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Current Team
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Vladimir Pekar, PhD - Visiting Research Scientist
Past: Perimeter Medical Imaging AI Vladimir Pekar received a Diploma in Computer Science from Taganrog Radio Engineering Institute in Russia and a PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He started his career at Philips Research in Hamburg, working on medical analysis applications, and subsequently held different positions at Philips in Germany and Canada, where he managed academic research collaborations until 2018. Vladimir is joining the team from Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, where as AI Lead he played a pivotal role in development of its proprietary AI technology for OCT image analysis. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Cassis |
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Mike Bishop - Visiting Research Scientist
Past: Apple Mike Bishop worked 10 years at Apple and was most recently was an Engineering Manager in Hardware Technologies, where he managed a team of engineers and led a cross disciplinary research team in the design and prototyping of biophotonic based hardware systems. Prior to joining Apple, Mike was in the Product Development Group at Christie Digital and was a key member of the technical team responsible for designing, prototyping, and launching the first high power RGB laser based cinema projector. Mike holds BASc and MASc degrees in Mechanical Engineering from University of Waterloo as well as a MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University. He holds numerous patents in the fields of nanotechnology, optical sensor design, optomechanical design, and thermal architectures. |
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Kevan Bell, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow
Past: University of Alberta Kevan Bell joined the PhotoMedicine Labs as a postdoctoral fellow after completing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Alberta. He had previously moved to the Waterloo Region in 2018 to work in the lab’s spin-off company, illumiSonics Inc., serving as Engineering Director while completing his thesis work. Kevan has played a pivotal role in the development of photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS®) microscopy and has contributed to the majority of currently published academic investigations on the topic. During his graduate career, Kevan was the recipient of both NSERC’s Post-Graduate Scholarship and Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship, as well as several institutional awards. Kevan brings a wide background and interests in optical physics, biophotonics, optical engineering, software development, simulation, and project management. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Vanilla Bean |
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Channprit Kaur, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow
Past: University of Alberta Channprit joined the PhotoMedicine Labs as a postdoctoral fellow in April 2022. Previously, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Alberta. She finished her PhD from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, India. Channprit has a wide research experience in optical physics, laser matter interaction, plasma spectroscopy, laser plasma X-ray and ion sources, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. She is passionate about research and wants to contribute to society through her research. In her free time, she enjoys painting and reading books. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Saffron Pistachio and Tender Coconut |
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Hager Gaouda - Biology Technician
Past: University of Western Ontario Hager graduated with a bachelor’s of science in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the United Arab Emirates University in 2015. She is pursuing her master’s of science at Western with a focus on Chlamydomonadalean plastid genomics. Hager joined PhotoMedicine Labs as the Sr. Biology Technician in 2021 and has previous experience working with lab animals as well as mammalian tissue culture. Hager’s hobbies include videography, anime and hanging out with her cat in her free time. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough |
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Marian Boktor - PhD Student
co-supervised by Dr. Paul Fieguth Marian completed both her undergraduate and master's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport. She joined the PhotoMedicine Labs in January 2020 as a Ph.D. student, and is being co-supervised by Dr. Parsin Haji Reza and Prof. Paul Fieguth. Her research interests include biological signal/data processing and analysis, data acquisition methods, image processing, computer vision, and machine learning techniques. Marian is a highly motivated researcher who believes knowledge is power - Loves traveling and helping people to survive. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Stretchy Middle Eastern Ice-Cream or Blueberry Fro-Yo |
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Benjamin Ecclestone - PhD Student
