Members of the Brooks-Wilson Lab
Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson
Titles: Head, Cancer Genetics, Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Centre
Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University
Associate Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Member, Cancer Control Research Unit, BC Cancer Agency
Education:
B.Sc. Biochemistry (Co-op), Simon Fraser University,
M.Sc. Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto,
Ph.D. Genetics, University of British Columbia
Maziar Rahmani, MD, PhD
MD (1988-1996): Babol University School of Medicine, Babol, IranResearch 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
Postdoctoral Fellow (2007 - present): Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, Canada
Recipient of Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada/Pfizer Research Fellowship (2007-2009) and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Fellowship (2008-2011)
Research Interests:
- 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.
Dr. Karla Bretherick
Education:
BSc. Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology, University of Calgary, 2000
PhD. Medical Genetics, Univerisity of British Columbia, 2008
Research Interests:
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.). My current project is 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.
Stephen Leach
Born and raised in Calgary, AB. (Giddy Up!) Headed out to the West Coast for University in Victoria (B.Sc 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.
Rozmin Janoo-Gilani
B.Sc. Biochemistry and Chemistry (Hons) , University of Nairobi M.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Nairobi
I am part of the Cancer Control Research (CCR) Department of the BCCA. Scientists from the CCR Department collaborate with the Brooks-Wilson laboratory in various studies. These include studies of prostate, breast and ovarian cancers as well as melanoma and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. I am currently looking at gene-environment interactions in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Amy English
Born and raised in a small town outside of London, Ontario, I remain a small town girl at heart. From the moment my Grade 10 science teacher mentioned genetics, I knew I had to pursue a career in the up and coming field, and so I moved to London and obtained an Honours BSc in Genetics from the University of Western Ontario.
I continued to pursue my career by attending the MSc program for genetic counselling at the University of Toronto. Following graduation, I lived in Toronto (don't hold it against me!) for five years, while performing genetic counselling and research work in cancer genetics with Cancer Care Ontario.
After jumping at the opportunity to move to the beautiful city of Vancouver in November of 2005, I happily find myself working in the field of cancer research once again, this time with the BC Cancer Agency. As a genetic field worker in the Brooks-Wilson Lab, I get to combine my love for research and genetics with my love for working with people.
Outside of work, I enjoy snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, camping, playing ultimate Frisbee, and spending time with my chocolate lab: Huxley!
Johanna Schuetz
I did my B.Sc. at Simon Fraser University in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. My honour's research term there involved cloning and attempting to crystallize a bacterial membrane protein. Determined to avoid protein work in the near future, I decided to switch to a topic that required less time working in a fridge. My research here focuses on studying the impact of apoptosis genes on susceptibility to Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. DNA is way more fun!
Besides my work, I love to talk about food, sweets and chocolate. My favourite books are "The Alchemist" and "Mister God this is Anna". I love traveling and anything that involves a trip to the beach. My favourite links: music in Greece for a feel of the combination of sunshine, cement and food; Wonderful chocolates in Vancouver ; Fun stuff to do this fall .
Feel free to contact me with questions regarding how life at the lab is, if Angie is a crazy supervisor, etc.
Dan Fornika 
I did my undergrad studies in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University, and I'm now working on my Ph.D. in Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia.
I am currently working on a study of mitochondrial genome variation in healthy aging. We will be looking 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 is that some of these genetic factors reside on the mitochondrial genome.
Madalene Earp
Education:
B.Sc. Molecular Biology and Genetics, Minor in Statistics, University of Guelph
Ph.D. Candidate Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
Research Interests:
Protein structure-function relationships, gene copy number variation, genome-wide association studies, discerning biologically meaningul trends in large data sets, finding new ways to present data
to aid discovery. I work on the Healthy Aging Project.
Masters Degree: Molecular Genetics, University of Vienna, Austria
Education: