Team Toronto

Picture of the 2023 iGEM Toronto Team
Picture of the 2023 iGEM Toronto Team

Advisor

Xinyi (Marry) Xuan

Marry is a casual scientist. With her commitment to precision and accuracy, Marry ensures that every experiment and protocol is executed flawlessly, contributing to the success of our team's research endeavors. But most of the time, she is just off playing League in her room.
Xinyi (Marry) Xuan
Xinyi (Marry) Xuan
Advisor

Ally Cheung

Jack of all trades master of maybe everything. Ally tasked herself with monitoring the sacred timeline and is alerted when branches start to crop up due to variant behaviour. Also, she ensures everyone in iGEM Toronto has a fun, enjoyable learning experience.
Ally Cheung
Ally Cheung
Advisor

Alston Lo

Alston researches and codes simulations of various cellular organisms. In doing so, he hopes to computationally support the team’s goals, but more importantly, to keep the cells content and unsuspecting of their false reality, never to wake up…
Alston Lo
Alston Lo
Advisor

Cynthia Wu

Cynthia is a passionate individual deeply interested in pharmacology and medicine, with a particular focus on cancer and new generation drug development. Her dedication lies in understanding the intricate mechanisms of cancer and developing innovative therapies to combat it. She tirelessly explores cutting-edge research, seeking breakthrough discoveries and personalized approaches to revolutionize cancer treatment.
Cynthia Wu
Cynthia Wu
Advisor

Ruochen Liu

Ruochen is one of the wet lab leads of our team.
Ruochen Liu
Ruochen Liu
Advisor

Liliane Kreuder

Originally a member of last year’s wet lab team, Liliane’s passion for science communication got her involved in the human practices team where she utilized her skills in stakeholder management and relationship building to understand how our project impacts our community. With a background in molecular biology and clinical medicine, Liliane wishes to make science education accessible to all ages and backgrounds.
Liliane Kreuder
Liliane Kreuder
Advisor

Sean Yam

As an iGEM alumni since 2018, Sean has been an active member of different iGEM Community initiatives. With his involvments in the Science Communication steering group of iGEM Community, Sean is working as the Human Practices Director of iGEM Toronto for another year. Sean has a huge interest in applying synthetic biology to real-life solutions, and is currently in a research exchange program in Singapore. Being one of the masterminds behind the scenes, no one knows what he is up to, but he is always here to drive the Human Practices team forward.
Sean Yam
Sean Yam
Advisor

Eric Raju

Eric is a final-year Applied Statistics student who is taking a focus in Genetics as well as taken mathematics and anthropology minors. He is passionate about the intersection of mathematical modelling and data analysis with the areas of biotechnology, healthcare, public health, and genetics. He also likes music and playing piano as well as trivia.
Eric Raju
Eric Raju
Advisor

President

Amogh Manivannan

Amogh is one of the wet lab leads of our team, and arguably the more fun one. Currently a third-year student in Chemical Engineering, his interests lie within science and food.
Amogh Manivannan
Amogh Manivannan
President

Jaden Bhogal

Jaden is a dedicated member of the wet lab and entrepreneurship teams with an unrelenting passion and excitement for tissue engineering, phage therapy, and synthetic biology. He aims to push the limits of what is possible in these fields by taking on daring and high-potential research ideas and turning them into scalable, culturally adaptable products. Having been with iGEM Toronto for over a year, he is working hard to help create the best project possible. Outside of the lab, you will find Jaden engaging in his arm wrestling side-hustle...
Jaden Bhogal
Jaden Bhogal
President

Wet Lab

Min Yi (Mindy) Yu

Mindy is a dedicated and inquisitive member of our wet lab team. With her unwavering passion for molecular biology techniques (AKA pipetting) combined with her commitment to environmentalism stemming from her roots in beautiful Vancouver, B.C., Mindy brings a unique perspective to our project. As she loves to bring people together for a good time, she is also our Social Director.
Min Yi (Mindy) Yu
Min Yi (Mindy) Yu
Wet Lab Lead

Jeff Chen

Jeff, the youngest member of the wet lab team, fosters a supportive environment where no question is considered insignificant. Despite his tender age of 18 (which unfortunately means he's not old enough to grab a celebratory drink with the team), he actively seeks clarification on matters that others might hesitate to ask. Jeff's proactive approach not only prevents potential embarrassment for his colleagues, but also promotes a culture of open dialogue and nonjudgemental learning. He actively strives to engage in many different aspects of the project, diligently seeking opporutnities to expand his expertise in the fascinating field of synthetic biology.
Jeff Chen
Jeff Chen
Wet Lab Lead

Evelyn Chen

Evelyn is a dedicated member who is interested in Biochemistry and Neuroscience research. She has extensive knowledge on mutagenesis and protein-related experiment, allowing her to contribute a lot toward experiment design. She enjoys applying textbook knowledge into practice, which is why she believes iGEM is one for real-life impact.
Evelyn Chen
Evelyn Chen
Wet lab
Outreach Lead