Past: University of Guelph Awards: Dean's Entrance Award, Engineering Excellence Fellowship, NSERC - Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship, President's Graduate Scholarship. Ben completed his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Guelph. Following this, he joined the PhotoMedicine Labs in May 2020 as a M.A.Sc student, but has since moved on to his Ph.D student under Prof. Parsin Haji Reza. His research interests include optical systems, data processing methods, image reconstruction techniques and the development of histological imaging techniques. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Vanilla Bean from Haagen-Dazs |
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Nima Abbasi - PhD Student
Past: University of Waterloo Nima received his BSc degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in August 2017 and his MASc degree from University of Waterloo in December 2019. His graduate research involved working with real-life fiber-optics data to find solutions for the mitigation of nonlinear impairments in optical links. He has experience working on Machine Learning/Deep Learning projects and also has an appetite for mathematics. Nima joined PhotoMedicine Labs in August 2020 as a research assistant aiming to contribute to the Data Acquisition/Image Processing aspects of the projects. Nima jointed the lab as a PhD student in January 2022. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: French Vanilla |
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Lyazzat Mukhangaliyeva - Masters Student
Past: University of Waterloo co-supervised by Dr. Eihab Abdel-Rahman Lyazzat graduated from the University of Waterloo with bachelor’s degree in Nanotechnology Engineering in 2015. She then joined PhotoMedicine Lab's as a volunteer in January 2020. Lyazzat will be starting her MASc in Systems Design Engineering Department in Fall 2020 co-supervised by Dr. Parsin Haji Reza and Prof. Eihab Abdel-Rahman. Her main research interest is in manipulating the optical wavefront using adaptive optics in order to correct for system misalignment, aberrations and other factors reducing the performance of PARS®. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Swiss Chocolate with Walnuts & Strawberries from Marble Slab |
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Alkris Warren - Masters Student
Past: Wilfred Laurier University Kris received is B.SC. in Photonics from WLU. After undergrad he worked in industry, first at Christie Digital assembling and testing optical components for use in projection display systems, then moved onto 2G Robotics, where he worked as a calibration and testing specialist. He was heavily involved in the development of systems that utilized opto-electronics principles, computer vision and date processing and analysis. His research interests primarily revolve around the field of optical product design and development. More specifically, he has a strong inclination towards the design, modelling and analysis of optical systems. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Ben and Jerry's Half Baked Cookie Dough |
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Alex Tummon Simmons - Masters Student
Past: University of Waterloo Awards: NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award. Alex was a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo (Class of 2021) and completed an 8-month co-op term with the PhotoMedicine Labs. He joined the PhotoMedicine Labs in spring 2021 as a MASc student under Dr. Parsin Haji Reza. He has significant prior research experience in other fields including focused ultrasound and materials testing. His current research focus is around the design and implementation of novel functional imaging devices. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Gooey Mooey from Cows PEI |
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James Tweel - Masters Student
Past: University of Waterloo Awards: Engineering Excellence Fellowship James was a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo (Class of 2021). He joined the PhotoMedicine Labs in fall 2021 as a MASc student under Dr. Parsin Haji Reza. James has industry experience in software development and research experience in signal processing for remote monitoring of vital signs. His research interests include biomedical signal and image processing, medical imaging, and optical systems. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Häagen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate |
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Krystal Li - Co-op Student
Krystal is a biomedical engineering student at the University of Waterloo. She is joining PhotoMedicine Labs as a Research Assistant student for 2022 Winter and Spring term. She previously joined the team as an RA in 2021 Spring term. Krystal has an interest in medical device design and development, especially in the area of surgical navigation and rehabilitation. Her love for design led to her diverse work experience in various stages of medical device development and production. In her free time, she enjoys cycling, photography, and some quality TV time. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Stracciatella |
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Lixin Chu - Co-op Student
Lixin is a biomedical engineering student at the University of Waterloo. She is joining PhotoMedicine Labs as a medical imaging intern for the Spring 2022 term. Lixin has industry experience in software development and is looking to explore such applications in medical device research, design, and development. During her spare time, she enjoys travelling, running, and digital art! Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Red Bean |
