Dr. Brandon Walters

Principal Investigator • Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Walters heads the epitranscriptomics direction of the EpiLab, investigating how RNA modifications — particularly m6A — are deployed during memory formation and how their dysregulation contributes to neurological and psychiatric conditions including depression.

Education: B.S. Biology, Purdue University • Ph.D. University of Alabama Birmingham
Postdoc: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital • Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)

Fun fact: Survived a plane crash.

Dr. Iva Zovkic

Principal Investigator • Assistant Professor, Psychology

Dr. Zovkic leads the epigenetics direction of the EpiLab, studying histone variants and their contribution to memory and disease. Her lab's central focus is understanding how histone variant dynamics go awry in Alzheimer's disease, with an eye toward novel therapeutic targets.

Education: Ph.D. Psychology, Brock University
Postdoc: University of Alabama Birmingham

Fun fact: Karaoke Queen.

Walters Lab — Epitranscriptomics

Graduate Students

Frankie Girard

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Jasnoor Sandhu

M.Sc. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Undergraduate Thesis Students

Hiba Fatima

Undergraduate Thesis

Psychology & Brain Sciences

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Gabriel Laffernis

Undergraduate Thesis

Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Zovkic Lab — Epigenetics

Graduate Students

Tim McLean

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: I am a triplicate.

Luca Hategan

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Into amateur astrophotography.

Harry Jin

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Natalia Gajewska

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Erin Ricaloglu

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Zeynab Kohandel

Ph.D. Student

Cell & Systems Biology

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Research Associate

Fardad Pirri

Research Associate

Zovkic Lab

Fun fact: Coming soon!

Alumni

Where Did They Go?

An interactive alumni map is coming soon. EpiLab graduates have gone on to institutions across North America and beyond.

Steven Luo → Johns Hopkins, Baltimore
Ming Yin Chu → Gritstone Bio, Boston
Isabella Galluzzo → University of Ottawa
Gilda Stefanelli → University of Ottawa
Amanda Leonetti → Brock University
Meghana Malagi → St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Sam Holm → Queen's University
Fiona Ramnaraign → University of Victoria