Completed Students
Below is the list of students who have graduated from the Biotechnology PhD Program since its inception.
In some cases the title is linked to the full thesis.
2024
Dr. Xuantong Chen xchen24@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Development of Symbiosis of Marine Algae Chrysotila and Bacteria Nitratireductor and Large-Scale Production of Marine Microalgae in Inland Environment.
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin
Dr. Nicholas Bel nbel@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Sodium Iodate Response in ARPE-19 Cells: An In Vitro Model of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- Supervisor: Dr. Neelam Khaper
Dr. Janak Raj Khatiwada jkhatiwa@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Exploring Potential of Freshwater Microalgae in Northern Ontario for Bioremediation and Bioenergy Production
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin
2023
Dr. Hamid Mortazavi hmortaza@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Numerical Study of a Moving Baffle Oscillatory Baffled Reactor
- Supervisor: Dr. Leila Pakzad
Dr. Yichen Liao yliao1@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Fundamental studies of microalgal biofilm formation and microalgal-bacterial membrane photobioreactors
- Co-Supervisors: Dr. Pedram Fatehi and Dr. Baoqiang Liao
Dr. Ryan Grow rgrow@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: The Contribution of Fish Movement to Ecosystem Function in Lake Superior
- Supervisor: Dr. Micheal Rennie
Dr. Chonlong Chio cchio@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Depolarization of lignin, characterization of derived products and potential applications of the value-added chemicals
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin
Dr. Nadia Sufdar Ali nsufdar@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: HTP screening of microorganisms for novel ligninolytic enzymes and application in biomass valorization
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin
Dr. Mahsa Janati mjannati@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Experimental Investigation of Water Entry of a Solid Object and Sand Particles
- Supervisor: Dr. Amir Azimi
Dr. Sarita Shrestha sshrest4@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Bioconversion of Agricultural Residues into Value-added Products by Pectinase-producing Bacteria and Expression of Pectinase Gene in E. coli for Biomass Valorization
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin
Dr. Niravkumar Kosamia nkosamia@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Multicriteria Feasibility Assessment of BioSuccinic Acid Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass
- Supervisor: Dr. Sudip Rakshit
Dr. Jonathan Alejandro Diaz Baca jdiazba@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Cross-linked Lignin-Starch Polymers with Alternative Applications
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi
Dr. Maryam Amini mamini@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Electrokinetic-Assisted Membrane Photobioreactor (EK-MPBR) for Municipal Wastewater Treatment
- Co-Supervisors: Dr. Baoqiang Liao & Dr. Eltayeb Mohamedelhassan
2022
Dr. Duowei Lu dlu5@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Experimental and modeling research on a lignin-based dispersion system considering DVLO theory
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi
Dr. Aristide Laurel Mokale Kognou amokale@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Characterization of Novel Biodegrading Bacterial Species and Production of High Purity Fructose-Containing Syrups from Cornstalk via Bioconversion
- Co-Supervisors: Dr. Wensheng Qin, Dr. Chun-Bao Xu, Dr. Zi-Hua Jiang
Dr. Jocelyn Bel jsbel@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Adipose tissue remodeling in response to corticosterone β3-adrenergic receptor agonist mirabegron
- Co-Supervisors: Drs. Simon Lees and Neelam Khaper
2021
Dr. Ryan Lehto rlehto@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Long term DNA storage evaluation and methodology
- Co-Supervisors: Drs. David Law and Carney Matheson
