Kyle Dickinson, PhD

Research Associate

Kyle received his PhD in Experimental Medicine from McGill University in 2021. During his doctoral training in Dr. Paul Goodyer’s laboratory, his research focused on defining key signalling and DNA damage response pathways in nephron progenitor cells during kidney development. He joined Dr. Julia Burnier’s laboratory as in August 2022, where he leads liquid biopsy initiatives aimed at improving treatment monitoring for patients with metastatic breast cancer. In addition to his research activities, Kyle oversees the coordination and management of laboratory operations and projects, ensuring smooth execution of ongoing studies and supporting trainee research. He also manages the RI-MUHC Circulating Biomarkers of Health and Disease Network, advancing interdisciplinary collaboration and the integration of cell-free DNA research across the institute.

Carolina Martini, MSc

Research Assistant

Carolina earned her Master’s degree in Bioinformatics from Université de Montréal and has more than six years of experience in molecular and cellular biology, combined with over two years of applied expertise in bioinformatics. In Dr. Julia Burnier’s lab, she leads the computational analysis of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) derived from liquid biopsies for cancer detection, monitoring and screening. Her work focuses on developing and implementing analytical pipelines for somatic variant calling, fragmentomics, and copy number alteration detection. With a strong foundation in both experimental and computational methods, she contributes across the entire workflow, bridging wet-lab and computational biology to accelerate the integration of genomics, data science and precision medicine.

Shivshankari Rajkumar, PhD

Scientific Officer, Liquid Biopsy Unit

Shivsha manages scientific operations of the Liquid Biopsy Unit (LBU). The LBU is a collaborative, translational research unit aimed at accelerating the discovery, validation and implementation of circulating free nucleic acid (cfDNA/cfRNA) cancer biomarkers into clinical workflows. Prior to joining the LBU, she was the Senior Research Scientist at a Montreal-based biotech startup developing point-of-care and point-of-need diagnostic and detection devices. In this role, she led research projects, successfully acquired funding, supervised and trained junior scientists, and communicated key insights by providing scientific, product and therapeutic area expertise to both internal and external stakeholders. Importantly, she led the development of a third-party-benchmarked, novel method of shellfish sample processing and marine biotoxin quantification. Shivsha is a biochemist with over seven years of experience in molecular biology and the broader basic and translational scientific research. Her expertise is in cancer biology and the discovery of clinically actionable targeted therapies with extensive experience leading multidisciplinary research team projects. Most notably, her PhD work identified an FDA-approved therapeutic strategy that could be extended to melanoma patients with co-occurring mutations in oncogenes and tumour suppressor.

Noélie Douanne, MSc, PhD

Noélie holds a PhD in veterinary sciences (microbiology specialty) from the University of Montreal, and a double master’s degree in science, biotechnology and health (infectious diseases) and in human and social sciences (management and e-learning) from the University of Montpellier (France). Throughout her academic career, Noélie has developed a sharp expertise in the field of parasitic infectious diseases, drug resistance, as well as molecular and cellular biology.

Her skills also extend to project management and scientific communication, essential assets to carry out high-level research. During her doctorate, she particularly focused on the role of extracellular vesicles (natural nanovectors), in the context of drug resistance. This experience laid the foundations for her current postdoctoral project, where she focuses on nanomedicine and more specifically on the development of lipid nanoparticles to improve the targeting and delivery of therapeutic mRNA, as part of innovative cancer therapies.

Monyse de Nobrega, MSc, PhD

Monyse is a Biomedical Scientist with a Master’s and Ph.D in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the State University of Londrina, Brazil. During her graduate training, she focused on studying cell-free and extracellular vesicles microRNAs using liquid biopsy to identify biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis in prostate cancer, as well as the behavior of miRNAs in cell models (2D, 3D and organoids). Currently, she is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Julia Burnier’s laboratory, evaluating circulating tumor DNA using liquid biopsy from colorectal cancer patients to assess cancer progression and response to treatment.

