Post-Graduate Fellows
Ph.D. Candidates
Fernando Alvarez, DVM, M.Sc, B.Sc
2014-Present
B.Sc, Université de Montréal, DVM, Université de Montréal, M.Sc, Université de Montréal
Fernando Alvarez completed a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Montreal, with option in Microbiology and immunology, in 2007. He then obtained a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal, where he participated in the first DMV-M.Sc. program. He obtained his DVM certification in 2012 and his M.Sc. in Veterinary Sciences, with a specialty in virology, in 2013. A member of the laboratory since 2014, he is currently a full-time PhD candidate and an active veterinarian practitioner. The focus of his project is the role and fate of regulatory T cell plasticity in the context of infections and the potential processes that can be targeted in order to modulate this phenomenon.
Roman Istomine, B.Sc
2014-Present
B.Sc Physiology, McGill University (2014)
Roman Istomine earned a Bachelor of Science from McGill with a major in Physiology. He joined the lab as a volunteer during his undergraduate studies and joined the lab as an M.Sc student in fall of 2014. Since then he has transferred to the Ph.D program at McGill and is continuing his work in the Piccirillo lab examining the role of differential mRNA translation in the development and function of CD4+ T cell subsets.
Tho-Aifakar Al-Aubodah
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Tho-Alfakar Al-Aubodah is a Master’s trainee studying the immunological consequences of rituximab treatment in primary nephrotic disease. In 2016, he completed a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Honour’s Microbiology and Immunology. He previously worked in the field of innate immunology studying cytokine-signaling in group 2 innate lymphoid cells.
Mikhael Attias, Pharm D, M.Sc
2018-present
Pharm D, Faculte de Pharmacie de Paris (2017), M.Sc, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (2016)
Mikhael Attias received his undergraduate education at the Faculte de Pharmacie de Paris, where he majored in Pharmaceutical sciences and specialized in industry and research. In parallel to his Pharmacy studies, he completed in 2016 a master’s degree in Immunology from the Pierre et Marie Curie University, with a specialization in innovative immunotherapies. His first lab experiences were in the field of type 1 diabetes, investigating preclinical tolerogenic strategies for disease prevention. He then obtained his Doctorate of Pharmacy from the Faculte de Pharmacie de Paris in 2017, with a thesis on the clinical development of low-dose interleukin-2 therapy in type 1 diabetes. He joined the lab in 2018 as a PhD student and his project focuses on regulatory T cell dysregulation during checkpoint inhibition therapy.
Geneviève Genest, MD, FRCPC
2017-present
B.Sc McGill University
MD Université de Montréal
FRCPC Internal Medicine Laval University
FRCPC Allergy-Immunology McGill University
Geneviève Genest completed a Bachelor’s degree with honours in Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University in 2006. She then obtained her Medical Degree at University of Montreal in 2010. She did her residency in Internal Medicine at Laval University and her subspecialty training in Allergy-Immunology at McGill University, during which she developed an interest in reproductive immunology. She then did a clinical fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility with Dr. Carl Laskin at the University of Toronto. As a clinician with a focus in women’s immunology, she wanted to understand immune system’s implication in recurrent implantation failure and miscarriage. She enrolled as a full-time PhD candidate in 2017; the focus of her project to characterize the endometrial immune response to embryo implantation to identify markers of immune dysfunction leading to reproductive failure.
Visiting Scholar
Yi Zhang
Project: Oral induced food allergy tolerance