Team Members
Dr. Slava Epelman, MD, PhD
Dr. Slava Epelman is a Clinician-Scientist in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at the University Toronto, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, a Senior Scientist and Cardiovascular Research Group lead at the Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network, and the Loretta Rogers Chair in Immunobioengineering for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, University of Toronto. Dr. Epelman obtained his MD / PhD (in Immunology) from the University of Calgary and then did his medical residency and clinical fellowships at the Cleveland Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine and Washington University. He is a staff cardiologist in the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the Toronto General Hospital. His scientific interests are focused on the role of macrophages in cardiac tissue injury and regeneration.
Staff
Sarah Wilson
Research Administrative Assistant
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Crystal Kantores
Lab Manager
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Undergraduate: University of Toronto
Fun fact: I get road rage walking behind people
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Dr. Abdul Momen, MD, PhD
Scientific Associate/Animal Surgeon
Dr. Shabana Vohra, PhD
Scientific Associate
Bioinformatician
PhD: University of Essex
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Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Danielle Lee, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Multifactorial development of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy
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PhD: University of Manitoba
Fun fact: I once led a 6 week long canoe trip in Northern Manitoba
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Dr. Brendan Cordeiro, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis
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PhD: University of Manitoba
Fun fact: I'm useless in pub quizzes except for when the category is Arnold Schwarzenegger movies quotes.
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Graduate Students
Homaira Hamidzada
PhD Candidate
Investigating macrophages in human cardiac function and in viral myocarditis
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Undergraduate: University of Toronto
Fun fact: I have no fun facts; I eat, sleep and breathe single cell
Julia Lin
PhD Candidate
Role of T cells in viral myocarditis
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Undergraduate: University of Toronto
Fun fact: I once lost every game on my elementary school soccer team
Justin Callahan
PhD Candidate
Early immune responses during viral myocarditis
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Undergraduate: University of Toronto
Fun fact: I once took a 15 hour road trip in one day by myself!
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Alex Lac
PhD Candidate
Studying tissue macrophage biology across organs
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Undergraduate: University of Western Ontario
Fun fact: I was on BBC News for riding my bike during the hottest heatwave in Canada.
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Alumni
Anthony Wong (PhD 2024 - Immunology)
Rysa Zaman (PhD 2024 - Immunology)
Dler Mahmood (Postdoctoral Fellow 2024)
Sara Nejat (Scientific Associate 2022)
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Sarah Dick (Postdoctoral Fellow 2022)
Subsequent position: Assistant Professor at Queen's University
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Laura Aronoff (PhD. 2022 - LMP)
Subsequent position: MD student at the University of Toronto
Simon Pascual Gil (Postdoctoral Fellow 2022)
Fanny Beguier (Postdoctoral Fellow 2020)
Subsequent position: Academic researcher at Vision Institute
Candice Tang (MSc. 2018 - Applied Immunology)
Subsequent position: Medical Writer at Six Degrees Medical Consulting
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Yiming Wang, MD, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow 2018)
Subsequent position: Geneticist Residency at SickKids
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Siyavash (Sina) Hosseinzadeh (MSc. 2017 - LMP)
Subsequent position: MD student at the University of British Columbia
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Jillian Macklin (MSc. 2017 - LMP)
Subsequent position: MD/PhD student at the University of Toronto
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Iulia Barbu (MSc. 2017 - Applied Immunology)
Subsequent position: Business Analyst at Avanade
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Xavier Clement-Casares, PhD (Research Technician)
Subsequent position: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta
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