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Simon Frew - Undergraduate Research Assistant
Simon is a fourth-year Nanotechnology Engineering Student joining PML for a URA in Winter 2022. He had past experiences in fMRI and biomarker research in mental illness coupled with statistical modelling. Aside from research, he enjoys rock climbing, photography, and tinkering with computers! Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Hedgehog |
Current Volunteer Undergraduate Research Assistants:
- Kevin (Kaiwen) Xue
- Alex Fricke
Past Members:
Postdocs:
Shahid Haider Postdoctoral Fellow (Sept 2019-2020) Current position: Programmer, Computer Vision Developer, Microscopy at Molecular Oncology UBC/BC Cancer Agency Graduate Students: Nicholas Pellegrino MASc (May 2019-Apr 2022). Current position: PhD student in SYDE at UW Tara Amiri Ph.D Student (Sept 2021-Apr 2022) Current position: MEng student in ECE at UW Zohreh Hosseinaee Ph.D. Student (Graduated Sept 2021). Current position: Post Doc at University of California, Berkeley Layla Khalili MASc (Sept 2019-Dec 2021). Current position: MEng student in SYDE at UW Benjamin Ecclestone MASc Student (May 2020-Dec 2020), Moved to PhD. Co-op Student (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) Saad Rasheed Abbasi MASc Student (Graduated Sept 2020) Current position: PhD student in Systems Design Engineering at UW Jasmine Chan M.A.Sc Student (Graduated Sept 2020) Co-op Students: Krystal Li Co-op Student (Jan 2022-Aug 2022) Co-op Student (May 2021-Aug 2021) Sarah Sparkes Co-op Student (May 2021-Aug 2021) Taylor Pearce Co-op Student (May 2021-Aug 2021) Alex Tummon Simmons Co-op Student (Jan 2020-Aug 2020) NSERC Undergraduate Research Scholarship Martin Le Research Assistant, Co-op Student (Sept 2018- Jan 2020) URI award Chandu Subramaniam Co-op Student (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) Undergraduate Research Assistant (May 2019-Sept 2019) Serene Abu-Sardanah Co-op Student (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) Undergraduate Research Assistant (May 2019-Sept 2019) President's Research Award Aysegul Alpay Co-op Student (Sept 2018-Jan 2019) URI award Bazil Lorenzo Sonier Co-op Student (Sept 2018-May 2019) Undergraduate Research Assistants Simon Frew Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2022-Apr 2022) President's Research Award Zoey Zhang Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2022-Apr 2022) Eileen Zhang Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2022-Apr 2022) - Volunteer Amir Roshankar Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2022-Apr 2022) Undergraduate Research Assistant (May 2021-Aug 2021) President's Research Award Vyshna Krishnakumar Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2022-Apr 2022) Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2021-Dec 2021) - Volunteer President's Research Award Kevin (Kaiwen) Xue Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2022-Apr 2022) Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2021-Dec 2021) - Volunteer Alex Fricke Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2021-Aug 2022) - Volunteer Katie Chen Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2021-Dec 2021) Inaara Amed-Fazal Undergraduate Research Assistant (May 2021-Aug 2021) President's Research Award |
Matthew Lee
Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2021-Apr 2021) President's Research Award Avery Ryoo Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2021-Apr 2021) Auguste Koh Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2021-Apr 2021) Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) Aarzoo Chennan Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2021-April 2021) Faraz Ali Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2021-April 2021) President's Research Award Anne Mei Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2020-Jan 2021) Furqan Syed Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2020-Jan 2021) President's Research Award YanYan Tran Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2020-Jan 2021) Muhammad Mohsin Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2020-Jan 2021) Amanda Hope Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2020-Apr 2020) President's Research Award Maggie Zhang Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2020-Apr 2020) President's Research Award Sheen Thusoo Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2020-Apr 2020) Karam Danial Undergraduate Research Assistant (Jan 2020-Apr 2020) President's Research Award James Tweel Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) Daniel Javaheri-Zadeh Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) President's Research Award Moujan Saderi Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) Natasha Willis Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) President's Research Award John Quinto Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2019-Dec 2019) President's Research Award Cassandra Maxwell Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2018-Jan 2019) Mikaela Macmanhon Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2018-Jan 2019) Yun Kim Undergraduate Research Assistant (Sept 2018-Jan 2019) President's Research Award Visiting Scholars: Amir Mohammad Farzaneh Visiting Scholar (May 2019-Aug 2019) Ranked second in Iran National Exam ( more than 500,000 participants) |