Principal Investigator
Dr. Karen Mossman
Karen Mossman, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and Vice President (Research) at McMaster University, Canada. She completed her undergraduate Honors BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Guelph in 1992, her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1997 and her Post-doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in 2001, both at the University of Alberta. Dr. Mossman joined McMaster University in July of 2001, with a research focus on understanding the interactions between viruses and their hosts, both in normal healthy cells and in cancer cells, with the goal of developing novel therapy approaches for emerging viral infections and cancer. In addition to her administrative roles within the Office of the VP Research, she serves as Chair of the Board of the McMaster Innovation Park.
Dr. Mossman has two grown children and likes to travel. She swims on a Masters Swim Team and is involved in her local Rotary Club.
Research Technician and Lab Manager
Susan Collins
Susan is a research technician and lab manager in the Mossman lab. She completed an Honors BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Guelph, followed by a MSc in Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia. In her spare time she enjoys camping and hiking.
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Dr. Arinjay Banerjee
Arinjay Banerjee, PhD, is a NSERC and M.G. DeGroote postdoctoral research fellow in the lab and is leading studies on virus-host interactions in a wildlife reservoir of emerging viruses, bats. He is currently leading the laboratory’s studies on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.
In his free time, Arinjay works on other initiatives to promote scientific awareness in Canada (Director of STAN) and is the co-founder of a recently launched platform (gradschooling.com) that promotes the exchange of dialogues between graduate students. He can often be found laughing around and sharing jokes. Arinjay believes that science is all about growing and learning as a team.
Twitter: @sci_questions
Dr. David Hare
David Hare, PhD is a recent PhD graduate from the lab. He is studying IFN-independent signalling and the antiviral response to membrane fusion. He helped show that calcium signalling and nucleic acid sensing help cells recognize enveloped virus particles and helped update existing paradigms surrounding IFN-independent antiviral signalling.
David received his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and genetics at the University of Guelph. He is interested in virus-host interactions and plans to continue work in research. He currently enjoys playing hockey and board games with friends and is growing a balcony garden over the summer outside his apartment in Mississauga.
Dr. Maria Eugenia Davola
Maria Eugenia Davola, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Mossman lab studying the oncolytic activity of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1).
Maria completed her interdisciplinary PhD in Virology and Organic Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her baby girl and spending time with family and friends.
Graduate students
Alyssa Vito
Alyssa obtained her BSc in Biochemistry from Eastern Michigan University, where she attended as a varsity rower on a full athletic scholarship. At the age of 23, she was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. She completed her MSc in 2015, on the development of molecular imaging probes for breast cancer.
She is currently a PhD candidate in our lab, studying novel immunotherapies for triple-negative breast cancer. For her doctoral work, she holds the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Alyssa is married with 2 young kids. In her spare time she enjoys kickboxing, running and playing with her kids.
Tetyana Murdza
Tetyana is a MSc student in the Mossman Lab studying the role of calcium signalling in interferon-independent antiviral responses. Tetyana completed her BSc in Biological Chemistry at the University of Toronto. She enjoys spending her free time with friends, playing music on her flute and travelling to foreign destinations.
Email: MurdzaT@mcmaster.ca
Nader El-Sayes
Nader is a PhD candidate in the lab studying combination immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and their effects on intratumor heterogeneity. He completed his BSc in Biopharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Ottawa in 2015, where he also obtained his MSc in Biochemistry. Nader’s MSc project at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute involved the characterization of small molecules used to enhance the activity of oncolytic viruses. In his free time, Nader enjoys reading and spending his time with friends and family.
Kaushal Baid
Kaushal is a PhD candidate, interested in understanding novel mechanisms of sensing extracellular double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) during virus infections.
He is always down to having brain-tingling scientific discussions, going outdoors (loves biking) and loves Indian food.
Twitter handle: @BaidKaushal
Email: baidk@mcmaster.ca
Undergraduate thesis and summer students
Alumni
Paityn Major
Paityn is currently enrolled at the University of Guelph and entering her fourth year in the Biochemistry co-op program. In addition to her academic course load, she is an active member of the Biochemistry Student Association and, in her spare time, enjoys reading, rock climbing, and seeking out new experiences and delicious food.
Paityn was awarded a BioCanRx Summer Studentship (2019) and will be spending the summer of 2019 in the Mossman lab contributing to the study and development of a recombinant BHV-1 oncolytic virus.
Jeffrey (Jiarun) Wei
Jeffrey (Jiarun) Wei is a master student studying oncolytic viruses. He joined the Mossman lab in 2015 as an undergraduate thesis student where he investigated the potential role of poly-(A) binding protein in virus-host interaction. After completing BSc., he continued his research in the Mossman Lab as a master student where he studied the role of immunogenic cell death in oncolytic immunotherapy.
In addition to research, Jeffrey loves to explore nature and photography.
Maryanne Oketch
Maryanne is currently attending McMaster University and is in her 4th year in Integrated Science with a Biochemistry Concentration. She spent the past summer researching at the University of Toronto as an Amgen Scholar, and she is excited to return and use her skills she learned to complete her 4th year thesis project in the Mossman Lab for the 2019-2020 school year! Outside the lab, you can find Maryanne playing in the McMaster flute ensemble, volunteering for MSU SWHAT or working at the McMaster Students union as their Speaker! With her free time, Maryanne loves playing any Nintendo device, watching Survivor, and swimming!
Alyssa Yip
Alyssa is currently attending McMaster University and entering her 4th year of the Bachelor of Health Sciences program. She was awarded the NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award to fund her work in the lab this summer and is looking to complete her 4th year thesis project starting this fall (2019).
In addition to her academic ambitions, Alyssa also has a passion for arts and loves to sing, play the piano, and will be producing the Health Sciences Musical this year. In her spare time, she also enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, volleyball, and baking delicious treats!