Team

The D2R Support Office is ready to serve its scientific and community partners across the spectrum of activities related to this exciting and groundbreaking initiative.

• General Inquiries: D2R [at] mcgill.ca
• Funding & Reporting: D2R.funding [at] mcgill.ca
• Communications: D2R.comms [at] mcgill.ca

Director of Administration
Giovanna Sebastiani
giovanna.sebastiani [at] mcgill.ca

Giovanna Sebastiani completed both her undergraduate and doctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University. After spending 7 years in the biotech industry leading the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology group at Bellus Health, she returned to an academic setting in the Technology Transfer Group at McGill University. She has been working in the University’s Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation for the past fifteen years in roles of increasing responsibilty. She has a broad experience in various research fields and has most recently led the Industry Partnerships team within the Office of Innovation and Partnerships. As Director of Administration of D2R, Giovana provides strategic operational leadership, supports decision-making and peer-review processes, and oversees the development of partnerships for the D2R Initiative.

Funding and Reporting

Associate Director, Funding and Reporting
Jing Liu
jing.liu2 [at] mcgill.ca

Jing brings over 25 years of management experience in Research and Development (R&D) programs and large multidisciplinary research initiatives. For the D2R initiative, she works closely with the Scientific Directors on its implementation strategy and is responsible for the development, management, and reporting of funding programs.

A McGill University Ph.D. graduate with postdoctoral training at Harvard University, Jing previously managed funding programs and reporting for McGill's "Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives" initiative. She also served as the inaugural Manager of the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health Program at the Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre as well as Director at McGill’s Life Sciences Complex High Throughput and High Content Screening Facility, and at PhageTech.

Jing's expertise spans genetics, genomics, big data analysis, preclinical studies, and anti-infection research. Her publication record includes first authorship in Nature Genetics and first/corresponding authorship in Nature Biotechnology.

Senior Advisor, Programs
Biljana Vasilevska
biljana.vasilevska [at] mcgill.ca

Biljana Vasilevska's career in research administration builds on over a decade of experience as a policy and social science researcher in academic, government and nonprofit organizations. Her qualifications include training in project management, program evaluation, technical and plain language communication, community development, and adult education. She has worked on projects related to refugee settlement services and refugee mental health, temporary foreign farm workers, housing and public health, and urban development, among others.

Prior to joining the D2R team, Biljana was a Grants and Agreements officer in McGill’s Office of Sponsored Research, where she supported applications to various research sponsors, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, New Frontiers in Research Fund, and the US Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

Data Science

Data Science Director
Mathieu Bourgey
mathieu.bourgey [at] mcgill.ca

Mathieu Bourgey is a highly distinguished expert in bioinformatics and computational genomics, with a career of over two decades. From 2022 to 2024, he served as the Scientific Manager at Mila – Quebec AI Institute, working under the leadership of Prof. Yoshua Bengio. In this role, he led a team that provided scientific, technical, and management support for cutting-edge AI research and funding projects, managed collaborations, and supervised code development. Prior to that, from 2015 to 2022, Mathieu was a Bioinformatics Manager at the Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics (C3G). There, he directed a team of bioinformaticians and developers, overseeing projects such as SARS-COV-2 sequencing analysis in collaboration with Quebec's Health Authorities. He also led the development and maintenance of GenPipes, a widely used genomics pipeline. Mathieu's career began at Genome Quebec, where he progressed from a Senior Bioinformatician Specialist to leading the data production and services team. He holds a Ph.D. in Statistical Genetics from Paris Sud University and was a Postdoctoral fellow in Bioinformatics at the University of Montreal (D. Sinnett’s Lab – CHU Sainte-Justine). Mathieu has made significant contributions to numerous scientific publications, conferences, workshops, and training programs globally.

Communications

Senior Communications Officer
Emily Cholette
emily.cholette2 [at] mcgill.ca

Emily is a communications specialist and project manager with over 12 years of experience working with various UN agencies and think-tanks. She has led and contributed to initiatives in West Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Americas focusing on issues related to climate change, migration and human rights. Emily earned her Master's degree in Media, Communications and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Concordia University. Having spent the last decade living abroad in Galway, London, Bangkok, New York and Dakar, Emily is now delighted to be back in her hometown of Montreal.  