Dr. Mahshid Mohammadi mmohamm7@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Identification, characterization and application of the lichen, Umbilicaria muhlenbergii as a promising anti-cancer agent
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi
Dr. Armin Eraghi Kazzaz aeraghi@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Amphoteric lignin as a value-added product
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi
Dr. Zahra Hosseinpour Feizi zhossein@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Production of anioinic cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) as a dispersant
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi
2020
Dr. Mahdieh Samavi msamavi@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Microbial production of value-added products from wood hemicellulose pre-hydrolysate
- Supervisor: Dr. Sudip Rakshit
Dr. O'Neill Tedrow otedrow@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Development of response-predictive laboratory- and field-scale exposure scenarios to site-specific waters and sediments using wild rice
- Supervisor: Dr. Peter Lee
Dr. Meijia Zhang mzhang15@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Microalgal-Bacterial Membrane Photobioreactor (MB-MPBR) for Wastewater Treatment and Membrane Fouling Characterization
- Co-Supervisors: Drs. Baoqiang Liao and Kam Tin Leung
Dr. Ashley Nemec-Bakk asnemec@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Stess-induced fetal programming of adult C57BL/6 mice: Study of cardiac and hepatic glucose metabolism and oxidative stress
- Supervisor: Dr. Neelam Khaper
Dr. Sepideh Dadgar sdadgar1@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Design and Evaluation of Novel Fluorescent Molecular Probes Targeting Cathepsin B
- Supervisor: Drs. Wely Floriano and Dr. Chris Phenix
Dr. Gabrielle Gaultier gngaulti@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Humoral immunity in patients with chronic kidney disease and their response to pneumococcal immunization
- Supervisor: Dr. Marina Ulanova
Dr. Harutyun Poladyan hpoladya@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Organ-specific positron emission tomography devices based on SiPMs
- Supervisor: Dr. Alla Reznik
2019
Dr. Azadeh Bahramian abahrami@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: New analytical and numerical approaches for calculating the gas holdup and drift velocity in bubble columns
- Supervisor: Dr. Siamak Elyasi (Chemical Engineering)
Dr. Andrew Drainville
- Thesis: Principles of superposition in viscoelastic finite-difference modelling
- Supervisor: Dr. Samuel Pichardo (formerly with Chemical Engineering)
Dr. Robert Jackson rjackso1@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Pathogen-host omics analyses of human papillomavirus type 16 sub-lineages in a human epithelial organoid model
- Supervisor: Dr. Ingeborg Zebhe (formerly with Biology)
Dr. Sara E. Maleki emaleki@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Anaerobic membrane bioreactor for malting wastewater treatment and energy recovery under different temperature conditions
- Supervisor: Dr. Baoqiang Liao (Chemical Engineering)
Dr. Venkatesh Subramanian Manikandan vmanikan@lakeheadu.ca
- Thesis: Development of nanostructured material-based electrochemical sensors for food safety and quality control
- Supervisor: Dr. Aicheng Chen (formerly with Chemistry)
Dr. Ayyappa Kumar Sista Kameshwar
- Thesis: A novel metadata analysis approach for analyzing and understanding wood-decaying mechanisms exhibited by fungi
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin (Biology)
2018
Dr. Melissa Togtema
- Thesis: The application of personalized medicine approaches to human papillomavirus 16-related cancers
- Supervisor: Dr. Ingeborg Zehbe (formerly with Biology)
Dr. Chris Abraham
- Thesis: Magnetic resonance imaging guidance of high intensity focused ultrasound: Optimizing guidance on pre-clinical models
- Supervisor: Dr. Laura Curiel (formerly with Chemical Engineering)
Dr. Alaa Alhazmi
- Thesis: Exploration of inflammasomes as targets for therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection
- Supervisor: Dr. Marina Ulanova (NOSM, Biology adjunct)
- Thesis: Advanced lignin-based flocculent or dispersant for wastewater treatment
