Dr. Federico Gaiti (PhD)
Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network;
Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto;
Faculty Affiliate, Vector Institute;
Early-Career Investigator, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Dr. Gaiti earned his PhD in evolutionary biology and genomics from the University of Queensland (Australia), where he focused on understanding the evolutionary origin of two major players in human gene regulation: long non-coding RNAs and chromatin marks. Through these studies, he developed a deep interest in understanding how a single normal cell becomes malignant by the accumulation of genetic and non-genetic alterations. This motivated him to pursue a career in biomedical research, to understand the underpinnings of evolutionary plasticity of cancer. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Dan Landau’s laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Genome Center, he made contributions to the cancer genomics and computational oncology fields by examining the epigenetic dimension of cancer evolution, using chronic lymphocytic leukemia and human gliomas as models. Dr. Gaiti is now developing and applying computational and experimental single-cell genomics and epigenomics methodologies to answer the fundamental question of how malignant cellular states in cancer are jointly determined by genetic and epigenetic alterations. Dr. Gaiti is committed to a career in basic cancer research with translational impact, making discoveries that would offer improved therapeutic options to directly address cancer evolution.
Dr. Jiaoyi Chen (PhD)
Postdoctoral Researcher
She/Her
Dr. Jiaoyi Chen received her PhD in Medical Sciences from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Throughout her PhD program, she focused on the intricate immune mechanism of the myeloid lineage in crescentic glomerulonephritis. Her research involved a fusion of dry-lab programming in R/Bioconductor-based single-cell bioinformatics and wet-lab experimental techniques in transgenic murine modelling, cellular gene editing, and molecular biology. With a growing interest in computational biology and cancer immunology, Jiaoyi conducted postdoctoral research on the immune microenvironment of renal cell carcinoma at the University of Hong Kong after graduation.
Driven by a strong commitment to unravelling the complexities of cancer evolution, Jiaoyi joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in September 2023, aiming to uncover novel genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cancer development and translate benchside discoveries into innovative therapeutic strategies for cancer patients.
Outside of the lab, Jiaoyi enjoys cooking and scuba diving. She holds an advanced open-water diver license and has enjoyed diving in many different oceans around the world.
Dr. Sanjana Bhatnagar (PhD)
Postdoctoral Researcher
She/Her
Dr. Sanjana Bhatnagar completed her PhD in Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. John Calarco and in collaboration with Dr. Alan Moses. Her doctoral research focused on understanding how RNA processing mechanisms, particularly alternative splicing, contribute to tissue identity and developmental programs.
During her PhD, she combined experimental approaches with computational biology to investigate the regulatory mechanisms underlying alternative splicing. She applied RNA-seq analysis, statistical modelling, unsupervised learning, and bioinformatics approaches to identify functional intronic cis-regulatory elements that influence alternative splicing in a tissue-dependent manner. She also leveraged comparative genomics and machine learning to characterize conserved splicing regulatory elements across species, tissues, and developmental stages. At the Gaiti Lab, Sanjana is interested in applying her expertise in RNA regulation to cancer biology, where RNA processing may play an important role in shaping tumor cell identity, plasticity, and evolution. She is particularly interested in understanding how regulatory networks are rewired during cancer progression and how integrating multiple molecular modalities can uncover the mechanisms driving tumor development and progression.
In her downtime, Sanjana enjoys travelling with her family, exploring nature, and trying different cuisines.
Xuyao Li (M.Sc.)
Research Technician/Lab Manager
He/Him
Xuyao received his Honours of Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree both in Biochemistry at University of Toronto. Since then, he has been working in biotechnology industry for more than 5 years with an interest in development of biologics to treat medical diseases and conditions. Inspired by epigenetics in cancer research, Xuyao joined the lab in Fall 2021. As a research technician and lab manager, Xuyao enjoys managing different aspects of research activities and makes sure all day-to-day operations run smoothly and efficiently. Outside of work, Xuyao likes reading literature and learning history.
Loïc Caloren (M.Sc.)
Research Technician
Loïc received his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine degrees from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. During his Masters, his research focussed on characterizing rare mitochondrial DNA mutations in immune cell subsets of people living with HIV. Loïc joined the lab in summer 2024, driven by strong interests in the application of cutting-edge genomic and epigenetic techniques in cancer research and translational precision medicine. Outside of the lab, Loïc enjoys riding his bike and playing and watching soccer and hockey.
Pathum Kossinna (M.Sc.)
