Contact: email: jane[dot]hill[at]ubc.ca
Education: Ph.D. Yale University, B.S. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Research: Using breath to diagnose disease; molecular signaling within and between species.
Biography: Jane grew up in rural New South Wales, Australia. Her high school years were spent in Grenfell, the birthplace of the famous Australian poet Henry Lawson. After moving to the US and finishing a BS in Chemical Engineering and technical MBA (both at Rensselaer), she ran a small bioremediation company in central New York State for a few years. However, she wanted to know more about the microorganisms that underpinned the transformations of pollutants in the soil. So, she completed her PhD at Yale University with Water Treatment Technologist Menachem Elimelech and then worked with Biotechnologist Jordan Peccia at Yale for her post-doctoral experience. She spent over a decade measuring and evaluating how organic phosphorus compounds were cycled in the environment before turning her attention to infectious diseases and metabolomics. In her spare time, Jane likes to play tennis, hike with her dog, garden, skijor, read books and poetry, play music, travel ... and ponder microbes. When possible, she would like to continue learning how to kitesurf ... even though it scares her half to death
Education: BSc Chemistry, University of Tabriz; MSc and PhD Analytical Chemistry, University of Tabriz
Biography: Nina was born and raised in Iran. She completed her Master's and PhD degrees at the University of Tabriz (Tabriz, Iran) in the field of analytical chemistry. During her PhD, she developed her skills as an analytical chemist by conducting research in the field of the development and introduction of sample preparation techniques for trace analysis of organic compounds in biological, food, and environmental matrices using gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. After obtaining her PhD there in 2014, she worked as an analytical chemist in industry and then as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tehran. Then, she continued her career as a project supervisor at the Standard Research Institute of Iran as well as a part-time researcher at the University of Tehran. She has been working for several years, developing standard test methods and working with GC/MS/MS and HPLC. She joined the Hill lab in 2022 at the University of British Columbia. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, music, travelling and gaming. Google Scholar
Education:Master’s in Chemistry, Illinois Institute of Technology; B.S. in Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou
Research: Bioanalytical method development, metabolites/biomarker profiling.
Biography: Sonja was born in the East of China and moved to Shenzhen, a city in the South of China, at the age of seven. In her undergraduate university, she studied pharmacy and after, got a master’s degree in the US in the field of analytical chemistry. Upon graduating, she joined IIT Research Institute (IITRI), a contract research organization, and worked there for six years. She gained solid experience in providing bioanalytical support for clinical and preclinical studies from the bioanalytical method development and validation, biomatrix preparation and extraction, HPLC/UPLC/GC/MS analysis to pharmacokinetics modeling and reporting. She was also responsible for lab training and instrument validation. In order to improve herself, she moved to Canada recently and joined the Hill lab as a Ph.D. student, focusing on Tuberculosis biomarker searching and breath sample analysis. Outside of the lab, Sonja loves sports such as soccer, badminton, tennis and road-trips to the national parks, looking for challenging hiking routes and beautiful scenes. She also likes reading Chinese traditional novels and poems in her spare time.
Education:MS in Chemistry, Illinois Institute of Technology; BS, Beijing Institute of Technology
Research: Exploration of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) molecular airway markers using GC×GC TOF MS and machine learning tools.
Biography: Originally from Shandong province in China, Antao gained his bachelor’s degree from Beijing Institute of Technology and his master’s degree in Illinois Institute of Technology. Before joining the Hill lab, Antao worked for three years in the field of pharmaceutical analysis at IIT Research Institute, where he became skilled in bio-analysis and LC-MS/MS. He also has experience in dose formulation preparation and analysis. He started his Ph.D. in January 2021 and his research is related to fast diagnosis of various respiratory diseases. Walking or jogging along the lake is his favorite outdoor activity. He also loves playing the piano for relaxation and entertainment.
Education: B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at Shiraz University, M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology.
Biography: Mostafa was born in Shiraz, a city in southwest Iran. He earned his B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering at Shiraz University. His research during his bachelor’s study was focused on computational Systems Biology, which was about investigating the feasibility of Rhamnolipids biosynthesis by Pseudomonas bacteria. Afterward, he continued his studies by getting an M.Sc. degree from the Sharif University of Technology again in Chemical Engineering. His focus in this stage of his research was on Modelling, Simulation, and Control of chemical, biomedical, and biological systems. He has selected his master’s thesis subject based on his intention to find a solution for difficulties that most people suffer from. One significant problem in everyone’s life is health issues. Nowadays, mathematics and modeling, specifically engineering vision, pave the way for a better understanding of the human body. In his master’s thesis, he developed a mathematical model for the cardiovascular system (heart and blood circulation), respiratory system, and central nervous system (CNS).
