Our Members
Principal Investigator
Ina Anreiter
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Graduate Appointment)
Cell and Systems Biology (Graduate Appointment)
Ina did her PhD under guidance of Marla Sokolowski at the University of Toronto working on the regulation of the foraging gene and food-related behaviour. After her PhD she joined Jared’s Simpsons lab at the OICR as a Schmidt Science Fellow to develop new methods to study RNA modifications using Oxford Nanopore Sequencing. Later, she joined Thomas Clandinin’s lab at Stanford as a Stanford Science Fellow to study the role of mRNA modifications in the brain. Ina grew up in Portugal where she completed a BSc in Biology and an MSc in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine. She loves the outdoors, animals of all kinds, and to try different foods.
Lab members
Henny Bennett
Visiting Post-doc
Henny is a postdoctoral researcher enthusiastic about all things cilia, microscopy, and planarian-related. Her goal is to understand how animals use a cell surface organelle – the cilium – to sense and respond to environmental signals. With the Anreiter Lab, she is using freshwater planarians, a.k.a. “flatworms”, to study how nervous system development and regeneration builds ciliated sensory organs that regulate complex behaviours like feeding. Henny also has a primary appointment in the lab of Dr. Andras Kapus (St. Michael’s Hospital, UofT Biochemistry) where she studies how cilia regulate cell fate decisions in fibrosis. Outside the labs, she is working to make academia a better place as an advocate for postdocs and executive council member of the Canadian Association for Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS/ACPP). Personal Website
Arjan Banerjee
Post-doctoral fellow
Arjan is a post-doctoral fellow conducting a methodological study of post-transcriptional modification calling in Drosophila Oxford Nanopore Sequencing data. His PhD project was under the supervision of Saša Stefanović at the University of Toronto Mississauga and was based on comparative genomics of plastid genomes in two genera of parasitic plants. Arjan grew up in Calcutta, India and moved to Canada for his undergraduate studies and has been here since. He likes sports (this year is finally Arsenal's year), food/cooking, and table-top games.
Kevin McGarragle
MSc Student
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Kevin is currently completing his MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto and his research is focused on investigating the effects of the m6A mRNA modification on behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster. Although Kevin was born in Toronto, he completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Western Ontario. In his personal life, Kevin loves to stay active and spend time with his dogs.
Rebekah Jolicoeur Alfaro
MSc Student
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Rebekah completed her BSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Anthropology, at the University of Toronto in 2022. She is currently completing her MSc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto under the co-supervision of Ina Anreiter and Helen Rodd. Her research focuses on the epigenetic mechanisms involved in the transgenerational inheritance of behavior of guppies treated with Ritalin. Rebekah grew up in Guatemala City and enjoys travelling/exploring new places, reading books, and baking cakes.
Ryan Chak Sang Yip
MSc Student
Cell & Systems Biology
Ryan is a MSc student in Cell & Systems Biology at the University of Toronto and his research is focused on investigating the role of m6A-mediated heat shock protein expression in Drosophila neural development. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and watching documentaries.
Mila Gorchkova
MSc Student
Cell & Systems Biology
Mila completed her Bsc in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Spanish at the University of Toronto in 2021. She is currently a MSc student in Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto and is interested in the genetic underpinnings of behaviour. She is investigating a social behaviour in Drosophila larvae and the influence of the foraging gene on this behaviour. In her spare time, she likes to read, try new sports, and go to concerts.
Elizabeth Makovec
PhD Student
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Elizabeth completed her BSc in Genetics and Genomics, and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023. She is currently a PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program at the University of Toronto under the co-advisement of Ina Anreiter and Jacqueline Sztepanacz. Her research interests are in pleiotropy, sexual selection, sexual conflict, and behavioral genetics. In her free time Elizabeth enjoys reading, playing the piano and clarinet, and being outdoors.
Jaza Alam
Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Biological Sciences
Jaza is an undergraduate student doing a molecular biology & biotechnology specialist & minor in applied statistics. She is investigating the role of m6a modifications in the feeding behavior and longevity of Drosophila. Outside the lab, she can be found hiking & exploring outdoors, playing sports, reading, or cooking.
Xinyao Zhuang
Undergraduate Student (Volunteer)
Biological Sciences
Xinyao is a first-year student in the program of Specialist Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She is interested in genetics and neuroscience. In her leisure time, she likes to crochet and watch nature documentaries.
Amirfaham Fallahpour
Undergraduate Student (BIOB98)
Biological Sciences
Amirfaham is gearing up for his second year at the University of Toronto, planning to double major in biochemistry and neuroscience. Passionate about the brain's mysteries, he's focusing his research on how PFAS chemicals affect the neurodevelopment of Drosophila. When he's not buried in academics or research, Amirfaham indulges in his love for reading and watching, staying glued to his pop culture holy trinity: One Piece, Gintama, and JOJO’s. Engage in a conversation with him, and you'll either be riding a wave of dopamine or fighting off boredom.
Alumni
Christabel Eileen (Undergraduate, BIOD98 Thesis, 2024)
Rossetta Mao (Undergraduate, BIOD98 Thesis, 2024)
Nazgol Moheimani (Undergraduate, NSERC USRA, 2023)
Rubab Shafiq (Undergraduate, BIOD98 Thesis, 2022-2023)
Hanabi Geiger (Undergraduate, Work Study, 2023)
Tasneem Al Mudarris (Undergraduate, NSERC USRA, BIOD98 Thesis, 2022-2023)
Zeenal Patel (Undergraduate, BIOD98 Thesis, 2022-2023)
Barbara Gundi (Undergraduate, NROD98 Thesis, 2022-2023)
Da Beattie (Undergraduate, Volunteer, 2022)
Archanah Uthayendran (Undergraduate, Research Assistant, 2022)
Parsa Sadeh (Undergraduate, NSERC USRA, 2022)
Zahn Bariring (Undergraduate, Work Study, 2022)
Behdad Hosseinpour (Undergraduate, Volunteer, 2022)
Sam Haar (Undergraduate, Work Study, 2022)
Arthikka Vasudevan (Undergraduate, BIOB98 Thesis, 2022)
Maryam Zaffar (Undergraduate, BIOC99 Thesis 2022)
Ayemen Faridi (Undergraduate, BIOC99 Thesis, 2022)
Rammiya Rathakrishnan (Undergraduate, BIOC99 Thesis, 2022)
Veenaa Balakumar (Undergraduate, BIOC99 Thesis, 2022)
Sakshi Chaudhari (Undergraduate, BIOC99 Thesis, 2022)