Senior Bioinformatics/Data Science Analyst
He/Him
Pathum obtained his bachelor’s in applied sciences (Statistics Special) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka and worked as a Data Analyst/Scientist for 2 years deploying interactive visualizations and building forecast models for various industries. His interest in big data carried him over to a Masters in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Bioinformatics Specialization) at the University of Calgary where he worked on tool and method development in stabilized machine learning models. Applications of his methods to cancer as well as an interest in the single-cell bioinformatics space led him to join the lab in Fall 2022. He looks forward to contributing both in maintaining efficient and well-documented code and pipelines and in eventual method/tool development in the single-cell space. He loves reading (science-fiction and fantasy in particular), puzzles, animals and exploring
Joan Kant (M.Sc.)
Senior Bioinformatics/Data Science Analyst
Jeremy Chen (B.Sc.)
Bioinformatics/Data Science Analyst
Jeremy received his B.Sc from the University of Toronto, specializing in bioinformatics and computational biology. He joined the lab in 2025 to complete his fourth-year undergraduate thesis and has since transitioned into a bioinformatics and data analyst role. His research centers on cancer evolution and how computational tools can reveal the intricate ways it unfolds. Outside the lab, Jeremy enjoys travelling and good food.
Yiyan Wu (B.Sc.)
PhD student
She/Her
Dapo Onabote (M.Sc. Biochemistry)
PhD student
Yumika Shiba (B.Sc in Computer Science and Biology)
PhD Student
Yumika received her B.Sc in Computer Science and Biology from McGill University. Before joining the lab in January 2025, she worked as a bioinformatics analyst at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Yumika is drawn to listening to the whispers of nature through data. Outside research, she likes playing the ukulele and the piano, theatre, and hiking.
Maryam Sataripoor (B.Sc.)
Undergraduate Research Student
She/Her
Devna Mehta (B.Sc. Candidate)
Undergraduate Research Student
Devna is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Scarborough, in the Specialist Systems/Behavioral Neuroscience program. She joined the Gaiti Lab as a summer student in 2025 and is now completing her undergraduate thesis in the lab. She supports wet-lab projects across the team, with a particular focus on glioblastoma research. Her work has included studying NOTCH signalling in GBM and now explores the neuroinflammatory secretome and tumor-neuron interactions.
Outside the lab, Devna loves painting, going to concerts (eight and counting!), and exploring the science and creativity behind cosmetic formulation.
Lufei (Cissy) Liu (B.Sc. Candidate)
Undergraduate Research Student
She/Her
Cissy is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, double majoring in Immunology and Biochemistry. She joined the Gaiti Lab in summer 2026 and is interested in understanding how tumors adapt and evolve during disease progression and recurrence. Her research in the lab spans glioblastoma recurrence and breast cancer initiation, where she uses both computational and experimental approaches to investigate tumor-microenvironment interactions and cellular states associated with disease progression. Outside the lab, Cissy enjoys playing music and skateboarding around the city.
Yinghao Liu (B.Sc. Candidate)
Undergraduate Research Student
Yinghao is a second-year student at UofT studying Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. He joined the lab in the summer of 2026. His research interest includes blood cancer evolution, epigenetics, and alternate splicing events. Outside of the lab, he loves playing the trombone and table tennis.
Lucy Fuccillo
Research Administrative Assistant
Lucy Fuccillo is the research administrative assistant of the lab. Lucy was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Subsequently, she moved to Toronto in 1999 to attend George Brown College to study Business Management. She has 30+ years of experience working as a research administrative assistant for various research and clinical organizations. Away from work, Lucy enjoys cycling, working out, and taking long walks with her buddy Watson!
Alumni.
Matt Watson (Current position: Hartland Jackson & Kieran Campbell groups at LTRI)
Deisha Paliwal (Current position: Medical Biophysics MSc Student at UofT)
Nayeon Hyun (Current position: Bioinformatics Undergraduate Student at UofT)
Veronica Chang (Current position: Graduate Student at UofT in the Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology department)
Ilham Abbasi (Current position: MHSc Medical Genomics Candidate at University of Toronto)
Artem Kushnirenko (Current position: Graduate Student at UofT in the Medical Biophysics department)
Jahin Kabir (Current position: Bioinformatics Undergraduate Student at UofT)
Yunhua Ren (Current position: Graduate Student at UofT)
Jianfan Ivy Nie (Current position: Graduate Student at University of Ottawa)
Arghavan Ashouri (Current position: Project Manager at UHN)
Peng-Cheng Yu (Current position: Graduate Student at Fudan University [China])
Benson Wu (Current position: Graduate Student at Harvard Medical School)
Mohamed Ghaith Majjani
Ciaran Neely
Join our team.
Our goal is to build a diverse, collaborative community of scientists of all levels.