{"id":822,"date":"2023-03-07T22:11:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T22:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/youn\/?page_id=822"},"modified":"2025-09-12T15:42:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T15:42:41","slug":"team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/youn\/team\/","title":{"rendered":"Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Principal Investigator<\/h2><\/div>
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Ji-Young Youn, PhD<\/strong><\/h3><\/div>

Scientist<\/strong>, Molecular Medicine and Cell & Systems Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children<\/span>
<\/span>Assistant Professor, <\/b>Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto<\/span> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Dr. Youn earned her B.Sc. in Bioengineering from Yonsei University, followed by a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 2013, under the supervision of Dr. Brenda Andrews. She subsequently joined the laboratory of Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, where she investigated the proteomes of mammalian RNA-rich biomolecular condensates using cutting-edge quantitative proteomics.<\/span>
<\/span>Since starting her independent position in 2020, Dr. Youn\u2019s lab has applied quantitative proteomics methods to study these areas of research: 1) Investigating the role of RNA-rich condensates and their dysregulation in human diseases, 2) Application of proximity labeling tools to identify host targets of pathogen effectors or toxins, and 3) Development and application of proteomics tools. Dr. Youn holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in membraneless organelle proteomics.<\/span>
<\/p>\n<\/div>

Learn more about Dr. Youn!<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Lab Trainees<\/h2><\/div>
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Kiki (Jie Qi) Huang<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/h3><\/div>

PhD candidate<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

kiks.huang@mail.utoronto.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Research Interest:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> Using proteomics to investigate the role of highly disordered proteins in stress granules.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Kiki Huang is a Ph<\/span><\/span>D<\/span><\/span> candidate who completed her HBSc at the University of Toronto in 2020, where she double majored in Molecular Genetics and Global Health. Her favourite lab instrument is the multichannel pipette.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Alan <\/span><\/span><\/span>Minkovich<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3><\/div>

MSc candidate<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n<\/div>

alan.minkovich@mail.utoronto.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Research Interest:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> Studying the changes in RNA poly(A) tail-length when stress granules sequester the CCR4-NOT complex.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Alan <\/span><\/span><\/span>Minkovich<\/span><\/span><\/span> is a <\/span><\/span><\/span>graduate student<\/span><\/span><\/span> at UofT who <\/span><\/span><\/span>has completed <\/span><\/span><\/span>his <\/span><\/span><\/span>B<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sc.<\/span><\/span><\/span> at McMast<\/span><\/span><\/span>er University. During his undergrad he studied Biochemistry and Biomedical sciences. When not in the lab he plays in the Hart House Symphonic Band.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Carina Lyons<\/b><\/h3><\/div>

PhD candidate<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

carina.lyons@mail.utoronto.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Research Interest:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> Using cell culture and in vitro models to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying disease, with a current focus on proteins found in pathological aggregates in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).<\/p>\n<\/div>

Carina Lyons is a PhD candidate who completed her HBSc. in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Cell and Molecular Biology, and Immunology at UofT in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Rachel Chiang<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3><\/div>

MSc candidate<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

rachel.chiang@mail.utoronto.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Research Interest:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> Exploring TDP-43 cytoplasmic interactors and the role of stress granules in TDP-43’s phase separation. She is also investigating the molecular determinants that govern its partitioning into stress granules. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Rachel is a graduate student in the Department of Molecular Genetics at U of T. She previously completed her HBSc. at U of T, specializing in  Molecular Genetics with a minor in Immunology. Her favourite lab instrument is the P200 pipette.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Faizah Abdullah<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3><\/div>

MSc candidate<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

faizah.abdullah@mail.utoronto.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Research Interest:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> Characterizing the effect of ALS-associated variants on the biophysical and biochemical properties of TDP-43. She is also exploring the use of minibinders to alter the effect of these changing phase separation dynamics within RNA-rich biomolecular condensates. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Faizah is a graduate student in the Department of Molecular Genetics at U of T. She previously completed her HBSc. in Immunology and Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. Her favourite lab activity is collecting her SDS-PAGE gels.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Staff<\/h2><\/div>
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Karl Schreiber<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/h3><\/div>

PhD, Research Associate<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

karl.schreiber@sickkids.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Karl was previously employed as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the laboratories of Drs. Brian <\/span>Staskawicz<\/span> and Jennifer Lewis at the University of California in Berkeley, California. He holds a PhD. in Cell and Systems Biology from the University of Toronto, a MSc. in Plant Science from the University of Saskatchewan, and a BSc. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Alberta. His research focuses on proteomic analyses of key proteins associated with the progressive neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Eileigh <\/span>Kadijk<\/span><\/strong><\/h3><\/div>

MSc, Technologist<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

eileigh.kadijk@sickkids.ca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Eileigh is a technician in the Youn Lab. She has earned her <\/span>BSc. in Microbiology & Immunology and Certificate in Genetics from Dalhousie University where she continued her research at Dalhousie and earned her MSc. in Microbiology & Immunology in 2022. She works to support a variety of different ongoing projects in the Youn lab. Her <\/span>favourite<\/span> tissue culture plate is a 12-well. When <\/span>she\u2019s<\/span> not in the lab she enjoys reading and enjoying a good cup of coffee.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Meet Our Alumni<\/h2><\/div>
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Sean Millar<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/h3><\/div>

MSc Graduate, Technologist<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Owen (Yi-Cheng) Tsai<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/h3><\/div>

MSc Graduate<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"100-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-822","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nTeam - Youn Lab<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/youn\/team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/youn\/team\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Youn Lab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-12T15:42:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"50 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/youn\/team\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lab.research.sickkids.ca\/youn\/team\/\",\"name\":\"Team - 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