Members of the Brooks-Wilson Lab
Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson
Titles:
Head, Cancer Genetics, Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Centre
Professor, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University
Professor, Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Member, Cancer Control Research Unit, BC Cancer Agency
Education:
BSc. Biochemistry (Co-op), Simon Fraser University,
MSc. Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto,
PhD. Genetics, University of British Columbia
Contact: abrooks-wilson@bcgsc.ca
Stephen Leach
Born and raised in Calgary, AB. (Giddy Up!)
Headed out to the West Coast for University in Victoria (BSc. Biochemistry)
Worked for several years (1995-2000) at the University of Calgary performing research with the Department of Medicine.
Moved back out to the West Coast in 2001 for an opportunity with the Genome Sciences Centre in the Mapping Group.
Joined the Brooks-Wilson laboratory at the GSC in 2002.
Outside work I spend most/all of my time with my passion for mountain biking.
Sam Jones, PhD. student
Education:
PhD. Candidate, Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Research Project:
Diverse types of lympoid cancers cluster in families.
Rawnak Hoque, PhD. student
Education:
PhD. student, University of British Columbia
Sneha Ralli, MSc. student
Education:
MSc. student, Simon Fraser University
Past Members
Dr. Lauren Tindale (completed PhD.)
Education:
BSc. (Hons) Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, 2012
PhD. Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, 2018
Research Project:
My thesis project focused on the genetics of healthy aging. Using a cohort of Super-Seniors, aged over 85 and never diagnosed with any major diseases, I was looking for genetic factors that contributed to their exceptional health and longevity.
Jessica Nelson (completed MSc.)
Dr. Johanna Schuetz (completed PhD.)
Rozmin Janoo-Gilani
Education:
BSc. Biochemistry and Chemistry (Hons) , University of Nairobi
MSc. Biochemistry, University of Nairobi
Dr. Karla Bretherick, Postdoctoral Fellow
Education:
BSc. Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology, University of Calgary, 2000
PhD. Medical Genetics, Univerisity of British Columbia, 2008
Postdoctoral Fellow: Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver
Research Project:
I am primarily interested in how common genetic variants increase risk for complex disease. My past experience includes linkage and association studies on Type 1 Diabetes (BSc.) and Premature ovarian
failure (PhD.). In the Brooks-Wilson lab my project was to investigate the functional affect of a common polymorphism in the H2AX gene promoter region that is associated with increased risk for non-Hodgkin's
Lymphoma.
Dr. Madalene Earp (completed PhD.)
Education:
BSc. Molecular Biology and Genetics, Minor in Statistics, University of Guelph
PhD. Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Research Project:
My doctoral work focused on optimizing and applying a common statistical technique to discover genes that influence a diverse range of human diseases and traits. The common statistical technique was a genome wide association study (GWAS) using DNA pooling. Ovarian cancer, age of natural menopause, auto immune thyroid disease, aortic valve stenosis, and a healthy aging phenotype were studied.
Maziar Rahmani, MD., PhD.
Education:
MD. (1988-1996): Babol University School of Medicine, Babol, Iran
Research Fellow (1997-2000): Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
PhD. (2000-2007): James Hogg iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Research Project:
Large-scale cohort study of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Whole genome scan of healthy aging and cardiovascular calcification. Molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular calcification.
Dan Fornika (completed MSc.)
Education:
BSc. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University
MSc. Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Research Project:
The study of mitochondrial genome variation in healthy aging. We looked for genetic markers of healthy aging by studying "Super-Seniors." These are people who have reached the age of 85 years
while maintaining good health and resisting common age-related disease. We know that part of their success can be attributed to their genetics, and my hypothesis was that some of these genetic factors reside on the
mitochondrial genome.
Amy English (Genetic field worker)
Dr. Julius Halaschek-Wiener, Postdoctoral Fellow
Education:
MSc. Molecular Genetics, University of Vienna, Austria
PhD. (1998 - 2002) Molecular Oncology, University of Vienna, Austria
Postdoctoral Fellow: Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver
Recipient of Erwin-Schroedinger Fellowship of the Austrian Science Fund (2004-2006)
Research Project: How do genetic variations predispose to health or disease? To answer this question we investigated whether certain genetic variants (SNPs, insertions, deletions) in selected candidate genes are
associated with a healthy aging phenotype. Additional research interests include gene-environment interactions.
Trevor Pugh (Dr. Marco Marra Lab)
Education:
BSc. (Hons, Co-op) Combined Biochemistry & Chemistry, Minor in Commerce, University of British Columbia
PhD. Candidate Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Research Project:
Lung cancer genomics, genetic basis for response to gene-targeted therapies, whole genome amplification, working with limited clinical samples, DNA sequencing technologies, robotics & automation
