Seyed Mehdi Jafarnejad; Principle Investigator
Mehdi earned his PhD in Experimental Medicine from The University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2008–2012), where he studied dysregulated gene expression mechanisms in melanoma metastasis. He then completed postdoctoral training at McGill University, Montreal (2013–2018), focusing on the regulation of cap-dependent mRNA translation by microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins. In 2019, he joined the Johnston Cancer Research Centre as a Principal Investigator to establish the RNA Biology Lab. His research group investigates the regulation of mRNA translation and decay, with a particular focus on their roles in cellular responses to anticancer treatments and viral infections.
Susanta Chatterjee; Postdoctoral Research Associate
Susanta earned his PhD in RNA Biology from the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (2015–2022), where he focused on unraveling the coordinated biogenesis of miRNAs in mammalian cells. He also investigated the role of various cellular organelles in miRNA trafficking and activity. In 2022, he joined the RNA Biology Lab to study how different anticancer treatments affect mRNA translation and decay machinery, aiming to understand its role in drug resistance mechanisms.
Aida Said; Postdoctoral Research Associate
Aida received her PhD in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Ottawa, where she studied how RNA translation and host-virus interactions can be leveraged to improve cancer immunotherapy using oncolytic viruses. Her research integrated RNA sequencing, ribosome profiling, molecular biology, and immunology to identify novel therapeutic strategies. In 2026, she joined the RNA Biology Lab to study the molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression at the RNA level, including mRNA translation and stability, and their roles in cellular response to environmental stress.
Tom McGirr; PhD student
Tom received his BSc degree in Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow. At the RNA Biology Lab he investigates the role of the mRNA translation machinery in glioblastoma cancer cells response to anticancer treatments.
Eman Almomani; PhD student
Eman completed her BSc in Biomedical Science at Al al-Bayt University (2016–2020) and her MSc in Medical Analysis at Al-Balqa Applied University (2020–2023). At the RNA Biology Lab she is investigating the regulation of expression of molecular and biochemical markers of cell death and innate immunity by RNA-binding proteins in response to anti-cancer treatments.
Aidan Kilmartin; PhD student
Aidan completed his MSc in Biochemistry at Queen’s University Belfast, focusing on novel therapeutic targets in ovarian cancer. At the RNA Biology Lab, he is investigating how mRNA translation and protein quality control pathways influence the response of acute myeloid leukaemia cells to genotoxic chemotherapy, aiming to uncover strategies to enhance the effectiveness of current treatments.
Yanyu Chen; PhD student
Yanyu completed his BSc degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Queen’s University Belfast (2019-2022). He received his MPhil degree in Biological Sciences from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2022-2024). At the RNA Biology Lab, his work focuses on investigating the role of RNA-binding proteins in regulation of translation-dependent mRNA decay.
