Meet Your Faculty#
Here’s the team!
Frances Wong (she/her) #
Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, University of Toronto Missisauga
Frances Wong is an assistant professor, teaching stream, at the University of Toronto Mississauga Department of Biology. She is interested in how dynamic cell populations make decisions (sometimes incorrectly!) during development. Frances used a systems biology approach to investigate human placenta development by isolating single cells at multiple time points during early development to computationally assemble a cell atlas of first trimester development. Currently, Frances incorporates computational literacy as a core course objective in biology courses she teaches to empower over 1000 students to analyze the data they collect each semester.
Andrés Melani (he/him) #
Ph.D. student, Courtot Lab University of Toronto | Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Toronto, ON, Canada
Andres is a Software Engineer with a MSc in Business Information Technologies, who is currently pursuing his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Previously, Andres was a professor and project coordinator for programming courses at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. His main interests are Artificial Intelligence, software development, and data analytics. Currently, his PhD project applies AI, specifically Natural Language Processing, Large Language Models and Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, to healthcare scenarios.
Amin Noorani (he/him) #
Master Student | Bioinformatician Toronto Metropolitan University (Olson Lab) Princess Margaret Genomic Centre (Epigenome Lab) Toronto, ON, Canada
Amin is a bioinformatician at Princess Margaret Genomic Centre (PMGC) who is also pursuing his master’s degree at Olson Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Prior to his current roles, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics and started his current position at PMGC in 2022. His expertise includes analyzing various types of data, including epigenomics and genomics, from raw data to visualization. His master’s project focuses on exploring gene expression data in ovarian cancer cell lines, as well as image classification to determine whether cell images have been treated with various compounds.
Zoe Klein (she/her) #
PhD Candidate, Reimand Lab University of Toronto
Zoe Klein is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. She uses large-scale data analytics and machine learning to study the role of non-coding RNA transcripts in cancer.
Michelle Brazas, PhD (she/her) #
Scientific Director Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops (CBW) Toronto, ON, CA
Dr. Michelle Brazas is the Associate Director for Adaptive Oncology at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), and acting Scientific Director at Bioinformatics.ca. Previously, Dr. Brazas was the Program Manager for Bioinformatics.ca and a faculty member in Biotechnology at BCIT. Michelle co-founded and runs the Toronto Bioinformatics User Group (TorBUG) now in its 11th season, and plays an active role in the International Society of Computational Biology where she sits on the Board of Directors and Executive Board.
Nia Hughes (she/her) #
Program Manager, Bioinformatics.ca Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Toronto, ON, Canada
Nia is the Program Manager for Bioinformatics.ca, where she coordinates the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshop Series. Prior to starting at OICR, she completed her M.Sc. in Bioinformatics from the University of Guelph in 2020 before working there as a bioinformatician studying epigenetic and transcriptomic patterns across maize varieties.