The Taylor Lab is always seeking outstanding young scientists to join our group as Graduate Students, or Wet Lab and Bioinformatic Research Fellows. If you have a high level of energy and curiosity, and are interested in making fundamental discoveries in understanding the molecular biology of brain tumours, come and join a fun, dynamic, dedicated and world-renowned team.


Dr. Michael Taylor MD, PhD, FRCS(C)
Neurosurgeon & Senior Scientist
The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Michael Taylor is a Paediatric Neurosurgeon and Senior Scientist in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program at The Hospital for Sick Children, a University of Toronto affiliated Hospital in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto. His research centres on the molecular genetics of medulloblastoma and ependymoma, two of the most common malignant paediatric brain tumours.
He and his team have published over 350 peer-reviewed publications, many in high-impact journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, Cancer Cell, and Lancet Oncology. His publications have been cited over 34,500 times and his findings adopted to improve clinical practice.
His group demonstrated that medulloblastoma is comprised of at least four distinct diseases (Journal Clinical Oncology, 2011; Cancer Cell, 2017; Nature, 2017) and that there is clinically significant heterogeneity in metastatic medulloblastomas (Nature, 2012, Nature 2016; Nature Genetics, 2017). His team recently showed that the cerebellar tumours are a disorder of early brain development, a finding which provides a proximate explanation for the peak incidence of cerebellar tumours in early childhood (Nature, 2019).
Dr. Taylor is well known for his quick wit and strong collaboration skills. Nearly every member of the lab has at some point been “Taylorized” — if you’re wondering what that is then please check out the current opportunities so you can come and join the adventure!

Dr. Xiaochong Wu
Senior Research Associate

Dr. Craig Daniels
Senior Project Manager

Dr. Patryk Skowron
Bioinformatics Analyst

John Lee
PhD candidate

Sachin Kumar
MD/PhD candidate

David Przelicki
PhD candidate

Kyle Juraschka
MD/PhD candidate

Michelle Ly
PhD candidate

Cory Richman
PhD candidate

Evan Wang
PhD candidate

Liam Hendrikse
PhD candidate

Alexandra Rasnitsyn
PhD candidate

Ncedile Mankahla
PhD candidate

Winnie Ong
M.Sc. candidate

Randy Van Ommeren
PhD candidate

Kaitlin Kharas
PhD candidate

Polina Balin
PhD candidate

Olga Sirbu
M.Sc. candidate

Vernon Fong
M.Sc. candidate

Sara Ahmed
MD/PhD candidate

Anders Erickson
MD/PhD candidate

Bryn Livingston
PhD candidate

Tajana Douglas
Research Technologist I

Ning Huang
Research Technologist II

Raul Suarez
Research Technologist II

Jonelle Pallotta
Research Technologist I
- Team captain
Dr. Michael Taylor MD, PhD, FRCS(C)
Neurosurgeon & Senior Scientist
The Hospital for Sick ChildrenDr. Michael Taylor is a Paediatric Neurosurgeon and Senior Scientist in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program at The Hospital for Sick Children, a University of Toronto affiliated Hospital in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto. His research centres on the molecular genetics of medulloblastoma and ependymoma, two of the most common malignant paediatric brain tumours.
He and his team have published over 350 peer-reviewed publications, many in high-impact journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, Cancer Cell, and Lancet Oncology. His publications have been cited over 34,500 times and his findings adopted to improve clinical practice.
His group demonstrated that medulloblastoma is comprised of at least four distinct diseases (Journal Clinical Oncology, 2011; Cancer Cell, 2017; Nature, 2017) and that there is clinically significant heterogeneity in metastatic medulloblastomas (Nature, 2012, Nature 2016; Nature Genetics, 2017). His team recently showed that the cerebellar tumours are a disorder of early brain development, a finding which provides a proximate explanation for the peak incidence of cerebellar tumours in early childhood (Nature, 2019).
Dr. Taylor is well known for his quick wit and strong collaboration skills. Nearly every member of the lab has at some point been “Taylorized” — if you’re wondering what that is then please check out the current opportunities so you can come and join the adventure!
- Staff
Dr. Xiaochong Wu
Senior Research AssociateDr. Craig Daniels
Senior Project ManagerDr. Patryk Skowron
Bioinformatics Analyst- Postdoctoral fellows
- Graduate students
John Lee
PhD candidateSachin Kumar
MD/PhD candidateDavid Przelicki
PhD candidateKyle Juraschka
MD/PhD candidateMichelle Ly
PhD candidateCory Richman
PhD candidateEvan Wang
PhD candidateLiam Hendrikse
PhD candidateAlexandra Rasnitsyn
PhD candidateNcedile Mankahla
PhD candidateWinnie Ong
M.Sc. candidateRandy Van Ommeren
PhD candidateKaitlin Kharas
PhD candidatePolina Balin
PhD candidateOlga Sirbu
M.Sc. candidateVernon Fong
M.Sc. candidateSara Ahmed
MD/PhD candidateAnders Erickson
MD/PhD candidateBryn Livingston
PhD candidate- Technologists
Tajana Douglas
Research Technologist INing Huang
Research Technologist IIRaul Suarez
Research Technologist IIJonelle Pallotta
Research Technologist I