Sachlos Lab Members (Current)
Lab Manager
Catherine Chan
MSc. Biochemistry, Queen’s University, ON Canada
cktchan@yorku.ca
Current Graduate Students
Farrah Sawh
fsawh@yorku.ca
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/farrah-sawh-a08a1556
PhD Candidate – Biology
Project: Influence of Extracellular Matrix Composition of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche: An Investigation into Stem Cell Fate Determinations
Prior to starting her PhD in the Stem Cell Engineering Lab, she pursued a Master's in Applied Bioscience. During this time, she studied endothelial cell responses to bioactive peptides and stiffened extracellular matrices, with an overall aim of investigating pathways that attribute to atherosclerosis. Her research involving the manufacture of stiffened extracellular matrices piqued her interested in how a cell’s activities can be directed by the external surroundings. Her research is focused on reconstructing a viable 3D hematopoietic stem cell niche which would allow for the identification of molecular targets with an overall aim of expanding the limited stem cell fraction. Through this research she hopes to expand the knowledge base around the elusive hematopoietic stem cell niche while providing some clinical footing on novel expansion techniques.
Milad Falahat Chian
mfchian@yorku.ca
https://www.linkedin.com/in/milad-falahat-chian-b5160096
PhD Candidate - Biology
Project: Extracellular Matrix Interactions of Stromal Cells to the Bone Marrow Stem Cell Niche
Summary: Mounting evidence shows that deviations in mechanical and biochemical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) can lead to different diseases, including cancer. Among different adult stem cell types, the ease of isolation of bone marrow-derived stem/stromal cells (BM-MSCs) from adults and abundant differentiation capacity make BM-MSCs an attractive candidate for regenerative medicine applications. However, the extreme rareness of the bone marrow stem/stromal cell population (∼0.01–0.001%) in vivo motivates the expansion of these cells in vitro to reach sufficient numbers to be used for therapeutic purposes. Milad’s project focuses on engineering a collagen-based scaffold as a platform for co-culturing BM-MSCs and human hematopoietic stem/progenitor stem cells (HSPCs) with the optimum preservation of HSPC stemness and functionality.
Joab Ogato
Adriana Pagnani
pagnania@yorku.ca
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriana-pagnani/
PhD candidate – Biology
Dissertation: Replicating the human bone marrow vascular niche in vitro to determine regulators of haematopoietic stem cell fate
Adriana holds a Master of Science in Biology from York University, where her work focused on optimizing extracellular matrix chemistries to replicate the human bone marrow vascular niche with both endothelial and haematopoietic stem cell co-culture. Currently, her research is focused on using this optimized niche-mimicking culture system to identify mechanisms that prevent differentiation and promote expansion of the rare stem cell population. This work can assist in improving existing stem cell transplantation applications by building on current expansion techniques and allow for further study of this complex internal environment.
Zhaklina Cifligu
zhaklina@yorku.ca
linkedin.com/in/zhaklina-cifligu-1b2a94207
MSc Candidate - Biology
Project: Investigating the Interactions Between between patient AML cells and the extracellular matrix of engineered 2D scaffolds that mimic the bone marrow.
Zhaklina is a first year MSc candidate, who is actively investigating the interactions between patient AML cells and the extracellular matrix of engineered 2D scaffolds that mimic the bone marrow. She aims to ultimately unravel the molecular mechanisms involved in AML proliferation which will help reveal potential therapeutic targets towards treating the disease. During her undergraduate research, she pursued her honours thesis specializing in epigenetics where she used an acid-urea gel system to explore the post-translational modifications of histone H3 with relation to gene expression and chromatin regulation.
Samira Kabir
kabirsa@yorku.ca
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samirakabir
MSc Candidate - Biology
Project: Determining potential chemotherapeutic agents through an Acute Myeloid Leukemia Drug Screen in 2D Scaffolds
Samira is a first year MSc candidate, having previously graduated from the University of Toronto’s majoring in Immunology and Molecular biology. Her pursuit of research began during her undergrad looking at the modulation of insect gut bacterial communities by plant-defence compounds. Her current project entails investigating chemotherapeutics on patient AML cells in an engineered 2D scaffold to mimic the extracellular matrix of the bone marrow. Samira’s aspires to open up novel pathways to AML treatment that can be translated more effectively in vivo.