Dry Lab

Sarvnaz Ale Mohammad

Sarvnaz is a member of the Dry Lab team, interested in modelling and metabolic pathway analysis. Not content with limiting herself to a single domain, Sarvnaz is always eager to learn and explore new fields. Her interest in inter-disciplinary work has led her to also join the Entrepreneurship team, and take lab shifts when she can.
Sarvnaz Ale Mohammad
Sarvnaz Ale Mohammad
Dry Lab Lead

Dhanya Jagannathan

Dhanya enjoys learning about how to computationally simulate microorganism metabolism so that one day she can engineer these microorganisms to not only live off of carbon sources, but off of the sounds of Bach’s Fugue in G Minor that she plays on the trumpet!
Dhanya Jagannathan
Dhanya Jagannathan
Dry Lab Lead

Rodrigo Reyes Feregrino

Introducing Rodrigo, one of the forces behind our team's computational modelling. Pursuing a double major in chemistry and computer science, Rodrigo gracefully dances through the realms of scientific computing where his passions intersect, infusing a sprinkle of chaos and a dash of hippie vibes into the computer science community of the team. Rodrigo fearlessly dives into the intricate world of metabolic engineering, and is interested in bioiformatics and computational chemistry.
Rodrigo Reyes Feregrino
Rodrigo Reyes Feregrino
Dry Lab

Chau (Chloe) Nguyen

Chloe is a passionate member of the dry lab division, with a strong enthusiasm for bioinformatics and computational biology. From discrete dynamical systems to computer simulations of metabolic networks, she is excited to investigate omics problems with the power of scientific computing. Aided with a never ending eager to decode the intricacies of molecular biology, Chloe strives to contribute to the greater vision of iGEM Toronto and seek to bring about impactful changes with synthetic biology in the future.
Chau (Chloe) Nguyen
Chau (Chloe) Nguyen
Dry Lab

Hardware

Kenneth Sulimro

"I am but like a pane of glass / or like ice on the lake when the first frosts pass / turn to me with your figure whole / and you will see revealed the depths of your soul" - Kenneth, of the hardware team, is a man of many considerations but little words, and drives the team forward with thoughts and insight.
Kenneth Sulimro
Kenneth Sulimro
Hardware Lead

Entrepreneurship

Santiago Plata Salazar

Meet Santiago, an astute Entrepreneurship Lead and an integral member of the Wet Lab team. Santiago showcases an innate talent in leveraging science for entrepreneurial pursuits. Not one to shy away from risks, the team reaps enormous benefits from Santiago's pioneering mindset and unyielding energy, which propel our project beyond mere completion to market entry. Santiago’s adeptness in fusing the lab with the creativity of business strategy forges a new path for science-driven entrepreneurship.
Santiago Plata Salazar
Santiago Plata Salazar
Entrepreneurship Lead

Human Practices

Esha Mohan

Esha is a member of the Human Practices team, known for her passion for conservation biology. With a genuine interest in sustainability, Esha brings a unique perspective aimed at addressing today's biodiversity crises and tackling the challenges of global warming.
Esha Mohan
Esha Mohan
Human Practices Lead

Jessica Wang

Jessica is currently a member of the human practice team, after migrating from the McMaster iGEM team as the former president. Despite her proficiency at techniques from cell culture to PCRs as a gut-virus-eye researcher, she thinks it is time to explore new horizons. Her goal is to become the powerhouse of networking that will push the team onto the the front pages.
Jessica Wang
Jessica Wang
Human Practices

Lauren Altomare

Meet Lauren, an enthusiastic member of both the Human Practices and Entrepreneurship Teams. With a heightened interest in communication, ethics and business, she excels at fostering collaborations between consumers, councils and corporations. Mixed with a background in biomedical engineering, she is passionate about exploring synthetic biology solutions to help navigate novel approaches to notorious global issues.
Lauren Altomare
Lauren Altomare
Human Practices
Entrepreneurship

Elma Chowdhury

Elma is a Biochemistry student who is interested in learning about the synthetic biology and gene engineering. She is passionate about human health and medicine, particularly cardiovascular health, neuroscience, emergency medicine and patient mental health as well as clinical research in these fields. Through iGEM, she'd like to help develop a biological solution to issues like global warming and human health.
Elma Chowdhury
Elma Chowdhury
Human Practices

Wiki Team

Henrik S. Zimmermann

Henrik is a full-blood software developer building anything he can get his hands on. From little model trains to stroke rehab games, he has brought diverse projects to life. He hopes to bring the wiki together in the same way.
Henrik S. Zimmermann
Henrik S. Zimmermann
Wiki Team Lead

Joe Chen

Meet Joe, a creative powerhouse and a vital member of our iGEM Graphics Team. With his keen eye for design and unwavering attention to detail, Joe brings our scientific visions to life through stunning visual representations. (I wrote this with chatgpt see it works)
Joe Chen
Joe Chen
Wiki Team

Grace Miao

Allow us to introduce Grace! Her passion for aesthetic colour combinations, science communication, and sustainability has led her to the iGEM Graphics Team. If you have questions about the team's design choices, feel free to banter with her about pretty diagrams.
Grace Miao
Grace Miao
Wiki Team