HostSeq Trainees & Fellows

To support the use of HostSeq data and contribute to the training of genomic data scientists, CGEn has partnered with the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Genetics to fund four research projects proposing to use HostSeq data, through the CGEn HostSeq/CIHR Joint Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

CGEn has also partnered with the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI)-Ontario node to fund five CANSSI Ontario STAGE HostSeq Fellowships.

While focused on COVID-19 research, the skills and expertise developed through these programs will feed a talent pipeline that will be critical for advancing genomic medicine applications in Canada.

CANSSI Ontario STAGE HostSeq Trainees

Ohanna Bezerra – supervisor: France Gagnon, University of Toronto

Project title: In silico evaluation of the impact of pandemic-inherited study design biases with application to a thromboembolism-informed HD-GWAS of COVID-19 severe outcomes

Qian Liu – supervisor: Pingzhao Hu, University of Manitoba

Project title: DeepHostSeverity: Deep learning and genomic-driven COVID-19 severity assessment tool

Tianyuan Lu – supervisor: Celia Greenwood, McGill University

Project title: Dissecting the genetic architecture of COVID-19 comorbidities and identifying biomarkers for high-risk individuals

Diogo Pellegrina – supervisor: Jüri Reimand, OICR

Project title: Effect of comorbidities, behaviour, and other clinical data on population polymorphisms that interfere with human phospho- signaling networks altered by SARS-CoV-2 infection, and its implication in survival and complications.

Xiaoke Qin – supervisor: Sanjeena Dang, Carleton University

Project title: Cluster analysis of patients infected by COVID-19 and a risk forecast model based on clustering

CGEn HostSeq CIHR Joint Postdoctoral Fellows

Shu Li – supervisors: Maja Tarailo-Graovac and Gerald Pfeffer, University of Calgary

Project title: Solving the genomics of unsolved rare life-threatening COVID-19 using genome sequencing

Marla Mendes de Aquino – supervisor: Stephen Scherer, SickKids

Project title: Contribution of Predicted High-Impact Genetic Variants in Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children & Adolescents (MIS-C)

Qian Liu – supervisor: Pingzhao Hu, Western University

Project title: Knockoff statistics-driven interpretable deep learning models for uncovering potential biomarkers for COVID-19 risk prediction

Briallen Lobb – supervisor: Andrew Doxey, University of Waterloo

Project title: Comprehensive RNA-seq profiling of COVID-19 patients: combining microbial diagnostics with host genetic determinants of disease severity