Current Trainees

I graduated from McGill University in 2023 with a B. Sc. in Honours Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Under the supervision of Dr. Ajitha Thanabalasuriar, my honours research project was focused on characterizing the function changes of alveolar macrophages (AMs) following e-cigarette exposure (e-cig). The characterization of e-cig-exposed AMs involved various techniques such as fluorescent microscopy, qPCR and proteomics. I will continue to research AMs with Dr. Ajitha Thanabalasuriar and co-supervisor Dr. Marcel Behr for my M. Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology. Specifically, I aim to study the behavioural heterogeneity of AMs at homeostasis and the changes undergone during pathogenesis including Mycobacterium abscessus and Streptococcus pneumoniae infections. Intravital microscopy will be used to visualize AMs at different stages of infection within the lungs of live animals in real-time. I hope to gain a better understanding of how AM behaviour is related to immune function and further elucidate host-pathogen interactions.

In 2022, I graduated my Ph.D in biochemistry and molecular biology in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam under the supervision of Dr. Dirk Bald. My project at VU Amsterdam was embedded within the Amsterdam Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences (AIMMS), an interdisciplinary Research Institute at VU on molecular mechanisms of diseases and the development of new drugs. In 2023, I start as a post doctorate in the Dr. Behr’s lab to work on different species of mycobacterium. My research topics will be divided into tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis mycobacteria, specifically the differences in virulence between natural variants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex (MTBC).

I graduated from McGill University in 2023 with a Dean’s Honor List in B.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology before starting my M.Sc. in Experimental Medicine. During my undergrad, I focused largely on studying the role of bacteriophages in the infant gut microbiota in the Maurice Lab. I also worked on troubleshooting the Mini Colon Model, a multi-bioreactor system to investigate the gut microbiome previously developed in the lab. Furthermore, I had the unique opportunity to participate in the first cohort of the SEA-PHAGES program where we isolated and characterized a novel mycobacteriophage through wet-lab and bioinformatic methods. Since joining Dr. Behr’s team, I will predominantly focus on identifying the role of the non-canonical virulence factor, MPT70, in the initial stages of infection in both human- and animal-adapted strains of Mycobacteria. By generating various mutant strains of the BCG Russia bacteria, I hope to establish a safe experimental model to observe cellular responses to the presence/absence of MPT70 through monitoring bacterial uptake, internalization, and immune response. Once this model has been established in the attenuated bacteria (BCG), it can be applied to experiments in M. bovis and M. orygis, in our containment level 3 laboratory. 

I graduated from McGill University in 2023 with a B.Sc. in Microbiology & Immunology. During my undergraduate degree, I dedicated my research to investigating Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) under the guidance of Dr. Dao Nguyen. My project involved conducting a longitudinal phenotypic analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates obtained from CF patients undergoing TRIKAFTA treatment. To achieve this, I performed MIC and REMA assays to assess the drug susceptibility of the clinical isolates to various antibiotics. Additionally, I conducted virulence phenotyping assays, which included analyzing swarming and twitching motility and evaluating protease activity. Since then, I have had the privilege of joining Dr. Behr's research team, where my research focus shifted towards developing an antibiotic cocktail specifically designed to effectively eliminate Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Furthermore, I am also working towards establishing a mouse model showing pathology for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis induced by MAP infection. This model will then be used to evaluate the developed antibiotic cocktail as a viable cure for patients with Crohn's disease.

I graduated from the University of Paris in 2021 with an MSc in genetics. During my undergraduate studies, I had a particular interest in microbiology, genetics, and immunology. These interests led me to a master's degree heavily focused on research in the biology field. During my first year of master's, I was planning on doing a five months internship in Dr. Bruno Lemaitre’s lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. This internship revolved around studying the interaction between the Spiroplasma bacteria and the Drosophila model. Sadly, this internship was canceled due to the pandemic. But, by starting reading and getting interested in this field I took a host-pathogen interaction course in the second year of my master's. This course was given by Dr. Serge Mostowy, alumni of the lab. This comforted me with the idea of pursuing a research career in this domain. Afterward, during my master’s second year, I did a six months internship at the Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology in Paris with Dr. Sylvain Durand. This internship revolved around studying the small non-coding RNA, RoxS, and how it regulates genes in Bacillus Subtilis. This internship taught me a lot, I’ve learned how to approach scientific questions, to be more critical, and multiple lab skills. After this internship, I contacted Dr. Serge Mostowy for lab recommendations to do a Ph.D. in the host-pathogen interaction field. That’s how I contacted Dr. Marcel Behr to join the lab. I’ve started as a research assistant and I’m planning on starting my Ph.D. in May 2022. I’m currently working on the namH gene in BCG Russia, and how the N-glycolyl muramyl dipeptide could increase host immune response through NOD2. In addition, I am working on the SigK regulon to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying its activity.