Thupten Tsering, MSc

Thupten graduated from McGill University in 2018 with a MSc in Biochemistry. He joined as a Research Assistant in Dr. Julia Burnier’s lab in October 2018. His research focuses on extracellular vesicles carrying oncogenes serve as a biomarker in cancer patients bio fluids. He is also interested in the molecular pathways of nucleic acid emission from cancer cells. Outside the lab, he likes hiking, travelling and playing soccer.

Tadhg Ferrier, MSc

Tadhg obtained her B.Sc from McGill with a major in Pharmacology with a minor in Psychology. During her undergraduate degree, she did research at the MUHC-McGill Ocular Pathology and Translational Research Laboratory, working on metastasis markers in uveal melanoma, especially relating to the importance of BAP1 protein expression on the prognosis of patients. Following this work, she joined Dr. Julia Burnier’s laboratory, looking at Methylation Signatures in Uveal Melanoma using the TCGA database. Tadhg’s thesis involves methylation analysis and using liquid biopsy techniques for cancer detection and prognostication, specifically working on the detection of circulating tumor DNA in head and neck cancer and detecting methylation patterns in circulating tumor DNA.

Alexandra Bartolomucci

Alexandra is a PhD candidate in Dr. Julia Burnier’s lab. She completed her B.Sc. in Biochemistry at McGill University in 2020. Her doctoral research focuses on leveraging circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) to monitor treatment response and disease progression in esophageal cancer, with an emphasis on cfDNA fragmentomics and genomic alterations.

Tad Wu

Tad earned his bachelor’s in Honours Computer Science and Biology from McGill in 2023. During his undergrad, he was conducted an honour’s project under the supervision of Dr. Maria Vera Ugalde, where he used a computational pipeline to analyze the distribution and colocalization of heat shock protein mRNAs in neurons of ALS patients to determine if ALS would affect the heat shock response. After taking a class on human genetics, he became particularly interested in cancer. Tad’s project will aim to mimic cancer-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) using lipid-based nanoparticles in terms of cellular uptake and downstream effects.

Nivedita Kaorey, BDS, MDS

Nivedita earned her Bachelor of Dental Surgery in 2016 and completed her residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (2020) from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India. During her master’s, she researched biomarkers in oral malignant and pre-malignant disorders. Her interest in translational research led her to pursue a Graduate Diploma in Oncology at McGill University, where she conducted a meta-analysis on the role of ctDNA in predicting survival outcomes in HPV-negative head and neck cancers (HNC) under Dr. Julia Burnier’s supervision. As a PhD student in Dr. Burnier’s lab, Nivedita’s research focuses on ctDNA profiling in HPV(+) and HPV(-) HNCs, with a particular emphasis on developing and validating its clinical applications for real-time treatment response monitoring and early detection of minimal residual disease.

Yousra Benslimane

Yousra obtained her B.Sc. from McGill University in 2024 with a major in Microbiology & Immunology and a minor in Biotechnology. During her undergraduate degree, she completed research training in both academia and industry, including work in R&D at AstraZeneca on antibody–drug conjugate formulation and co-founding the student biotech startup NanoHeme, focused on lipid nanoparticle–based gene therapies. Following this work, she joined Dr. Julia Burnier’s laboratory as a Ph.D. student. Yousra’s doctoral research focuses on engineering extracellular vesicle (EV)–inspired lipid nanoparticles using microfluidics to enhance targeted mRNA delivery in cancer, while developing an EV-based “education” model to study pre-metastatic niche formation and organ-specific responses in vivo.

Yuning Chen

Yuning is a PhD student co-supervised by Dr. Shuk On (Annie) Leung and Dr. Julia Burnier. She graduated from McMaster University with an Honours Bachelor of Life Sciences and a minor in Psychology. She then pursued a Graduate Diploma in Oncology at McGill University, where she conducted an environmental scan on cervical cancer screening among Indigenous populations in Quebec. Yuning joined the lab as an MSc student in September 2024 and later fast-tracked into the PhD program. Her project focuses on studying the role of extracellular vesicles in cervical cancer progression.

