Current Members
Current Members
Current Members


 

CRISTINA LENTO

Lab Manager

Cristina obtained her BSc at York University in Specialized Honours Biochemistry. For her undergraduate research project, she worked in the Audette Laboratory on the crystallization of the TrbB protein involved in F-plasmid conjugation. She then went on to complete an NSERC USRA in the Wilson group which involved studying the oligomerization pathway of the K122-4 pilin from P. aeruginosa using ESI-IMS. This sparked her interest in mass spectrometry, and went on to complete her MSc in the Audette/Wilson lab – where she continued to study protein-protein interactions of the K122-4 pilin and between transfer proteins involved in bacterial conjugation using TRESI-HDX. Outside of the lab Cristina enjoys cooking, writing, and travelling.

 


 

ESTHER WOLF

PhD Student

Esther recently transferred into her PhD after a combined 3 years of undergraduate thesis and Master's work in the Wilson Lab. She absolutely loves protein mass spectrometry and is excited to see the field continue to grow. In collaboration with the Dickinson lab at the University of Chicago, and courtesy of immense help from the 2020 Mitacs Research Award, her current project uses HDX-MS to investigate the BCL2 family proteins and their distinct binding selectivities despite superimposable 3D structures. Concurrently, another HDX-MS project is in the works with the Fischer Lab at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis. Esther hopes to one day have many dogs and a south-facing window for growing indoor plants.

 

 


 

VIMANDA CHOW

MSc Student

Vimanda completed her B.Sc in Zoology with a focus to become a veterinarian. Later to discover, her interest in research during her co-op semester at Sanofi Pasteur. At Sanofi, Vimanda gained hands on experiences working on various qualitative and quantitative method development using HPLC and SEC-MALs. Currently, Vimanda focuses on understanding the dissociation and unfolding of Pertussis Toxin using Collision induced Dissociation/Unfolding (CID/CIU). In addition, she is currently using nanodiscs to understand the interaction between Cytochrome C and different charged phospholipids. When not in the lab, she is probably at the gym, exploring new trails or at a local stationary shop.

 

 


 

ALEX LISTIGOVERS

MSc Student

Alex completed his B.Sc. (Chemistry) at Queen's University in Kingston. After graduation, Alex worked at Sanofi analyzing vaccine antigens using Q-TOF LC-MS. His work in the Wilson lab continues along this path, by using TRESI-HDX to examine the impacts of crosslinking on protein dynamics. Chemical crosslinking is commonly used to inactivate toxic proteins for use in vaccines, these modifications impact both toxicity and immunogenicity of the protein. Alex is also using TRESI-HDX to investigate the allosteric changes in Antithrombin-III by heparin, and heparin's role in stabilizing the Antithrombin-III-Thrombin complex.

 

 


 

AYESHA MAQSOOD

MSc Student

Ayesha recently joined the Wilson lab for her MSc after completing her BSc at York University in Honours Biochemistry. She is interested in studying the structures and dynamics of proteins that are high value oncology targets for pharmacologic intervention. Currently, Ayesha is using HDX-MS for structural elucidation of STAT5b protein and its oncogenic driver mutation, STAT5BN642H, in collaboration with the Rauscher and Gunning Groups at University of Toronto. Besides doing research, Ayesha loves to travel, drink iced coffees and watch The Office on repeat.

 

 

 


 

 

MARWA MOHAMED

MSc Student

Marwa obtained her HBSc in Clinical Pharmacy, being the top of her class. During her undergraduate she completed summer internships in multiple pharmaceutical companies such as in Pfizer, Sigma and Sanofi in her hometown of Egypt. She was awarded a USA research fellowship and trained in the areas of medicinal chemistry, nanoparticles and clinical pharmacokinetics. She is currently pursuing a MSc in Chemistry, her research focuses on elaborating the structural properties of an antileukemia protein (L-Asparaginase) and its intramolecular interactions using TRESI-HDX mass spectrometry. Outside lab, she enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and yoga.

 

 


 

 

ALEEZA QAYYUM

Undergraduate Student

Aleeza is heading into her fourth year at York in the Specialized Honours Biomedical Science program. She joined Wilson’s lab as a recipient of the NSERC USRA after being inspired by the applications of mass spectrometry, HDX and other chemical techniques she learned in Dr. Wilson’s Advanced Biochemistry course. Beside doing research, Aleeza loves plants, matcha, reading and journaling. Her favourite amino acid is lysine because it is very modifiable and schiff bases are exciting!

 

 

 


ALUMNI

Kerene Brown (2020, PhD)

Ruth Knox (2019, PhD)

Lucienne Nouchikian (2019, MSc)

Xiaojing Huang (2019, MSc)

Lisa Szymkowicz (2019, MSc)

Irina Oganesyan (2018, MSc)

Antoine Bourget (2018, MSc)

Shaolong Zhu (2017, PhD)

Peter Liuni (2015, PhD)

Cristina Lento (2015, MSc, Co-Supervised by Dr. Gerald Audette)

Preet Kamal Gill (2015, MSc, Co-Supervised by Dr. Golemi-Kotra)

Diana Resetca (2014, MSc)

Tamanna Rob (2013, PhD)

Yanfang Liang (2012, PhD)

Araby Jeganathan (2012, MSc)