Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sidong Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute at McGill University. He is also the scientific director of the McGill Platform for Cellular Perturbation.
He studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Boston University and subsequently obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco in 2003, under the supervision of Dr. Erin O’Shea. He then joined the laboratory of Dr. Rene Bernards at the Netherlands Cancer Institute for his postdoctoral training. In 2013, he established his independent research group at McGill University. His work has uncovered novel resistance mechanisms to cancer therapeutics, identified new treatment strategies, and led to the establishment of clinical trials.
Lab Members
Azadeh Arabzadeh
Research Associate
Azadeh joined the lab in 2022 and has been at McGill since 2008 after obtaining her Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa. She leads a project building relevant animal models and provides lab support.
Paco Jiang
Research Assistant
Paco joined the lab as a graduate student in 2021 after his Master’s training in General Surgery at Peking Union Medical College. Now he is a Research Assistant and provides general research support to the lab.
Giulio Aceto
Ph.D. Candidate
Giulio joined the lab in 2019. His research aims to uncover the driver pathways of SWI/SNF-deficient cancers using functional genetics approaches. He is supported by Canderel Studentship and Emma Ciani Studentship.
Hannah Hosein
Ph.D. Candidate
Hannah obtained her B.Sc. from McMaster University and joined the lab in 2020. She works on DICER1-associated sarcomas, supported by Goodman Cancer Centre Recruitment Scholarship, Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship, and Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQS) Doctoral Training Scholarship.
Elise Graulich
Ph.D. Candidate
Elise obtained her Ms.C. in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva and joined the lab in 2023. She works on metabolic dependencies of SWI/SNF-deficient cancers, supported by Dr. Victor KS Lui Studentship.
Jan Pack
Ph.D. Candidate
Jan joined the lab in 2023 as part of the joint PhD program between the McGill University and the RIKEN Institute in Japan, co-supervised by Prof. Fumihiko Ishikawa. His research focuses on the characterization of treatment resistance and identification of new therapy options for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Andy Garnier
M.Sc. Candidate
Andy obtained his B.Sc. from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and joined the lab in 2022. He works on novel metabolic dependencies of SMARCA4 loss, supported by the Canadian Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (CGSM) and FRQS Master’s Training Scholarship.
Mark Liao
M.Sc. Candidate
Mark was an undergraduate student in the lab and began his graduate study in 2024. He works on novel synthetic lethal candidates of SMARCA4 loss in lung cancer, supported by Canderel Rising Star Summer Internship and CGSM.
Racim Sansal
M.Sc. Candidate
Racim was an undergraduate student in the lab and began his graduate study in 2023. He works on mechanisms of SWI/SNF-loss in promoting tumorigenesis, supported by CGSM.
Judy Liu
M.Sc. Candidate
Judy was an undergraduate student in the lab and began her graduate study in 2023. She works on novel druggable targets in ovarian cancer, supported by the Emma Ciani Studentship.
Ella Morales
Undergraduate Student
Ella is an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry at McGill University. She jointed the lab in 2023 working on the regulation of SWI/SNF components, supported by Canderel Rising Star Summer Internship.
Former Lab Members
Jutta Steinberger, Research Associate (2019-2023) Now in Austria.
Zheng Fu, PhD Student (2017-2023) Now a Postdoctoral Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, New York, USA
Xianbing Zhu, PhD Student (2017-2023) Now a Postdoctoral Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute, New York, USA
Laure Poittevin, Master Student, Research Assistant, (2019-2022) Now a Project Manager, Eugeria, Montreal, Canada
Bianca Adams, Honors Undergraduate Student, Master Student, (2018-2021) Now a Medical School student, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
Connie Yang, Honors Undergraduate Student (2018-2021) Now an MD/PhD student, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, USA
Erika Prando Munhoz, Research Assistant (2020-2021) Now a Laboratory Technician, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
Howard Li, Honors Undergraduate Student (2019-2020) Now a Medical School student, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Geneviève Morin, Research Assistant (2015-2020) Now Responsable de travaux pratiques et de recherche, Université Laval, Québec City, Canada
Yibo Xue, PhD student (2014-2019) Now a Postdoctoral Fellow, The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
Tim Kong, Honors Undergraduate Student, Master Student, Research Assistant (2015-2019) Now an MD/PhD student, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, USA
Rachel Bramley, Undergraduate Student (2018) Now a Dental Medicine student, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Cameron Levins, Master Student (2016-2018) Now a Medical School student, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Jessica Karaguesian, Undergraduate Student (2017) Now a Graduate student, MIT, Boston, USA
Lashanda Skerritt, Summer Student (2017) Now an MD/PhD student, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Sara Ferwati, Master Student (2015-2017) Now an Epidemiologist at Government of Nunavut, Canada
Nikki Cliffe, Summer Student, Honors Undergraduate Student (2016-2017) Now a Medical Intern, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
Hongbo Chen, Visiting Professor (2015-2016) Now an Associate Professor, Sun Yat-sen University, China
Andreas Papadakis, Postdoctoral Fellow (2013-2016) Now a Research Associate at Lady Davis Institute, Montreal, Canada
Kateryna Rossokhata, Honors Undergraduate Student (2016) Now an PhD student, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada
Tiffany Cho, Summer Student (2015) Now a PhD Student, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Chi Ying Cheng, Postdoctoral Fellow (2013-2015) Now an Inside Sales representative at SCP Science, Baie-D’Urfe, Canada
Larischa De Wet, Honors Undergraduate Student (2014) Now a Senior Consultant, Guidehouse, Chicago, USA
Zhi Zeng, Honors Undergraduate Student (2013-2014) Now a Research Associate, Exiger Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada
Meaghan Van Alstyne, Honors Undergraduate Student (2013) Now a Research Associate, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA
Maryam Ghashghaei, Summer Student (2013) Now a Postdoctoral Fellow, BC Cancer Research, Vancouver, Canada