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How to Contact Us...

by mail...

160 College Street, 11th floor

Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research

University of Toronto

Toronto ON, M5S 3E1

Canada

by phone or fax

Lab: 416-978-4539

Administrative Office: 416-978-0553

Fax: 416-978-2666

lab members...

research associates...

 

Brian Ballios, MD., PhD.  

Retinal Stem Cells

Project Description: Retinal stem cell biology and applications in retinal degeneration.

Contact: brian.ballios@utoronto.ca

 

 

Saeed Khalili, PhD. Post Doctoral Fellow (2012-Present)

 

Retinal Stem Cells

Project Description: Adult retinal and pancreatic stem cells.

Contact: saeed.khalili@utoronto.ca

 

 

 

post doctoral fellow...

Taryn Grieder  
Taryn Greider

Motivation Group

Project Description: Investigating the involvement of dopamine, CRF and various nicotinic receptors in the motivational effects of acute and chronic nicotine and withdrawal.

Contact: taryngrieder@gmail.com

 

graduate students ...

Tania Alexson  
Tania

ES Cells/Developmental Stem Cell Biology

Project Description: Investigating if cell cycle can serve as the gatekeeper to self-renewal.

Contact: talexson@thinkers.cx

 

 

Ahmed Fhamy Graduate Student (2012-present)
Ahmed_Fhamy

Cell Lineage and Brain Development/IPS cells

Project Description: Using Neural Crest stem cells in investigating the mechanism of cellular reprogramming.

Contact: ahmed.fahmy@utoronto.ca

 

Kenneth Grisé Graduate Student (2012-Present)

Retinal Stem Cells

Project Description: Characterization of neural stem cells in the brain and retina and development of regenerative therapies to repair damage caused by disease or injury.

Contact: ken.grise@mail.utoronto.ca

 

Geith Maal-Bared Graduate Student (2012-Present)
Geith

 

Neurobiology of Motivation

Project Description: Identifying the

anatomical layout and molecular properties

underlying the GABA switch in the VTA of

opiate dependent/deprived rodents.

Contact: geith.maal.bared@utoronto.ca

 

 

Isabel Mackay-Clackett Graduate Student (2015-Present)
 

 

Motivation & Learning and Memory in C.elegans

Project Description: neurobiological mechanisms underlying the induction of psychoactive drug withdrawal, with particular attention to the motivational effects it produces & olfactory discrimination in C.elegans

Contact:

isabel.mackay-clackett@mail.utoronto.ca

 

Daniel Merritt Graduate Student (2012-Present)
Daniel

 

Learning and Memory

Project Description: My research is on the biochemical nature of memory in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans.

Contact: dmerritt@gmail.com

 

Nikolaos Mitrousis Graduate Student (Shoichet Lab 2012-Present)

 

Retinal Stem Cells

Project Description: In collaboration with the Shoichet lab, we are studying the interactions between the retinal pigmented epithelium and the photoreceptors of the eye, using a bioengineering approach.

Contact: nikolaos.mitrousis@mail.utoronto.ca

 

 

Tahani Waheeb Graduate Student (2012-Present)
Tahani_Waheeb

Retinal Stem Cells

Project Description: Retinal stem cell therapy and the steps

toward success.

Contact: mrs.alnami@gmail.com

 

Mandy Yee Masters Student (2015-Present)
 

 

Motivation

Project Description: neurobiological substrates of the rewarding effects of caffeine.

Contact: mandy.yee@mail.utoronto.ca

 

 

 

Glenn Wolfe Graduate Student (2011-Present)
Glenn_Wolfe

Learning and Memory

Project Description: Unravelling the genetic mechanisms of learning and memory by characterizing a learning deficient C. elegans mutation.

Contact: glenn.wolfe@utoronto.ca

 

 

Samantha Yammine Graduate Student (2012-Present)
Samantha Yammine

Neural Stem Cells

Project Description: Regulation of pluripotency and self-renewal of primitive and definitive neural stem cells in the developing mammalian brain.

Contact:samantha.yammine@mail.utoronto.ca

 

lab support

Brenda Coles-Takabe Lab Manager & Technican

 

Please contact for all techinical lab querieies

Contact: 416-978-4539

Contact: brenda.coles@utoronto.ca

Fax: 416-978-2666

 

 

Monika Ignacak Research Projects Administrator
 

Please contact for any lab querieies

Contact: 416-978-0553

Contact: monika.ignacak@utoronto.ca

Fax: 416-978-2666

 

past students...

Margot Arntfield, PhD.  

Pancreatic Stem Cells

 

 

 

 

Irina Brokhman, PhD.  
Irina_Brokhman

Pancreatic Stem Cells

Project Description: Dual embryonic origin of

the mammalian enteric nervous system.

 

 

Mary Rose Bufalino  
Mary Rose

 

Asymetrical Division

Project Description: The asymmetric segregation of damaged proteins during cell division and its influence on stem cell aging and cancer cell differentiation.

 

 

 

Laura Clarke-Donaldson, MDPhD.  

 

Retinal and Neural Stem Cells

Project Description: Investigated the properties of progenitor cells found in the adult mammalian subependymal zone and dentate gyrus of the brain as well as the pigmented ciliary epithelium of the eye using a combination of in vitro clonal assays and transplant models

 

 

Brian DeVeale, PhD.  
 

 

Cell Lineage and Brain Development

Project Description: Lineage specification of pluripotent populations in murine development.

 

 

Rachel Leeder  
Rachel Leeder

 

 

Retinal Stem Cells

Project Description: The role of Oct4- expressing primitive neural stem cells in the neural stem cell lineage.

 

 

Rozita Razavi, PhD.  
Rozita Razavi

Pancreatic Stem Cells

 

 

 

Ryan Ting-A-Kee  
Ryan_Ting

 

 

Motivation Group

Project Description: Studies the brain regions important for caffeine, opiate, and ethanol reward.

 

 

Hector Vargas-Perez, PhD.  
Hector

Neurobiology of Motivation

 

 

Jie Xu, PhD.  
 

Pancreatic Stem Cells

 

by air and land

Fly into Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ). If you take a cab, expect to pay $60-$70, depending on traffic. We are located downtown on the U of T campus.

 

CCBR Map

Derek van der Kooy


**photo credit: Simon Smukler - depicted are differentiated cell progeny derived from a single pancreas-derived precursor cell. The green colour represents labeling of insulin (pancreatic beta cells) and the red colour represents labeling of a neuron-specific marker. The blue colour shows the nuclei of all the cells present in the field. From Seaberg, et al, Nature Biotechnology, 2004 Sep;22(9):1115-24. **