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FAIZ LAB MEMBERS
We are a growing, tight-knit lab full of awesome, enthusiastic, and fun people who genuinely love science. Our lab believes in making the research process exciting, and being there to support each other.
While we keep things fun, our lab strives to provide an open and safe environment to have important conversations whenever needed.
DR. MARYAM FAIZ
Principal Investigator
Maryam received her PhD from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain under the supervision of Drs. Laia Acarin and Bernardo Castallano. She trained with Dr. Milos Pekny at the University of Goteborg in Sweden, and then with Dr. Andras Nagy at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto. Maryam loves 'the ideas' and cool tech. Most of all, she loves her students (well...a close second to her two, really cute, small kids).
MARIA FAHIM
Lab Technician
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DR. ERICA SCOTT
Post-Doctoral Fellow
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JUSTINE BAJOHR
PhD Student
Justine obtained her honors BSc in neuroscience and bioethics and MSc from the University of Toronto. She joined the Faiz Lab in 2018 and has been diligently reprogramming astrocytes ever since. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of reprogramming and assessing how cellular heterogeneity affects reprogramming outcomes. Justine is a strong advocate for science communication and enjoys hiking, doing puzzles and collecting plants in her free time.
EMERSON DANIELE
MSc
Emerson graduated with an honours BSc from the University of Toronto specializing in Neuroscience. He joined the Faiz Lab in 2018 and refers to himself as a gut brain axis explorer. His research is focused on characterizing the gut-derived immune response to ischemic stroke and developing gut microbiota based therapeutics to improve stroke outcomes. When he's not exploring the gut brain axis, you can find Emerson perfecting his chocolate chip cookie recipe, playing guitar or drinking a piping hot coffee.
HIBA TAHA
MSc Candidate
Hiba graduated with an honours BSc from the University of Toronto specializing in Neuroscience with double minors in Physiology and Immunology. She joined the Faiz Lab in 2021 with a deep fascination in direct cellular reprogramming of astrocytes. Her research focuses on astrocyte heterogeneity and exploration of astrocyte subtype reprogramming in vitro. Hiba harbours a keen passion for science communication, as well as inspiring and advocating for black students in STEM. Outside of the lab Hiba enjoys exercising, watching hours of tiktok, or playing games with her cute cat, Venus.
DANIELA LOZANO
MSc Candidate
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YIBANG FAN
Undergraduate Student
Yibang Fan is a 4th year undergraduate volunteer at Maryam Faiz Lab. Over the years of undergraduate study in neuroscience and human biology, he found neuroinflammation to be a key common modulator in many CNS adversities. Currently he is working under Emerson Daniele and Charles Chen on examining how modulating gut-brain signalling with butyrate may impact neuroinflammation during ischemic stroke repair. The firsthand experience of working in IHC and SCFA content analysis consolidated his interest in exploring CNS immunity as a universal therapeutic target in CNS diseases. Outside the lab, Yibang is always trying to convince people eating a SCFA-enriching diet will make everything in life better---- even in emotional problems.
CELESTE GOMES
Undergraduate Student
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TAHIYAT ISLAM
Undergraduate Student
Tahiyat is a 3rd-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying genetics, microbiology and global health. She joined the Faiz Lab in 2022 with interests in the discovery and application of new and innovative scientific therapies. Working closely under Hiba, she is exploring astrocyte population heterogeneity and in vitro direct lineage reprogramming. Outside of the lab, Tahiyat loves exploring the city, watching Netflix and going to the gym.
KIMIA MIR-SHOKRAEI
Undergraduate Student
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PREVIOUS MEMBERS
Tom Enbar
Arman Olfat
Ines Kortebi
Charles Chen
Michael Trinh
Yasmin Nazer