The EpiLab • University of Toronto Mississauga

Science is the job.
This is the rest of it.

Behind every paper is a room full of people who burned popcorn in the break room, argued over PCR settings, and celebrated results at 9pm on a Tuesday. This is that room.

In the lab and beyond

Scenes from the EpiLab

From holiday parties to lab selfie days, we take the science seriously and not much else.

Lab Selfie Day 2026–2027

Annual Tradition

Lab Selfie Day

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Behind the scenes — getting the lab selfie just right
Behind the scenes — getting the lab selfie just right. Also featuring Tarkan, a blast from the lab's past!
Fooling around trying to get the perfect selfie day photo
Fooling around trying to get the perfect selfie for selfie day

Annual Tradition

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Contest

We are very good scientists. The pumpkins did not survive peer review.

EpiLab Halloween pumpkin carving 2025
Contestant #1 — bold vision, bolder execution
EpiLab Halloween pumpkin carving 2025
Contestant #2 — we think it's screaming. Relatable.
EpiLab Halloween pumpkin carving 2025
Contestant #3 — clearly the work of people who spend their days at a microscope, not an art table

Annual Tradition

The Annual BBQ

Brisket, BBQ, and a taste of the south. Science is hard. Eating together is easy.

EpiLab Annual BBQ 2025

EpiLab Annual BBQ — Summer 2025

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BBQ 2025 — group photo 1
Peace signs all round
BBQ 2025 — group photo 2
The more composed take
BBQ 2025 — group photo 3
The official one
BBQ 2025 — karaoke
Karaoke — no one was ready, everyone participated
BBQ 2025 — deck crew
Deck crew, suspiciously relaxed
BBQ 2025 — cross-lab interaction
Proof the two labs interact
BBQ 2025 — BB-gun tournament
BB-gun tournament. Yes, a BB-gun.
BBQ 2025 — tournament winner Harry
Tournament winner Harry — slingshot skills confirmed
BBQ 2025 — tournament winner Harry
Harry and Natalia, just chilling
BBQ — archery
Archery. BB guns. Slingshots. Somehow everyone went home fine.

Lab Outing — April 2024

We Chased a Total Solar Eclipse

When the total solar eclipse passed over Toronto in April 2024, Luca — our resident astrophotographer — got the whole lab excited enough to drag a telescope to a park. He got the shot. We got a memory. Science wins.

EpiLab eclipse outing 2024

Total Solar Eclipse — Toronto, April 2024

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Looking up
The PIs, geared up
Totality
Corona through the clouds
Luca on the telescope — in his element

Annual Tradition — Winter 2024

Lab Christmas Party

We made it out in 2024. 2025, we tried our best. Special mention to everyone at the table for their heroic, unanimous, ultimately futile effort to get Dr. Zovkic to look at the camera.

EpiLab Christmas Party 2024

Christmas Party 2024

Everyone: "Iva, look at the camera!"  ·  Iva: 👀

Alumni Spotlight

We Miss You, Gilda

Dr. Gilda Stefanelli left the EpiLab to found her own lab at the University of Ottawa — and we couldn't be prouder. She is missed every single day, and we wish her and her team nothing but success. This photo perfectly captures the energy she brought to this lab.

Gilda Stefanelli holding a giant roll of bubble wrap triumphantly

Gilda Stefanelli, Ph.D.

Celebrating a delivery. Or science. Honestly, both.

Now leading the Stefanelli Lab at the University of Ottawa. 🎉

Conference Highlights

Fusion: Epigenetics & Epitranscriptomics

The EpiLab made its presence known at the Fusion conference — and came home with hardware. Tim McLean and Luca Hategan both took home Poster Prize Winner awards. Two students, two prizes, one very proud lab.

Tim and Luca winning poster prizes at Fusion 2022

🏆 Poster Prize Winners — Tim McLean & Luca Hategan

Fusion: Epigenetics & Epitranscriptomics Conference, 2022

Lab Culture

How we work

01

Curious by default

We recruit people who ask questions before they accept answers. Whether you are troubleshooting a protocol or choosing a dissertation topic, intellectual honesty is the baseline here.

02

Two labs, one culture

The Walters and Zovkic labs share space, equipment, and a running debate about whose model system is harder to work with. The answer changes weekly. The camaraderie does not.

03

People first

Good science takes time, and good scientists take breaks. We celebrate milestones loudly, support setbacks quietly, and make sure there is always something to look forward to at the end of a long experiment.

Follow along

More from the EpiLab

Our Instagram is curated by a student with a keen eye and a camera that never seems to run out of battery. For a more candid look at lab days, conference trips, and the occasional celebratory cake, give us a follow.

@theepilab