Meet Our Lab Members
The lab is a collegial and enthusiastic environment. Students participate in weekly lab meeting and monthly journal club and acquire analytical and presentation skills. There is also a bi-weekly joint lab meeting among all the labs on the floor, giving the student the opportunity to present their work to (and learn from) a multidisciplinary audience. Dr. Lee makes mentorship and education of students and fellows a top priority.
Changsen Wang, Lab Manager
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Winnie Ho, Post-doctoral fellow
I completed my undergraduate degree in Medical Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, where I conducted research in cell biology and psychology labs, focusing on multisensory perception in autism spectrum disorder. I earned my PhD from the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, with a research project characterizing the intracellular route of basal and inflammation-stimulated LDL transcytosis. Currently, in my postdoctoral fellowship, I am investigating and optimizing therapeutic strategies to inhibit LDL transcytosis. I am also characterizing the intracellular compartments involved in transcytosis.
Rajiv Sanwal, PhD Candidate
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario and my MSc at the University of Toronto; during my Masters I studied the role of the endothelial barrier in regulating insulin action. During my PhD I will be exploring the use of ultrasound and microbubbles to deliver therapy to the injured lung.
Andria Henry, PhD candidate
I completed my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Neuroscience at the University of Toronto. My third year project focused on investigating the effects of novel regulators on transcriptional effectors part of the Hippo signaling pathway. My undergraduate thesis project focused on probing the allosteric mechanism of a critical transcription factor found in H. pylori. I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry. My project will focus on studying the mechanisms of LDL transcytosis in endothelial cells. .
Grace Wen, PhD candidate
I completed my B.Sc. in Health and Biomedical Science and M.Sc. in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Windsor. Throughout my undergraduate and Master's studies, I primarily examined the significance of biomolecular interactions in infection and survival of the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. I am currently a Ph.D. student in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. My project will be focused on regulation of LDL transcytosis.
Ryunosuke Hoshi, PhD candidate
I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology at Nagoya University (Japan) before relocating to and completing my MSc in Biology at McGill University. During my Master's, I explored how a specific hypomorphic mutation in the human PRPS1 gene causes DFNX2, a rare neurological disorder, using Drosophila as my disease model. Currently, I am enrolled as a Ph.D. student in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, co-supervised by Dr. Kelsie Thu and Dr. Lee. My project focuses on establishing/optimizing a method to selectively deliver anti-tumor agents that antagonizes immune checkpoints in lung cancer using ultrasound-induced microbubble cavitation (USMB).
Abdul Hadi Khalid, MSc candidate
I completed my undergraduate degree in Biology at Toronto Metropolitan University. My thesis involved knocking out a bromodomain-containing gene in Tetrahymena thermophila and performing RNA-seq to validate its role in histone gene transcription. Starting in September 2025, I will join the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Program at U of T. For my Master’s, I will investigate the mechanisms of basal-to-apical transcytosis by the Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) and its relationship to inflammation.