Meet the Team

Diogo received his Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences from the Federal University of Sao Paulo - Medical School of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP-EPM) in Brazil, where he completed a Genetics specialization. Then, he completed a Master’s degree in the Psychiatry and Medical Psychology Program at the same University studying how risperidone (antipsychotic) effects DNA methylation in repetitive regions as the retrotransposon LINE-1. As a Ph.D. student in the PsychPGx Lab, Diogo will be conducting pharmacoepigenetic analyses related to clozapine-induced myocarditis using patient-derived cardiomyocytes.

Nazanin completed her Master's degree in Biotechnology from the University of Greenwich in England. She has conducted research on the cellular mechanism of breast cancer. Nazanin will continue to pursue her passion for uncovering the cellular mechanisms of disease and will be working on the PROCLAIM study. Her PhD will investigate the mechanism underlying the cardiac toxicity of clozapine and potential pharmacological modulators of this toxicity using unique patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells..

Meagan is a practicing pharmacist and clinician-scientist with a BSc. in Pharmacy (2014) and Master of Science specialization in Pharmacy Practice (2022). With a focus on implementation science, she is a Ph.D. student in the PsychPGx Lab with a research focus on the clinical impact and practical application of pharmacogenomics. Her current focus will be on the efficacy of CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 testing in antidepressant selection and dosing in depression among adolescents.

Farzaneh completed a Master's degree in Human Genetics from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.  She previously worked on the molecular mechanisms underlying diseases using bioinformatic-based approaches and is now a Ph.D. student in the PsychPGx lab and Laboratory of Human Cerebrovascular Physiology evaluating the moderating effects of polygenic scores on neuropsychological, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular responses to exercise in older adults. 

Sam holds dual master's degrees in Physical Therapy from Taiwan and Health Data Science from Scotland. She began her career with biomechanics research and evolved to integrate medical AI. Her clinical experience in pediatric care, combined with her interest in data technology, drives her work in precision medicine for children and adolescents. Sam is currently focusing on the PGx-STaR project, which is investigating genomic profiles influencing ADHD treatment responses in youth.

Anita has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and has had a career focus in healthcare research. She has worked as a Research Assistant and Clinical Research Coordinator at the Clinical Research Unit in the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and as a Research Assistant at a large preventative cancer research study called the Tomorrow Project. She will be assisting with recruitment efforts and research administration requirements across the range of projects being conducted within the PsychPGx Lab. With her interest in psychiatry, she is excited to be working in this field of research.

Laina is a Registered Nurse who completed a BN and MSc in Medical Science at the University of Calgary. Prior to working in research, she primarily worked in psychiatric emergency for children and adolescents. She has worked as a clinical rater and study coordinator in various research settings, including industry-sponsored clinical trials, investigator-driven clinical trials, and longitudinal observational studies. This research has focused on schizophrenia, youth at risk for psychosis and other serious mental illness, and adults with treatment refractory depression and OCD. Her role in the PsychPGx Lab is study coordination for the PGx-GAP study.

Madison is a Registered Social Worker who received her Bachelor of Art’s degree in Psychology from the University of Regina followed by her Master’s in Clinical Social Work from the University of Calgary. She has worked as a research assistant for a variety of studies devoted to assessing the efficacy of clinical interventions for populations seeking mental health support across the lifespan. This research primarily focused on targeted interventions for adults with cardiac issues, seniors experiencing social isolation as well as youth and young adults seeking age-appropriate supports. Madison’s current role within the Psychiatric Pharmacogenomics Lab (PGx) is study coordination and recruitment for a variety of pharmacogenetic studies, including PGx-AID,  PGx-SParK, and PGx-STaR studies.

Samuel Gerlach is currently in his first year of his Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Calgary. Under the supervision of Dr. Bousman and with support of an O’Brien summer studentship, Sam will be assessing the impact of CYP2D6 genetic variation on amphetamine response and side effects in children and adolescents enrolled in the PGx-SParK study.

Courtney Lenz is a fourth-year bioinformatics student pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree at the University of Calgary. Under the support of Dr. Bousman, Ankita Narang, and an O’Brien summer studentship, her research is evaluating the pharmacogenomic variant coverage of commonly used genome-wide genotyping arrays. She will also be completing her undergraduate thesis with the PsychPGx lab, studying the impact of widely used imputation algorithms on pharmacogenomic variant calling.