Lab Members
Parisa Shooshtari, Ph.D. | Principle Investigator
Dr. Parisa Shooshtari is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pathology & Lab Medicine and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario. She is also a Scientist at the Children's Health Research Institute (CHRI), and an Investigator at the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research (OICR).
Dr. Shooshtari received her PhD in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia (UBC), followed by postdoctoral research in Computational Genomics at Yale University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and a research associate appointment at SickKids Research Institute.
Dr. Shooshtari's primary research focuses on uncovering cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying complex diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases and cancer. She approaches this big challenge by integrative analysis of multi-omics data and developing machine learning methods for the analysis of single-cell “omic” data.
Fatemeh Behjati, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral Trainee
I am a computer scientist by training, with a special interest in AI. During my PhD and first postdoc, I have developed several machine learning methods to study the foundations of gene regulation. My current projects in the Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine at Western University involve multi-omics data including transcriptomics and epigenomics and their integration mainly in the context of understanding pancreatic cancer and drug resistance.
Aidin Foroutan, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral Trainee
Aidin Foroutan joined our lab as a postdoc associate in April 2022 in the department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, Western University. He is specialized in Computational Epigenetics.
Nader Hosseini Naghavi | PhD Student
My name is Nader Hosseini Naghavi, I am a fourth-year PhD student of Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario. My research involves developing statistical methods and machine learning models for analysis and integration of biological data. Specifically, I am interested in identifying mechanisms of complex diseases by integration of various types of biological data including single cell sequencing data (scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq) with GWAS data to discover the effects of risk variants of diseases on gene expression and regulation patterns in cells.
Mohammad Hossein Derakhshan Nazari | MSc Student
I am a second-year Master’s student in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Western University, with a strong passion for understanding inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). My research focuses on genetic risk variants and how they influence the development and progression of this complex autoimmune disease. Working under the co-supervision of Dr. Parisa Shooshtari and Dr. Samuel Asfaha, my Master’s thesis integrates genome-wide association studies with single-cell epigenomics and transcriptomics to uncover how gene-regulatory mechanisms in immune cells can initiate inflammation and drive IBD pathogenesis. Outside of research, I enjoy staying active through sports like baseball, basketball, water polo, and snowboarding. I also have a deep interest in exploring topics in metaphysics and neuroscience through reading.
Richard Zhang | Research Assistant
I'm a research assistant at the Shooshtari lab with a keen interest in psychiatric research. I'm currently investigating the various gene regulatory mechanisms underlying risk for development of a number of mental illnesses. In my spare time I like going rock climbing and getting into a good book.
Grace Ennema | Work-Study
I am starting my research journey by applying bioinformatic techniques to genomic and epigenetic data. My interests include looking at immune disease such as asthma and allergies. Currently, I am focused on looking at asthma in a variety of contexts. I am excited to continue to expand my passion for understanding inflammation and immune system regulation. In my free time I enjoy curling and singing!