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SMITH LABORATORY
cancer signalling & structural biology
Funding
CURRENT LAB MEMBERS
Matthew J. Smith, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator and Canada Research Chair, Cancer Signalling and Structural Biology, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC)
Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal
Matt joined IRIC in late 2015, following completion of a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Mitsu Ikura's laboratory at the Ontario Cancer Institute. His Ph.D. studies were performed at the University of Toronto under tuteledge from the late Dr. Tony Pawson, a pioneer of the signal transduction field. Matt's B.Sc. was done at the University of Guelph, and included microbiology research in the laboratory or Dr. Joseph Lam.
Marilyn Goudreault
Laboratory Manager and Research Assistant
Marilyn joined IRIC in early 2016, taking control of the lab. She's trained with Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras, Dr. Tony Pawson and Dr. Mike Tyers at the prestigous Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto. She obtained her Baccalauréat en biotechnologie from La Cité collégiale in Ottawa. (514) 343-6111 x 35190
Sarah joined the MJS lab in November 2024. She obtained her PhD from the University of Oulu, Finland in August 2022 and she was trained under the supervision of Prof. Lari Lehtio. She previously worked as a Postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Ottawa. Her Postdoc and PhD study topics include protein production (both soluble and membrane), drug discovery, in vitro assay development, and X-ray crystallography. Apart from work, Sarah enjoys serving the community in different ways, reading books, Hiking and yes baking as she loves good food.
Jaafar joined IRIC in January 2024. He completed his Ph.D. in structural biology in Dr. Christian Baron’s laboratory at Université de Montréal where he worked on bacterial type IV section system pili structures using electron microscopy. He previously worked as a research assistant on protein purification and characterization with Dr. Stephane Delbecq at the institute of biomolecule Max Mousseron in Montpellier, France. He received an M.Sc. degree in structural biology from Université de Montpellier after completing a master’s thesis at Novartis in Switzerland under the supervision of Dr. Aengus Mac Sweeney, working on protein purification and crystallization.
Isabelle joined the lab in May 2025. She obtained her B.Sc. (Honours) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Trent University, where she conducted undergraduate research under the supervision of Dr. Steven Rafferty. She continued this work into her M.Sc., focusing on the characterization of a structurally unique heme protein in the mammalian parasite Giardia intestinalis.
Supported by an AFR bilateral grant (FNR, Luxembourg)
Göksu joined the lab in January 2026. She obtained her B.Sc. (High Honours) in Biology with a double major in Chemistry from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Her M.Sc. research examined AMPK/MAPK co-activation in nutrient-restricted colon cancer cells. She began her Ph.D. at the University of Luxembourg in February 2024 with an AFR bilateral grant (FNR, Luxembourg), investigating the structure and function of SPRED-RAF paralog interactions under the co-supervision of Prof. Dr. Daniel Abankwa (University of Luxembourg) and Dr. Matthew James Smith.
Regina Strakhova
Ph.D. Candidate
Supported by Ph.D. scholarships from IRIC, the Cole Foundation and the FRQNT
Regina joined the lab in February 2020. She obtained her BSc. in Genetics and Cellular Biology from Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France. Her first year of MSc. focused on Cellular and Molecular Biology and the second year focused on Innovative Cancer Therapies. In Charles Dumontet and Lars-Petter Jordheim's lab at CRCL (Lyon), she worked on two projects: investigation of a biological role for adenosine in the cancer microenvironment and development of novel protein transduction techniques using ultrasound.
Kristen Nam Phuong Hoang
M.Sc. Candidate
Supported by Ph.D. scholarships from IRIC and the Cole Foundation
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This Could Be You!
Postdoc? Student? Technician? Volunteer?
Check for job openings by clicking below...
TOUT FINI
Lindsay Noonan
M.Sc. in Systems Biology Student
via UPEI
Xingjian 'Jim' Xu
M.Sc. of Systems Biology Student
via UBC
Chithra Muthuramu
M.Sc. of Systems Biology Student
via McMaster
Alex Anderson
Next Generation Summer Research Intern via Wilfrid Laurier
Ana María Hincapie
Summer Research Intern
via Concordia
Rebecca Tian
Next Generation Summer Research Intern via Queen's
Azalea Uva
Co-op Intern
via Concordia
Valérie Gagné
Laboratory Manager and Research Technician
Sarah Denford
Next Generation Summer Research Intern via Western
Dr. Ryan Killoran
Postdoctoral Fellow
via Western
Dr. Dhanaraman Thillai Villalan
Ph.D. of Molecular Biology Student
via Anna University, India
Dr. Mehdi Talebzadeh
Research Associate in
Biomolecular NMR
Maya Nikolova
M.Sc. of Molecular Biology Student
via McGill
Rajan Leung
Next Generation Summer Research Intern
via Western
Dr. Swati Singh
Ph.D. of Molecular Biology Student via CSIR, India
Dr. Chang hwa Jo
Postdoctoral Fellow
via Sogang University, South Korea
Dr. Gabriela Bernal Astrain
Ph.D. of Molecular Biology Student via Carleton University
Amandine Wegbecher
Ph.D. of Molecular Biology Student
via University of Strasbourg, France
Emma Teszner
M.Sc. of Molecular Biology Student via Waterloo University
Marc Abou Hamad
Next Generation Summer Research Intern
via Carleton University
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