Current Graduate Students


​Nora Hussain
PhD Candidate
September 2020 - Present 
[email protected]
ResearchGate

​Nora completed both her BSc in Microbiology and her MSc in Microbiology and Biotechnology (under Dr. Yann Boucher) at the University of Alberta. Nora's PhD project examines the microbial communities and immunotoxicity of a pilot-scale lake with remediated tailings from the Albertan oil sands on spatiotemporal scales. Nora is a horror movie and Batman aficionado. 

Samuel Amoah
PhD Student
​May 2023 - Present 
[email protected]

Samuel holds a BSc in Medical Laboratory Technology from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. His MSc thesis uses LITRs isolated from goldfish and their effect on neutrophil responses. In his spare time, Samuel likes to play FIFA and strum on his guitar. 

Aoxue Li
PhD Student
January 2024 - Present
[email protected]
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Aoxue completed her undergraduate studies at the Hubei University of Technology in China in Bio-pharmaceutical Engineering. She currently works on goldfish LITRs. Aoxue is a skilled guzheng player and enjoys traveling. 

Marj Gem Bunda-Fajunio
PhD Student
September 2024 - Present
[email protected]
LinkedIn​
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Marj earned both her BSc and MSc in Fisheries (Aquaculture) from the University of Philippines Visayas. Marj is currently investigating bioactive properties of oil sands process water. Additionally, she is a proud mother of two.

Nalan Shen
MSc Student
September 2025 - Present
[email protected]

Nalan has a BSc with Honors in Immunology and Infection from the University of Alberta. She will be examining metabarcoding of fish populations and work on eDNA and immune cells screens. Nalan has worked with both snails and goldfish during her BSc, and has dimple piercings - no, they don't leak when she drinks! 

Kanwal Khalid
PhD Student
September 2025 - Present
[email protected]

Kanwal completed an Masters in Life Sciences in Dr. Chit Laa Poh's lab in Sunway University, Malaysia. She will be examining immunotoxicity of anthropogenic contaminants for her PhD work.  

Current Undergraduate Students

Yahia Gamal El-Din
2024 - Present
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Yahia completed introductory laboratory training (which included cell culturing, waste management, reagent preparation, etc.) and investigated immune cell-based responses after stimulation with oil sands process affected waters as a funded spring/summer student in 2024 - 2026. Yahia is returning as a BIOL 399 student to examine pharmacological kinetics with eukaryotic cells.

Garrett Skakun
2026 - Present
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Garett is a second year undergraduate in Immunology and Infection Honours program with a minor in Biochemistry. For his BIOL 298 project, he will be working on using immune cells to gauge toxicant responses.

Sophia Wang
2026 - Present
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Sophia is a BIOL 298 student cosupervised by the Stafford and Madsen labs, with the latter being part of the Centre of Excellence for Gastrointestinal Inflammation and Immunity Research (CEGIIR) in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Sophia will examine fasting effects in patients with inflammatory bowel disease by measuring cytokines from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Sophia enjoys playing badminton, listening to music, going on sidequests, and learning new things in research. 

Shreya Benedict
2026 - Present
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Shreya is a fourth year Immunology and Infection Honours Student completing her BIOL 499 using immune cells to investigate immunotoxicity of oil sands process affected waters. In her spare time, Shreya enjoys reading novels, playing basketball and piano.