Education:BSc. Biomedical Engineering, University of Ghana, MSc. Biomedical Engineering, University of Warwick
Biography: Born and bred in Ghana, I began my tertiary education at the University of Ghana where I studied Biomedical Engineering. During my first degree, I developed great interest in research areas that related to investigating the diagnosis, monitoring and therapeutics of diseases. Upon completion, I proceeded to the University of Warwick. There, I earned an MSc in Biomedical Engineering. My research focused on assessing the effect of radiotherapy on the gastrointestinal functionality of colorectal cancer patients. In this research, I monitored the gut health of the patients to determine the severity of gastrointestinal side effects resulting from radiotherapy from the start to the end of treatment and also determined the possibility of making predictions on the changes in the gut health overtime. Through this work, I gained experience in the application and development of machine learning algorithms for processing electronic nose and GC-IMS data. At my leisure, I enjoy blogging, cooking and traveling.
Dilon Ezra Frendolin
Kassiyet Adilbay
Rajalakshmi Narasimhan
Lucas Kwong
Lauren Hughes
GEORGINA BUTLER, Ph.D
PREETHI KRISHNAN, Ph.D
AHMAD MANI, Ph.D
SHEKOOH BEHROOZIAN, Ph.D
KEISEAN STEVENSON, Ph.D
BASANTA DHODARY, Ph.D
JASMEEN KAUR, Ph.D
MOHAMMAD SHARIF KHAN, Ph.D
Current Position: Senior research scientist at Cargill, Wayzata, Minnesota, US
LILI KANG, PH.D, Ph.D
Current Position: Principal Scientist I at WuXi AppTec, China
BISHNU REGMI, Ph.D
Current Position: Assistant Professor at Florida A&M University, US
PIERRE-HUGHUES STEFANUTO, Ph.D
Current Position: Post-doctoral fellow, University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium
MARCO BECCARIA, Ph. D
Current Position: Research Scientist, University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium
GIORGIA PURCARO, Ph.D
Current Position: Analytical Chemistry Professor at Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium
FLAVIO FRANCHINA, Ph.D
Current Position: Assistant Professor at University of Ferrara, Italy
LIONEL BLANCHET, Ph.D
Current position: Associate Director - Data Scientist at Genmab, Netherland
AGI SMOLINSKA, Ph.D
Current position: Postodoctoral fellow, Maastricht University, Netherland
HEATHER BEAN, Ph.D
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Arizona State University, US
INMA SAMPEDRO, Ph.D
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Granada, Spain
YONGTAE AHN, Ph.D
Research: Motility and Adhesion of Pathogens
Current Position: Associate Professor at Gyeongsang National University, South Korea
FIONA BAIRD, Ph.D
Research: Microgravity effects on bacterial virulence and lunch cell immune responses.
Awards and Honors: Australian Postgraduate Award (2004), RMIT University OHS Award (2008), Deakin University Teaching Excellence Award (2010).
BROOK CLINTON, Ph.D
Research: Investigating iron uptake mechanisms and regulation in P.aeruginosa in the lung environment, particularly in relation to cystic fibrosis/nosocomial infections and biofilm formation.
YIN-MING KUO, Ph.D
Research: Rapid Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds during Bacterial Growth by ESI-MS.
Current Position: Quality Control Manager at Gene Therapy program at University of Pennsylvania, PA, US
MAVRA NASIR, Ph.D
Current position: Senior Consultant at Back Bay Life Science Advisors, US
TED MELLORS, Ph.D
Current position: Director of Data Science and Machine Learning, US
CHRISTIAAN REES, Ph.D
Current position: Resident Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
COURTNEY GILES, Ph.D
Research: The role of plant and bacterial organic anion production in soil phytate solubilization and cycling.
Awards and Honors: UVM James M. Jeffords Center Graduate Research Fellow (2010-2011), UVM School of Engineering, Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year Award (2011)
JIANGJIANG ZHU, Ph.D
Research: Development and Application of Secondary Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (SESI-MS) for Rapid Pathogenic Bacteria Detection via their Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Profiling.
Awards and Honors: Donghua University Minor Scholarship for Graduate Student (2006), Donghua University Preeminent Student Leader Award (2002)
Current Position: Assistant professor, Columbus, Ohio, US
ALIREZA BAHARI
Current Position: Mechanical Designer, Kardium Inc, Vancouver, BC, CA
LAUREN MCDONNELL
Current Position: Data Scientist at IBM, CA, US
KRISTI HERZER
Research: Stress response of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to low shear altered gravity conditions using high aspect ratio bioreactors.