Negar Jahani, DVM

Negar earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from Iran, where she completed specialized training in clinical pathology. Her interest in translational oncology led her to pursue a master’s degree in Experimental Surgery (Oncology) at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Julia Burnier. Her research focuses on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in thyroid cancer, specifically evaluating its diagnostic utility in patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules. She studies the potential of ctDNA-based mutation detection to complement existing molecular tests like ThyroSeq and improve diagnostic accuracy.

Masoud Ghasemi, MSc

Masoud is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Julia Burnier’s Lab, working on designing and creating synthetic nanoparticles inspired by extracellular vesicles (EVs). His research focuses on engineering EV-mimetics that replicate key structural and functional characteristics of natural EVs in a simplified form.

During his master’s degree in cell and molecular biology, Masoud learned the value of interdisciplinary research and discovered his passion for developing innovative solutions to biomedical challenges. In his Ph.D. work, he integrates his background in EV biology, cancer research, and microfluidic engineering with newly acquired skills in programming, data science, and machine learning to develop EV-inspired strategies for targeted cancer therapy.

Raphaelle Reyes

Raphaelle received her Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy and Cell Biology from McGill in 2025. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a Research Assistant at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute studying the role of extracellular vesicles in depression. She first joined Dr. Julia Burnier’s lab in 2024 and completed a research course project comparing various extracellular vesicle isolation techniques and their impact on EV-DNA detection. She is currently a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Cancer Sciences Program. Her research focuses on the role of extracellular vesicles in breast cancer and site-specific metastasis.

Wissal Bhiri

Wissal is a second-year master’s student in Healthcare Technology Engineering at the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montréal. She is supervised by Dr. Vahé Nerguizian and Dr. Julia Burnier. She holds an engineering degree in Advanced Technologies from the University of Carthage, Tunisia, with a specialization in advanced electronics and nanotechnology. During her studies, she developed a strong interest in the application of nanotechnology in medicine. Her current research in Dr. Julia Burnier’s laboratory focuses on the encapsulation of drugs in liposomes for cancer therapeutics.

Lisa David

Lisa graduated with an Honours B.Sc. in Biology from York University in 2025. She recently joined the Gynecology Oncology Research Lab as an M.Sc. student under the supervision of Dr. Melica Brodeur, and is co-supervised by Dr. Julia Burnier. Her project is focused on the interplay between exosome cargo, monocyte differentiation, and BRG1/BRM inhibition to identify novel therapeutic strategies for ovarian cancer.

Aaron Tanchingco

Aaron is an undergraduate student at McGill University pursuing a B.Sc. (Honours) in Biochemistry. He joined Dr. Julia Burnier’s laboratory in October 2025, following his experience as a CEGEP teaching assistant in general and organic chemistry. Throughout his academic career, he has developed a strong interest in molecular oncology and bioinformatics. His research focuses on computational correlation analyses of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in relation to patients’ clinicopathological and genetic profiles. This work aims to translate tissue biopsy–based monitoring of colorectal cancer into non-invasive approaches for detecting recurrence, ultimately improving early detection and patient prognosis. Beyond academia, he is passionate about mentoring youth in STEM and helping bridge the gap between performance and standard uncertainty. In his free time, he is usually found at the gym—or, when possible, reuniting with his high school band to jam on the guitar in an indie style.

Anaïs Boutin

Anaïs is an undergraduate B.Sc. student in Biochemistry at McGill University with a minor in Neuroscience. She is currently contributing to a project engineering biomimetic lipid nanoparticle systems to enhance targeted mRNA delivery and therapeutic efficacy and will be initiating her own project in this area. This work builds on previous research in an infectious disease lab, where she investigated extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from Leishmania spp. for vaccine development and developed a strong interest in nanoparticle-based therapeutics and intercellular communication. On campus, she helped launch Beauty and Business Engineering Society (BABES), a McGill cosmetic chemistry club at the intersection of technology, design, and business. Through this initiative, she leads a team of undergraduates in exploring product development in addition to working with a bio-inspired materials chemistry lab group to investigate natural polymers and extracts for innovative cosmetic formulations. Outside the lab, she is a classically trained ballet dancer and when she isn’t at the bench, she’s usually at the barre.