ALUMNI
Isabelle Sirois, PhD
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE | LAB MANAGER
Following Biochemistry and COOP studies at the University of Ottawa, Isabelle completed a PhD with Drs Marie-Josée Hébert et Alexey Pshezhetsky at the Université de Montréal from 2004 to 2011. During her PhD, she characterized the secretome of apoptotic/autophagic cells using mass spectrometry and described unconventional modes of secretion relevant to chronic allograft rejection. These findings were published in significant journals including Cell Death and Differentiation and Autophagy. Isabelle completed a postdoc training with Dr Mark Basik lab and his team at McGill University. Later, she joined the team as a Research Associate. Her work described novel molecular vulnerabilities in chemoresistant TNBC tumors. Isabelle is now a Research Associate and Lab Manager at CARONLAB since Novembre 2018.
Kevin Kovalchik, PhD
Postdoctoral Scientist
Co-supervision with Dr. Mathieu Lavallée-Adam
Following a Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Science in chemistry at The University of Idaho and Oregon State University, Kevin completed his PhD studies in analytical chemistry at The University of British Columbia with Drs. David D.Y. Chen and John V. Headley. During his time there he focused on method development for the characterization of organic components in tailings ponds using mass spectrometry, and closely collaborated with Drs. Gregg B. Morin and Christopher S. Hughes in the creation of software tools for interrogating raw mass spectrometry proteomics data. Kevin was recruited to the Caron Lab at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center in September 2019 to implement a web based peptide antigen database and develop tools for monitoring the performance of mass spectrometry data acquisition.
Nadia E. Chauca-Torres
PhD Student
Co-supervision with Dr. Sonia Cellot
Nadia has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the National University of San Marcos (Peru), where she worked on the research of immunomodulatory and antitumoral products from synthetic and natural sources. She also has a master’s degree in Immunology from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). During her training she evaluate the immune response on patients with glioblastoma multiforme submitted to a dendritic cell base immunotherapy, developing a 3D cell platform to evaluate the influence of the tumor microenvironment on immune cells.
As a part of Dr. Caron’s team, Nadia will be working on the searching of fusion gene derived neoantigens in pediatric AML/ALL as targets for developing better strategies for immunotherapy.
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David Hamelin, B.Sc.
Master Student
Co-supervision with Dr. Julie Hussin
David completed his BSc in biochemistry (CO-OP) at the University of Victoria, throughout which he had the opportunity to conduct research projects in world-renowned laboratories. These research opportunities allowed him to acquire significant experience designing and conducting mass spectrometry-based experiments, and culminated in co-authorship in 7 publications (NatureComms, PNAS, JMedChem, JBiolChem, JMolBiol) while in Dr. John Burke’s team at Uvic.
As part of Dr. Caron’s team, David seeks to combine his background in mass spectrometry with a newly found passion for computer science to contribute to the field of immunopeptidomics.
Frederic Saab, B.Sc.
Master Student
Frederic has just started his Master’s degree after having held several jobs in companies, he has completed a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik in Lebanon and a bachelors in Psychology at Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania. During his Psychology degree, Frederic had the chance to volunteer in a leading Infectious diseases research institute in Lithuania where he had the chance to work with bright scientists and collaborate with a University in Lithuania and Weil Cornell in the U.S in research projects focused on molecular epidemiology of E. coli & L. pneumophila.
As part of Dr. Caron’s team, Frederic will be delving into, as well as combining his interests in the fascinating worlds of immunology, mass spectrometry and computer science.
Bayrem Gharsallaoui
Intern
After completing a DEC in natural sciences, Bayrem is now completing a Bachelor in Biomedical Sciences at the Université de Montréal as an intern in the Caron Lab at the CHU Sainte-Jutine Research center. Passionate about sciences and genetics, Bayrem has the aspiration to continue his studies towards the higher cycles of the master’s degree and the doctorate in his field.
Maxim Isabelle, PhD
Mass Spectrometer Platform Manager
Following undergraduate and master studies at Sherbrooke University, Maxim completed a PhD with Dr Guy Poirier at the research center du CHU de Québec of Laval University. During his training, he provided groundwork for a system-wide modeling of the poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation metabolism and the scaffold of associated protein under DNA damage condition. Afterward, he developed an expertise in mass spectrometry as a principal investigator at Endoceutics followed by a senior scientist position at CellCarta (formerly Caprion). He joined the CHU Sainte-Justine research center as the manager of mass spectrometry platform in March 2021.
Jérôme Despault, B.Sc.
Master Student
Following a 15-year long career as a Chef in some of the most prestigious hotels in Canada Ritz Carlton and Sofitel, Jérôme made a drastic change in his career and completed his B.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Montreal from 2017 and 2019. Jérôme was recruited to the Caron Lab at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research center in September 2019 as a master’s student and his role will be to determine the role of the Immunoproteasome in the generation of spliced peptides and to implement workflows for quantification of MHC-1 cell surface abundance.
Peter Kubiniok, PhD
Research Assistant
Peter finished his PhD in the group of Dr. Pierre Thibault during the summer of 2018 after working in the field of Mass Spectrometry for 5 years. He has vast experience in the generation and analysis of large scale proteomics datasets, affinity purification and chemical proteomics. Peter is now working on the bioinformatic analysis of large immuno-peptidomic datasets to understand the mechanisms by which peptide antigens are formed.
Laura Wessling, B.Sc.
Years in the lab: 2019/2020
Student intern
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biology in Tuebingen, Germany from 2016-2020 and have been in Etienne's lab since January 2020 for a four month internship and be part of a current research project. ​
For my bachelor thesis I worked in Tuebingen in the Department of Immunology under the supervision of Hans-Georg Rammensee and Stefan Stevanović. The topic of my bachelor thesis was the establishment of a high-throughput method for the purification of HLA ligands. ​
Qing Ma
Years in the lab: 2019
Position in the lab: COOP summer student
Current position and location: MSc student in Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Canada
Paul Drogaris
Years in the lab: 2019
Position in the lab: Director of the mass spectrometry platform
