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 holds a Canada Research Chair in Functional Genomics and is 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
Jutta Steinberger
Research Associate
Jutta obtained her Ph.D. from the Medical University of Vienna in 2014 and joined the lab in 2019. She manages projects in the lab and provides support. One of her research projects focuses on DICER1-associated sarcomas.
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.
Xianbing Zhu
Ph.D. Candidate
Xianbing joined the lab in 2017. His research focus is to uncover novel druggable vulnerabilities in lung and ovarian cancers. He is supported by Charlotte & Leo Karassik Foundation Oncology Ph.D. Fellowship and Donner Foundation Studentship.
Zheng Fu
Ph.D. Candidate
Zheng joined the lab in 2017. He works on revealing druggable vulnerabilities in SMARCA4-deficient ovarian and lung cancers. He is supported by Canderel Studentship and Dr. Victor K.S. Lui Fellowship.
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 (2021, 2022, 2023).
Paco Jiang
Ph.D. Candidate
Paco joined the lab in 2021 after his Master’s training in General Surgery at Peking Union Medical College. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of pathogenic SMARCA4 variants in cancers, supported by Michael D’Avirro Fellowship in Molecular Oncology Research.
Hannah Hosein
Ph.D. Candidate
Hannah obtained her B.Sc. from McMaster University and joined the lab in 2020. Her research project focuses on DICER1-associated sarcomas. She is supported by Goodman Cancer Centre Recruitment Scholarship and Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship.
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).
Judy Liu
Ph.D. Candidate
Judy is an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry at McGill University. She works on novel druggable targets in ovarian cancer. She is supported by the Emma Ciani Studentship (2022).
Mark Liao
Undergraduate Student
Mark is an undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Computer Science at McGill University. He works on novel synthetic lethal candidates of SMARCA4 loss in lung cancer, supported by Canderel Rising Star Summer Internship.
Racim Sansal
Undergraduate Student
Racim is an undergraduate student in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University. He works on feedback regulation in response to CDK4/6 inhibition in cancer.
Former Lab Members
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