Meet our members:

Barinder (Bobby) Bajwa, B.Sc. 

Email: barinder@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2017), University of Manitoba

My research focuses on data analysis, algorithm design aI received my B.Sc. in analytical biotechnology from the University of Manitoba. For my honours project, I had the chance to work under Dr Helene Perreault in the characterization of O-linked glycans in porcine Immunoglobulin G. I also had a chance to work at Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada as a summer research student. I helped assist my supervisor in the extraction and PCR amplification of barley DNA in order to help develop toxin free barley. 

I joined Dr Li’s group in September of 2017 to learn more about the use of LCMS in different areas of metabolomics, with interests in the biotech sector . 

My interests include watching NFL football, playing LoL, and browsing memes. 

Adriana Zardini Buzatto, M.Sc.

Email: zardinib@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2011) and M.Sc. (2014), Campinas State University (UNICAMP – Campinas, Brazil) 

I received my B.Sc. degree in Chemistry from Campinas State University (UNICAMP – Campinas, Brazil) in 2011. As an undergraduate student, I volunteered to be a part of Dr. Ana Valéria C. Simionato’s research group on bioanalytics, where I worked with the development of a methodology to analyze nucleosides, putative cancer biomarkers, by capillary electrophoresis. After graduation, I left the research group to work as an analyst in quality control. I rejoined Dr. Simionato’s group and received my M.Sc. degree in 2014. My research was focused on developing and validating a new methodology for the analysis of nucleosides, putative prostate cancer biomarkers, on blood serum samples by capillary electrophoresis. This work raised my interest in metabolomics for cancer research; therefore, I started working on a PhD project in metabolomics of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma by liquid and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, supervised by Dr. Simionato. I joined Dr. Li’s group as a PhD student at University of Alberta in September 2015. I am particularly interested in metabolomics of biological fluids and intend on pursuing such research field in the nearby future. Outside the lab, I enjoy dancing ballet, reading, travelling, and spending quality time with my pets, friends and family.

Wan Chan, B.Sc.

Email: wchan1@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2016), Hong Kong Baptist University  

At Hong Kong Baptist University, in my final year project, I worked on the application of HPLC and GC-MS to investigate the photo-oxidation products of IAA (a potential anti-cancer prodrug) under the supervision of Dr. Daniel W.J. KWONG. After that, I worked under Professor Zongwei CAI to learn about the applications of mass spectrometry and some biological sample pretreatment methods during the summer break. Working in these groups brought me to the field of metabolomics. I believed Dr Li’s group can provide what I want to learn and I will try my best for my research here as I think this is the best way to repay the great care given to me by Dr. Kwong and Professor Cai and the love from my family!

Zhan Cheng, M.Sc.

Email: zcheng1@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2015), Beijing Forestry University; M.Sc. (2018), China Agricultural University

I received my bachelor degree from Beijing Forestry university in 2015 and got my Master degree from China Agricultural University in 2018. During my graduate studies, my research project is mainly about finding the correlation between volatile metabolites and toxins generated from grape related fungi. From that, I got experience of gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and data treatment strategy and developed great interest in metabolomics. I joined in Dr. Li’s group in September of 2018 to learn the analytical chemistry and metabolomics. In my spare time, I prefer playing video games and working out.

Pornpimon Jantaruk, B.Sc.

Email: jantaruk@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2013) and M.Sc. (2015), Naresuan University (Phitsanulok, Thailand)

I received my Bachelor degree in Medical Sciences and Master of Science Program in Microbiology from Naresuan University.  During my undergraduate study, I worked on an anti-cancer research project.  This work was published in Journal of Applied Biomedicine entitled “Augmentation of natural killer cell activity in vitro and in vivo by sericin-derived oligopeptides”.  In 2015, I was studying Master degree under Asst. Prof. Dr. Duangkamol Kunthalert.  For my master’s thesis, I focused to develop novel anti-inflammatory agents for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. This research was published in PLoS One in 2017.  Now I’m a Ph.D. student in Microbiology Program (Immunology), Faculty of Medical Science at the same University.  I re-joined Dr. Kunthalert’s group and worked in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases laboratory.  My dissertation focuses on regulatory effects of the newly developed anti-microbial peptides on nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae induced-inflammation in innate immune cells.

I joined Dr Li’s group in October 2019 to learn about the use of CIL LC-MS in cellular metabolomics analysis. I believe that Dr Li’s group can help me to understand my results between anti-inflammatory pathways and cellular metabolic pathways.

I like travelling, cooking and watching TV series.

Hao Li, M.Sc.

Email: hli10@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2013), East China University of Science and Technology; M.Sc. (2016), Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry

Before joining Dr. Li’s group, my previous research focused on the data analysis for mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. I joined Dr. Li’s group in 2016 and will continue to work on metabolomics with a focus on metabolomic data analysis.

Chu-Fan Wang, M.Sc.

Email: chufan1@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2015), China University of Mining and Technology; M.Sc. (2018), China University of Mining and Technology.

I received my bachelor and master degree from China University of Mining and Technology. My previous work focused on characterizing unknown compounds and components in complex mixtures extracted from coal by different analytical methods such as GC/MS and Orbitrap MS. During my MSc graduate project, I realized that mass spectrometry is really interesting and amazing. I joined Dr. Li’s group in 2018 to continue my research. Outside the lab I enjoy playing videogames and watching movies.

Yingwen (Wendy) Wang, B.Sc.

Email: yingwen2@ualberta.ca
Education: B.Sc. (2017), University of British Columbia

I received my Bachelor degree in Chemistry from University of British Columbia in 2017, and went to  University College Dublin as an exchange student during undergraduate studies. In 2018 I was at Zhengzhou University working on carbon dots synthesis. From these experiences my interest in analytical techniques and applications had been developed. In September 2018, I joined Dr. Li’s group and began my further research in analytical chemistry.

Minglei Zhu, B.Sc.