Dr. Hong Han
Assistant Professor & Principal Investigator
Hong received her B.Sc. Honours degree at the University of British Columbia. She then completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto with Dr. Benjamin Blencowe and Dr. Jason Moffat. Immediately after her Ph.D. in 2016, Hong was honoured as the first recipient of the prestigious Donnelly Home Research Fellow Fund at the University of Toronto, which allowed her to become a semi-independent investigator to develop projects and supervise a research team. In 2022, Hong was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) and a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research (CDCR) at McMaster University.
Staff and Postdoc
Dr. Fuad Chowdhury, Research Specialist
Fuad received his BSc Honours degree from the University of Toronto. He then completed the MD program at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and is currently training in the Medical Genetics & Genomics residency program at the Cumming School of Medicine in Calgary, Alberta. After completing his undergraduate degree, Fuad began working with Dr. Han on validating splice events targeted by the novel neural splicing regulator, PUF60, recently identified on a neural SPAR-Seq screen. Having cultivated an interest in applying genomics technology to discover therapies for human genetic disease, Fuad became involved in designing and curating disease-relevant splice events to enable high-throughput screening. Fuad will further conduct and support cancer single-cell profiling and functional genomics research at the Han Lab.
Alberto Torrez (MSc), Lab Technician
Alberto received his BSc degree at the University of Western Ontario. He then completed his MSc at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in collaboration with UWO investigating protein-protein interactions with histone deacetylase BdHD1. In 2020, Alberto joined Canopy Growth Corporation as the Genomics Technician on the Plant Performance Team. To support the goals of the genomics team, he worked with cannabis at the DNA level to try to enhance our understanding of the cannabis genome. Alberto is passionate about bringing his expertise in molecular techniques and genomics to aid in the high-throughput discovery and characterization of gene regulatory networks in cancer in the Han Lab.
Mikhail (Mike) Salnikov (MSc), Research Fellow
Mike received his BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Western Ontario. He completed his undergrad in Microbiology & Immunology, with his Master’s focusing on the tumor microenvironment of EBV-associated gastric cancers (EBVaGCs). In 2023, Mike joined the Han Lab in studying treatment-resistant cancers, particularly gliomas. He has developed a number of computational pipelines, leading to novel approaches to existing problems for classification and prognostication. Mike is passionate about applying cutting-edge bioinformatics techniques, including machine learning approaches, to the studies of a variety of disease states, particularly cancers of the central nervous system.
Students
Ziyue Cheng, PhD Candidate
Ziyue received his BSc in Veterinary Medicine from Huazhong Agricultural University in 2022 and obtained his MSc in Biology with a focus on Bioinformatics from New York University in 2024. During his master’s study, he developed a pipeline for processing ribosome profiling data to study start-stop (a special translation regulatory element in the 5’UTR) in the Vogel Lab. Driven by his interest in cancer biology and novel high-throughput single-cell sequencing, Ziyue joined the Han Lab in 2024. His research focuses on multi-omics investigations of coordinated RNA regulatory networks that drive treatment-resistant cancer progression, particularly in glioblastoma and neuroendocrine cancer. He is passionate about building computational tools to tackle these challenging diseases. Outside of research, Ziyue enjoys walking and playing video games.
Lexie Desjarlais, MSc Candidate
Lexie received her Undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba in the Biochemistry (Honours) program. She completed her honours thesis in the Mckenna Lab where she studied non-coding RNA-protein interactions and their biophysical characteristics associated with cancer. In the summer of 2024, she received an Undergraduate Research Award in the Pearson Lab at CancerCare Manitoba to study the interactions of the transcription factor TEAD in small cell lung cancer. It was through these experiences that she discovered her passion for RNA and cancer biology and chose to pursue a master’s degree with these interests in mind. Lexie joined the Han lab in 2025, where she focuses on the gene regulation layers that RNA-binding proteins control in neuroendocrine cancer progression. In her free time, Lexie enjoys all things sports, fitness, and outdoor activities.
Yiran (Rose) Wang, MSc Candidate
Rose completed her B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Pharmacology at the University of Toronto. Her previous research experience spans platelet biology (Dr. Walter Kahr Lab, SickKids) and the epigenetic regulation of neurodevelopmental disorders (Dr. Peter Wells Lab, U of T Pharmacy). Motivated by a strong interest in glioblastoma and disease research and the development of novel experimental and bioinformatic approaches, Rose joined the Han Lab as an M.Sc. candidate in 2025. Her research focuses on investigating the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment using high-throughput profiling technologies, with the goal of identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for recurrent glioblastoma. Outside of the lab, Rose enjoys watching musicals and playing video games. She is excited to pursue her research in the Han Lab and continue growing as a scientist.
Frass Chaudhary, Undergraduate Student
Frass is a fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program at McMaster. He developed an interest in brain tumor research following his mom’s diagnosis and subsequent surgery back in 2015. This passion for brain tumor research led him to discover the Han lab and its innovative work in the field. During his summer position at the Beaudry Lab at the University of Toronto, Frass gained experience in cell culture and immunofluorescence techniques – appreciating the “hands-on” aspect of research. At the Han lab, he is excited to further his wet-lab skills through working with patient-derived cell lines and learning single-cell transcriptomics. His current project focuses on understanding regulatory mechanisms, such as RNA splicing, that shape Glioblastoma progression, to improve treatment strategies for this aggressive tumor. In his free time, Frass loves to watch and play sports, including basketball, hockey, and archery!
Hamza Naqvi, Undergraduate Student
Hamza is a fourth-year Biochemistry Co-op student at McMaster with a strong interest in therapeutic development, multi-omics, and bioinformatics. His research journey began during his co-op at the Currie Lab, where he developed screening processes to reduce redundancy in natural product drug discovery. Hamza is currently completing his co-op following his senior thesis in the Han and Bramson Labs, driven by his passion for cancer immunotherapy and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). His work investigates the transcriptomic profiles of Gamma Delta T cells and genetically engineered T-cells for cancer immunotherapy using scRNA-seq. Beyond the lab, Hamza enjoys drumming, listening to music, solving puzzles, travelling, sports, and exploring his interest in geography. Hamza is eager to continue advancing his computational skills and contributing to high-throughput profiling techniques in the Han Lab, aiming to uncover key mechanisms in T-cell cancer immunotherapy.
Alumni
Cole Nickason, MSc student
Connor Clark-Baba, Co-op student
Kabir Siraj, Undergrad thesis and summer student
Solsa Cariba, Graduate student
Vanshika Khaitan, Undergrad thesis and summer student
Dr. Yuhan Liao, Postdoctoral fellow