarao Lab’s Program Coordinator where she assists in the planning, tracking and oversight of various team projects.
Kaitlin Jones, H.B.Sc.
Research Assistant
Kaitlin received her HBSc in Molecular Biology, Immunology and Disease from the University of Toronto in 2023. She first started her journey with the Subbarao Lab in November 2022 as a Research Volunteer and has transitioned into her new position as a Research Assistant as of January 2024. Her work focuses on conducting CHILD Cohort Study research visits and supporting the team with various administrative tasks and projects.
In the Subbarao Lab, we take pride in our committed, innovative, and encouraging atmosphere that continuously enables us to produce our forward-thinking research in lung function.
Dr. Subbarao is an exceptional mentor committed to providing a multi-disciplinary research experience for her trainees. Students of all levels gain exposure to clinical asthma, epidemiology, biostatistics and physiology research in her research program. Her trainees are successful: securing faculty positions, salary awards and poster competitions.
We encourage students and trainees who are passionate about applying their skills to the furthering of paediatric respiratory research to join our team. Students work on various projects directed by Dr. Padmaja Subbarao and her team. The Subbarao Lab is located at the SickKids Research Institute in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
For more information, please contact the Lab.