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi (Chemical Engineering, Biorefining Research Institute)
2017
Dr. Shafiqur Rahman
- Thesis: Bioconversion of crude glycerol to biofuels and value-added bioproducts
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin (Biology)
- Thesis: Kinetic and thermodynamic studies on pyrolysis of waste HDPE polymers
- Supervisor: Dr. Siamak Elyasi (Chemical Engineering)
- Thesis: Conversion of Crude Glycerol from the Biodiesel Industry to Value-added Products
- Supervisor: Dr. Sudip Rakshit (Chemical Engineering)
- Thesis: Nanomaterials-based electrochemical approaches for biosensing and bacterial disinfection
- Supervisor: Dr. Aicheng Chen (formerly with Chemistry)
- Thesis: New generation of dispersants by grafting lignin or xylan
- Supervisor: Dr. Pedram Fatehi (Chemical Engineering, Biorefining Research Institute)
2016
- Thesis: Functional imaging of the lungs using magnetic resonance imaging of inert fluorinated gases
- Supervisor: Dr. Mitchell Albert (Chemistry)
- Thesis: Bioremediation of contaminated soils from mine sites using native plants in Northwestern Ontario
- Supervisor: Dr. Peter Lee (Biology)
- Thesis: Hydrogen sulfide modulates gluconeogenesis and mitochanodrial biogenesis in mouse primary hepatocytes
- Supervisor: Dr. Lingyun Wu (formerly with Biology)
- Thesis: Modeling the molecular mechanisms of biocompatibility of artificial materials
- Supervisor: Dr. Oleg Rubel (formerly with Chemistry)
- Thesis: Cardiac oxidative stress and antioxidant status in response to radiation and monocrotaline-induced cardiac dysfunction
- Supervisor: Dr. Neelam Khaper (NOSM, Biology adjunct)
2015
- Thesis: Physiological adaptations contributing to stress survival in the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni
- Supervisor: Dr. Heidi Schraft (Biology)
- Thesis: Novel toll-like receptor 4 ligands: synthesis, biological studies and applications in molecular vaccines
- Supervisor: Dr. Zi Hua Justin Jiang (Chemistry)
Dr. Peipei Wang
- Thesis: H2S as a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for asthma
- Supervisor: Dr. Rui Wang (formerly with Biology)
Dr. Young Jun Ju
- Thesis: H2S S-sulfhydration of pyruvate carboxylase in gluconeogenesis and its regulation by Trx1
- Supervisor: Dr. G. Yang (formerly in Chemistry)
2014
Dr. Andrew Gibson
- Thesis: Characterizing the microbial degradation of Kraft lignin and lignin-derived compounds
- Supervisor: Dr. Lada Malek (formerly with Biology)
Dr. Ali Azizishirazi
- Thesis: Metal induced olfactory impairment in fish: gene expression, protection and recovery
- Supervisor: Dr. Greg Pyle (formerly with Biology)
2013
Dr. Zaid Altany
- Thesis: The cross-talk of hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide in vascular endothelial cells
- Supervisor: Dr. G. Yang (formerly adjunct in Biology)
Dr. William Dew
- Thesis: The effects of copper, calcium, and nickel on the olfactory response of Fathead minnows: From neurophysiology to behaviour
- Supervisor: Dr. Greg Pyle (formerly in Biology)
Dr. Ling Zhang
- Thesis: Cystathionine gamma-lyase/hydrogen sulfide system and glucose homeostasis
- Supervisor: Dr. Rui Wang (formerly in Chemistry)
2012
Dr. Miranda Maki
- Thesis: Development of bacterial systems for large-scale production of cellulase and bioethanol
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin (Biology)
Dr. Bruce Rosa
- Thesis: Improving novel gene discovery in high-throughput gene expression datasets
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin (Biology)
Dr. Mehdi Dashtban
- Thesis: Engineering fungi for boosting cellulase production and its potential industrial application
- Supervisor: Dr. Wensheng Qin (Biology)
2011
Dr. Susanne Walford
- Thesis: Environmental considerations for wet mining peatlands in Northwestern Ontario
- Supervisor: Dr. Peter Lee (Biology)
Dr. Weijue Gao
- Thesis: Submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment and membrane fouling characterization and control
- Supervisor: Dr. Baoqiang Liao (Chemical Engineering)
Dr. Asieh Ahmadalinezhad
- Thesis: Nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors for the detection of biological compounds
- Supervisor: Dr. A. Chen (formerly in Chemistry)