Meet Your Faculty
Instructors
Zhibin Lu (he/him)
Senior Manager, Digital Research
University Health Network
Toronto, ON, Canada
Zhibin Lu is a senior manager at University Health Network Digital. He is responsible for UHN HPC operations and scientific software. He manages two HPC clusters at UHN, including system administration, user management, and maintenance of bioinformatics tools for HPC4health. He is also skilled in Next-Gen sequence data analysis and has developed and maintained bioinformatics pipelines at the Bioinformatics and HPC Core. He is a member of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada Bioinformatics National Team and Scheduling National Team.
Alyona Ivanova
PhD Candidate
University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, ON, Canada
Alyona is a graduate student at the University of Toronto pursuing PhD in Medical Sciences. Her research focuses on identifying novel therapies for targeting chemo-resistance in glioblastoma using spatial ’omics technologies. She works in close collaboration with clinicians, neuropathologists, scientists bridging the gap between clinical practice and fundamental lab research. Alyona is a Creative Director of Panoramics - A Vision, and an Executive Editor and Director of Distribution of the Institute of Medical Sciences Magazine.
Teaching Assistants
Aqsa Alam
Bioinformatician III
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Aqsa Alam is a bioinformatician in the Clinical Genome Interpretation team at the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research. Aqsa did her Honours BSc with high distinction in Biology and Physics at the University of Toronto Mississauga and her MSc in Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Toronto. Aqsa is passionate about communication and scientific outreach. Her current work focuses on genomic interpretation in cancer and supporting accredited clinical trials.
Facilitator
Neha Ratti (she/her)
Regional Coordinator, CBH Ontario
Canadian Bioinformatics Hub, University Health Network
Toronto, ON, Canada
Neha is passionate about advancing bioinformatics and data science training across the province. With a strong background in project management, event coordination, and stakeholder engagement, she strives to create impactful initiatives that foster collaboration and skill development. Her experience in organizing training programs, developing policies, and building supportive environments enables her to contribute to Ontario’s leadership in the bioinformatics community.
Sian Brooks (she/her)
Regional Coordinator, CBH Ontario
Canadian Bioinformatics Hub, University Health Network
Toronto, ON, Canada
Sian Brooks is the Ontario Co-Regional Coordinator for the Canadian Bioinformatics Hub. With over eight years of experience in the healthcare field and a background in office administration and event coordination, Sian brings a steady, detail-oriented approach to program delivery. She is committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive environment for trainees and researchers alike, helping to strengthen Ontario’s standing within the national bioinformatics community.