Principal Investigator

Headshot of Dr. Padmaja Subbarao smiling with dark-rimmed glasses

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.

Postdoctoral Fellows

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.

Graduate Students

Maria Medeleanu
PhD candidate

Maria is an PhD candidate in Physiology at the University of Toronto, where she completed her B.Sc. in Physiology. Maria is interested in child immunology and the development of respiratory diseases; her thesis focused on respiratory infections in infancy and their potential impact on lung development, as measured by pulmonary function tests.

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.

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.

Research Staff

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.

Biswajit Chowdhury, PhD, M.Sc.
Biostatistician

Biswajit received his PhD in Biochemistry and Medical Genetics from the University of Manitoba and is currently pursuing his MSc in Biostatistics from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Biswajit is passionate about the idea of exploring clinical and genomic data to discover valuable insights that could help to improve disease diagnosis and treatment. In May 2023, he joined Subbarao’s group, where he has been applying his statistical knowledge and skills in exploring longitudinal CHILD cohort data and identifying novel information that could benefit both patients and the scientific community.

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.

Lab Alumni

  • Ella Nugent, (Undergraduate Research Student 2023)
  • Yu Chen Qian, (M.Sc Candidate, 2021-23)
  • Gabrielle Jacobson, (M.Sc Candidate, 2021-23)
  • Bhagyashree Sharma (Medical Research Student, 2021-22)
  • Kozeta Miliku (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2020-22)
  • Syeda Rahman (Administrative Coordinator, 2019-22)
  • Aimee Dubeau (Research Assistant, 2011-12; Clinical Research Project Coordinator, 2012-16; Project Manager, 2016-20, Program Manager, 2020-22)
  • Vanessa Breton (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-22)
  • Giorge Voutsas (PhD Candidate, 2017-21)
  • Audrey Tilly-Gratton (Paediatric Resident, 2018-21)
  • Marie-Pier Lirette (Paediatric Resident, 2018-21)
  • Susan Balkovec (Registered Respiratory Therapist, 2006-2021)
  • Paula Parvulescu (Post-Doc, 2019-20)
  • Rebecca Casas (Translational Medicine Program, 2018-20)
  • Emma Campisi (Research Student, 2018-20)
  • Sandra Giangioppo (Respiratory Medicine Fellow, 2018-20)
  • Krzysztof Kowalik (M.Sc. Candidate, 2014-16; Clinical Research Project Assistant, 2016-20)
  • Zihang Lu (Biostatistician, 2013-15; PhD Candidate, 2015-20)
  • Stephanie DeLorenzo (Registered Respiratory Therapist, Certified Asthma Educator, 2015-20)
  • Melanie Emmerson (Research Student, 2016; Junior Clerk, 2018-19)
  • May Grace Brydges (Clinical Research Project Manager, 2009-20)
  • Stella Scheckenburger (Undergraduate Research Student, 2019-20)
  • Shahideh Safavi (Research Fellow, 2020)
  • Kelvin Lee (Undergraduate Research Student, 2018-19)
  • Maya Harel-Sterling (Clinical Research Fellow, 2018-19)
  • Nicole Garcia (Research Student, 2015; Clinical Research Project Assistant, 2016-19)
  • Autumn Chen (Observer, 2019)
  • Raymond Chen (Observer, 2019)
  • Sirisha Gaddipati (Undergraduate Research Student, 2019)
  • Shaelyn Laurie (Undergraduate Research Student, 2019)
  • James Mangaliman (Observer, 2019)
  • Mandy Yuen (Undergraduate Research Student, 2017-18)
  • Mitchell Sutton (M.Sc. Candidate, 2017-18)
  • Maxwell Tran (Research Student, 2018)
  • Julia Upton (MPH Candidate, 2017-18)
  • Qianqian Zhu (M.Sc. Candidate, 2017-18)
  • Claire Lepine (Clinical Research Project Assistant, 2013-18)
  • Javeria Raheem (Junior Research Clerk, 2018)
  • Rachel Foong (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2016-17)
  • Winnie Shen (Biostatistician, 2016-17)
  • Olivia Cheng (Clinical Research Project Assistant, 2015-17)
  • Helen Cai (Research Student, 2015- 2017)
  • Michael Garcia (Co-op Student, 2017)
  • Christine Racette (Asthma Clinical Research Fellow, 2014-16)
  • Benjamin Keating (Research Student, 2016)
  • Junior Chuang (M.Sc. Candidate, 2014-15)
  • David Dai (M.Sc. Candidate, 2014-15)
  • Hilary Caldwell (Clinical Research Project Assistant, 2013-15)
  • Mirjam Schaap (International Research Student, 2015)
  • Katie Bowden (Clinical Research Project Assistant, 2014)
  • Ayanna Boyce (Research Student, 2014)
  • Ethel Gonzalez (Research Student, 2014)
  • Neha Kanga (Research Student, 2013-14)
  • Jenny Zhou (Co-op Student, 2014)
  • Kathy Suida-Wallace (Research Student, 2012-13)
  • Colleen Keast (Registered Respiratory Therapist, 2006-13)
  • Gustavo Perez (Research Student, 2013)
  • Surendran Thavagnanam (Respiratory Medicine Fellow, 2010-12)
  • Nadia Rampersad (Registered Respiratory Therapist, 2009-12)
  • Joost Moerman (International Research Student, 2012)
  • Tracy Pitt (Asthma Fellow, 2010-11)
  • Meghan Brown (Master’s Student, 2009-11)
  • Rajdip Grewal (Registered Respiratory Therapist, 2009-11)
  • Dr. Glenda Bendiak (Respiratory Medicine Fellow, 2008-10)
  • Reshma Amin (PhD Candidate, 2007-09)
  • Fiona Kritzinger (Respiratory Medicine Fellow, 2006-08)
  • Mustafa Osman (Respiratory Medicine Fellow, 2006-08)

Opportunities

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.