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

Senior Advisor, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Dorothée Michaud
dorothee.michaud [at] mcgill.ca

Dorothée is an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion specialist with a background in biomedical science and intercultural education. Before joining D2R, Dorothée served as an intercultural counselor for the English Education Network at the Ministry of Education and worked as a teacher committed to helping students navigate an intercultural society. In the biomedical field, her past experiences include lab work in pharmacology, neurophysiology, molecular biology and neuropathology. Dorothée holds degrees across multiple disciplines including a bachelor’s in biomedical sciences from Université de Montréal, a master’s in communications from Université Laval, a master’s in education from Université de Sherbrooke and is currently a PhD candidate in educational sciences at UQAM. During her free time, Dorothée enjoys camping with her family and losing herself in a good book.

Finance

Finance Officer
Toritshè-Sade Oluwaferanmi
opetoritshe.omoniyi [at] mcgill.ca

Toritshè-Sade is a Nigerian-Canadian of African descent who has a strong background in accounting, finance, and operations across various industries, including education. She brings to the D2R Initiative over a decade of experience in successfully overseeing and executing the budget management of large scale multi-million funds, in creating and implementing effective financial and operational frameworks that ensure integrity in fund management; as well as financial planning, forecasting, achieving financial KPIs and reporting.

Toritshè-Sade’s collaborative approach in coordinating with both internal and external clients serves to ensure the delivery of exceptional results in budget oversight, financial & operational efficiency, fund management and its financial reporting.

Innovation and Partnerships

Senior Industry Liaison Officer
Janet Prince
janet.prince [at] mcgill.ca

Janet joined the Office of Innovation + Partnerships in 2022 as Senior Industry Liaison Officer (Medicine and Health Sciences) and is now excited to take on the Industry Liaison role for D2R. Prior to joining the team, she held pivotal administration roles in research ethics and compliance at the Montreal Neurological Institute, including Compliance Officer for the Neuro Animal Care Committee. She also has substantial experience in business development and international commerce, which provided her with skillsets that complement her science background. Janet’s combined experiences in fundamental research and business development are the foundation for her talent at fostering long-lasting partnerships between McGill researchers and industry partners. She obtained her PhD in Neuroscience from McGill University in 2012.  

Technology Transfer Manager
Sarah Butcher
sarah.butcher [at] mcgill.ca

In 2021, Sarah earned her MSc in DNA Profiling from the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom, following her 2014 completion of a BSc in Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation. Prior to joining McGill in 2022, Sarah served as a Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer at a University affiliated hospital laboratory in the UK, pioneering innovative techniques for tackling Covid-19. Sarah has lived and worked in Finland, Australia, New Zealand and British Columbia, Canada where she engaged in roles in various companies focusing on sales and customer service, and occasional farmwork. Sarah enjoys exploring greater Montreal with husband and dog and is currently learning French.

Office of Sponsored Research

Senior Awards Officer
Christina (Tina) Gelsomini
christina.gelsomini [at] mcgill.ca

Tina (she/her) is an experienced project manager and research administrator. She is the former Project Officer of the "Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare" research partnership based out of McGill University’s Ingram School of Nursing. With over a decade of experience, Tina has worked on projects in the humanities and social sciences including in nursing leadership, sexual health, media education, television production, and large-scale arts events. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Communications and Cultural Studies and in French Studies from Concordia University.

Awards Officer
Sarah Kaderabek
sarah.kaderabek [at] mcgill.ca

Sarah received her MA and PhD in Russian (Language and Literature) from McGill University. She taught at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and served for two summers as the Resident Director in Moscow for the American Councils for International Education Contemporary Russia study abroad program. She joined the Office of Sponsored Research's Awards Management team in 2017, where she oversees award activation for Canada First Research Excellence Fund grants, Genome Quebec and Genome Canada funding.