Current Position: DEC Environmental Analyst VII at State of Vermont, US
JAIME JIMENEZ-DIAZ
Research: The impact of microgravity-grown Pseudomonas aeruginosa on human lung cells.
NICK JOHNSON
Research: Improving estimates of bioavailable P using enzyme systems.
JOSHUA TYLER
Research: Advanced and Integrated Model of Phosphorous Loading from High Runoff Events.
Awards and Honors: Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honors Society, University of Vermont Chapter (2009-2011), Chi Epsilon, Civil Engineering Honors Society, University of Vermont Chapter (2009-2011), Knight Engineering Scholarship (2009-2011), R Swenson Scholarship (2008-2011), URECA Summer Research Grant (2009), Barrett Foundation Summer Research Grant (2008)
YIJIAN ZHENG
Research: In vitro selection of structure-switching signaling aptamers binding to 2-aminoacetophenone.
MIZA MWANZA
MADELINE HAFF
Research: Breast milk biomarkers
PIERRE GALEA
Research: Identifying between species volatile chemical signals.
RAYMOND HOZALSKI, Ph.D (University of Minnesota)
Research: DNA aptamer development for small molecules.
DI'VENNCI LUCAS (Stanford University)
Research: Phenotypic characteristics of P. aeruginosa clinical isolates from cystic fibrosis patients.
CHRIS ANIMASHAUN (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Research: Chemotaxis of P. aeruginosa towards 2-aminoacetophenone.
ISABELLA HOWLEY
ELISE MULVALE
ANNIKA SUTTON
NICOLE MITSUE HOWES
WENQI GUO
BRIANNA LEE
YICONG MA
TIANHUAI XU
JINGYI LI
QIDE MA
NICOLE KNOETZE
HOFFMAN
KATHERINE GOYETTE
SHASHWAT KALA
SHANNON KOSSMAN
POOJA SIKKA
ORKAN SEZER
KATIE GOLDSTEIN
KATHERINE KANE
ALEXA LEWIS
ARIELLE ISAACSON
LLOYD MAY
STEPHANIE HERR
VICTOR BORZA
JASMINE BUTLER
PAUL KIM
Research: Identifying volatiles in the human blood volatilome.
SUMITA STRANDER
Research: Elucidating the volatile organic compounds in human breast milk
ROCCO MORRA, Jr.
Research: Characterization of volatiles produced by common urinary pathogens when grown in urine as potential diagnostic markers in the context of UTIs (Honors Thesis project)
ALISON CLARKE
Research: The role of Pseudomonas aeruginosa chemotaxis in pathogenesis in clinically relevant scenarios; identifying chemoattractants and matching them to Pseudomonas chemoreceptors
VALENTINA SEDLACEK
Research: I am currently working on the Polyamines Project. Previous literature has shown that amino acids play an important role in bacterial pathogenesis. My research project is evaluating Pseudomonas aeruginosa chemoattraction towards Arginine metabolism-derived compounds.
JARED HINRICHS
Honors Thesis Research: Detection of Legionella Volatile Metabolite Fingerprint Using Electrospray Ionization - Mass Spectrometry.
Awards and Honors: Barrett Scholarship (2009), URECA award (2009).
JOHANNA MAYERHOFER
Research: Purification and Characterization Of Phytase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01
CAROLINE MCMANUS
Research: Development of a Mass Spectrometer Technique to Detect Bacterial Pathogens in Humid Environments, particularly Legionella pneumophila.
Awards and Honors: Barrett Scholar (2008), URECA scholar (2008-2009).
KATIE MEDREK
Research: Volatile database creation and webmaster.
MARK SUOZZO
Honors Thesis Research: Removal of Phosphorus in High Strength Wastewater using Enhanced Biological Removal in a Membrane Bioreactor.
FRED NAUMANN
Research: Investigating the volatile metabolic biomarkers of tuberculosis to improve and speed detection.
JUSTIN PALUBA
Research: Bacterial adhesion and motility.
STUART SUTHERLAND
Research: Identifying between species volatile chemical signals.
ERIC VAUGHAN
Research: Chemotaxis of bacteria towards phosphorylated compounds.
DAVID ZHANG
Research: Determining the impact of motility on bacterial adhesion process and swimming behaviors.
MARY STEPHENSON