People

Andreas Hilfinger

I was trained as a mathematician and theoretical physicist at Imperial College and Cambridge University. As a graduate student I worked on the swimming of sperm at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems.

Before coming to Toronto I was a Research Fellow in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School.

Since moving to UTM I have the world's best commute.

Nava Leibovich

Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Previous position: PhD student at Bar-Ilan University.

Euan Joly-Smith

Graduated from McGill University in Physics and Mathematics. Joined the U of T Physics Graduate Program in 2018.

A key aim of systems biology is to characterize gene regulatory networks in cells. This is a monumental challenge, as high throughput methods like single-cell sequencing and flow cytometry generate static population snapshots (making dynamic inference difficult), perturbation experiments often affect many components at once (making causal inference difficult), and lastly, these networks are sparsely characterized (making mathematical modelling difficult). My research focuses on exploiting fluctuations in gene expression to infer causal and dynamic properties of gene regulatory networks from static snapshots of cell-to-cell variability.

Raymond Fan

From U of T Physics (UG) to U of T Physics (PG). Why change a thing?

Seshu Iyengar

I am from Fredericton, New Brunswick where I completed my undergraduate with a BA in Philosophy and a BSc in Biology-Physics with a minor in Mathematics. I am now a PhD student at the University of Toronto in the Hilfinger group where I am interested in developing multi-scale models of biological signal transduction pathways using stochastic fluctuations, leveraging our knowledge of modeling in physics in a biologically useful way. I am also interested in Physics Education Research, and the philosophy of Physics. When not doing Physics, you can find me reading German idealist philosophy or trying out a new sport which I am not very good at (currently badminton).

Brayden Kell

Before beginning my graduate studies, I completed an undergraduate degree in Biophysics and Math at UofT and worked as a research assistant at Sunnybrook Research Institute in tomographic x-ray imaging for breast cancer screening.

Currently, my scientific interests lie in quantitative approaches to understanding and engineering biological systems. In my PhD thesis I use tools from theoretical physics, applied mathematics, and computation to uncover fundamental performance limits in molecular regulatory systems in biological cells. In collaboration with experimentalists, I aim to demonstrate these limitations in real biological cells and establish novel design principles for the construction of biological circuits.

I also have a strong interest in pedagogical research for quantitative biology and biophysics education, as well as in undergraduate teaching itself.

Ryan Ripsman

I am an undergraduate student in physics at the University of Toronto. I am passionate about computational and clinical research. In my spare time I like to write, swim and rock climb and I am on a quest to cook the perfect pasta.

Timon Wittenstein

Visiting Masters student. On loan from the university of Mainz.

In the course of my studies in physics I have developed a profound interest in biological problems. In particular, how the tools provided by theoretical and computational physics can be used to gain a deeper understanding of biological systems.

My previous research at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research focused on using statistical physics to develop a formalism to reweight dynamics across non-equilibrium conditions.

Alumni - Alumnae

Xiaoli Yang

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher (UofT). Now graduate student in statistics at Stanford.

Ruo Ning Qiu

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher (UofT). Now graduate student in mathematics at UBC.

Preetham Bachina

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher (Rice University).


Guangya Wan

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher. University of Illinois. Now graduate student at Harvard University School of Public Health.


Aaditya Sharma

MPhil in Computational Biology Intern from Cambridge University. Now graduate researcher at Cambridge University.

Nicholas Martin

Undergraduate Research Volunteer. Now graduate student in statistics at UofT.

Jeremy D'silva

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher from University of Michigan. Now graduate student at Harvard University.

Nobuaki Masaki

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher from Carleton. Now graduate student at University of Washington.

Zhehao (Kenny) Zhang

Fields Institute Undergraduate Researcher from University of Santa Barbara. Now graduate student at University of Washington.

Milena Hadzi-Tosev

Co-op research student. Now graduate student at McMaster University.

Matthew Rozak

Undergraduate research volunteer. Now graduate student in medical biophysics at UofT.

Zi Tong (Jerry) Wang

Undergraduate research volunteer. Now graduate student in biology at Caltech.

Sara El-Shawa

UTM - ROP Student. Now graduate student in Engineering and Artificial Intelligence at University of Guelph / Vector Inst.

Oyinda Adepoju

UTM - ROP Student.
Now Analyst at KPMG.