Investigators
Dr. Aline Talhouk, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Talhouk is an assistant professor in the department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and the director of data science and informatics at OVCARE, BC’s ovarian and gynaecological cancer research program. She completed her PhD in Statistics at the University of British Columbia in 2013 with a focus on computational statistics and machine learning. Since then, she has been working on developing and implementing predictive models to improve patient care in women’s health and oncology. Her research spans the cancer continuum from prevention to survivorship. She also is interested in the ethics of data sharing and the impact of digital health and AI modelling on fairness and privacy.
Staff
Samuel Leung, MSc
Data Manager
Samuel completed a M.Sc. in computer science at the University of Victoria in 2006. He worked as a software engineer at Motorola Canada (2000-2002) and joined the Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre as a data manager in 2005. His passion is in data pipelines and custom software development to support clinical research. He has developed a pathology image database (www.gpec.ubc.ca/atlas) that is being used in quality assurance programs in hematology laboratories across British Columbia. As project coordinator and researcher for the International Ki67 Working Group (www.ki67inbreastcancerwg.org), he has developed a training module as well as a mobile application (iOS and Android) to help standardize the assessment of Ki67 immunohistochemistry assays. His other active projects involve developing a data pipeline for extracting clinical data from the British Columbia Health Registry and developing/maintaining a software system for managing laboratory resource requests such as specimen, outcome data, and informatics service requests.
Derek Chiu, MSc
Statistical Analyst
Derek completed an M.Sc. in statistics at the University of British Columbia in 2016. He has since been working at the BC Cancer Research Centre, analyzing data to find patterns that can help ovarian cancer patients. Some of the projects that he’s involved in include analyzing trends for BC ovarian cancer outcomes, summarizing an individual patient data meta-analysis for POLE mutated patients, and classifying histotypes of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. He’s also interested in implementing statistical software and generating reproducible reports that aid in analysis and interpretation.
Shan Wang, MSc
Data Analyst and Coordinator
Shan’s primary interests and work focus on building a centralized and integrated database, which provides different kinds of standard data and serves stakeholders from various research institutions. Data quality assurance, data curation, data migration and data management are all crucial pieces for the ultimate goal. Shan’s current projects include data migrations for research groups from Vancouver Prostate Cancer and BC Hereditary Cancer Initiative, as well as building a website for OVCARE standard data dictionary lookup and edits.
Nimmy Sebastian, BSc
Clinical Research Coordinator
Nimmy holds a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Sciences from the University of British Columbia, where she specialized in Physiology, Immunology, and Public Health. She currently contributes to research on endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women as a member of the Talhouk Lab. Nimmy aims to pursue a career in medicine and drive meaningful change in patient care and health equity.
David Yang, MHA
Project manager for the ROCCA Platform
David holds a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science and is a current Master of Health Administration student at the University of British Columbia. He is passionate about health systems improvement, digital health innovation, and data-driven decision-making in healthcare. With experience in clinical research and collaborative health data research initiatives, David is dedicated to advancing equitable access to health data for research, improving population health outcomes, and strengthening health data practices. As a Project Manager for the Rare Ovarian Cancer Collaborative Analytics (ROCCA) Platform, he is helping connect researchers and disparate data across borders to better shape health outcomes for those affected by ovarian and other gynaecological cancers.
Jenny Ellis-White
BSc Student, UBC
Jenny is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia working towards a BSc in Biology. She is passionate about advancing women’s health research. Jenny currently works in the Talhouk Lab, contributing to projects investigating alternative methods for endometrial cancer detection.
Graduate Students
Arabella Helgason
MSc Student, UBC
Arabella graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of British Columbia in 2023. Upon graduation, she joined the Uterine Health Research Lab as a research assistant and contributed to multiple projects investigating methods for endometrial cancer risk reduction and screening. Arabella is currently a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science in the UBC Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences program. As part of her thesis work, Arabella is assessing the acceptability of non-invasive endometrial cancer screening methods in people living with Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer syndrome. She is excited to contribute to the progress of gynecologic cancer knowledge and support women’s health research.
Dollina Dodani
PhD Candidate, UBC
Dollina completed her undergraduate studies in computing science and molecular biology & biochemistry at Simon Fraser University and is now a PhD student in bioinformatics at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests lie in developing computational techniques to analyze high-dimensional genomic data and identify biomarkers that tailor patient care. Her thesis explores the potential utility of the vaginal microbiome individually and in combination with cell-free DNA for improved screening and detection of endometrial cancer.
Tessa Woodside
MSc Student, UBC
Tessa is a Master’s Student in the Women and Children’s Health Sciences program. Her thesis focuses on women’s health and investigates the incidence rate of breast and endometrial cancer in women using progestogen hormonal therapy. In her free time, Tessa enjoys being outdoors, hiking and skiing, and trying new restaurants with her friends.
Farbod Moghaddam
MSc Student, UBC
Farbod’s research interests are in applying machine learning techniques to biological data. He has completed his undergrad at the University of Calgary in Bioinformatics and is currently doing his MSc in Bioinformatics. His current project involves training a machine learning model to predict the different types of endometrial cancers using a multimodal approach.
Eduardo Rivera, MSc
Graduate Academic Assistant
Eduardo is a Graduate Academic Assistant in the Uterine Health Research Lab and a Master of Data Science student at UBC. He holds an M.Sc. in Applied Economics and an Industrial Engineering degree from Universidad de Chile. His research interests focus on applying machine learning and secure, reproducible data analysis to solve complex problems in health research.
Undergraduate Students
Diana Lee
MD Student, UBC
Diana is a 2nd year medical student at UBC, where she also completed her BSc in Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences. Her research interests lie in social determinants of health and health equity, with a particular focus in children and women’s health. At the Uterine Health Research Lab, she is excited to contribute to efforts to improve screening and diagnosis of endometrial cancer.
Michelle Ling
MD Student, UBC
Michelle is currently a second-year medical student at UBC. Her interest in oncology stems from her undergraduate degree at UBC in Microbiology and Immunology, when she worked on screening cancer therapeutics. Since then, she has worked full-time in clinical research and aspires to care for oncology patients one day. She is excited to combine her past experiences and skills to contribute to furthering women’s health research at the Uterine Health Research Lab.
Navindi De Silva
MD Student, UBC
Navindi is a 2nd-year medical student at UBC Vancouver Fraser Medical program, where she also studied Integrated Sciences for her BSc. Her research focuses on cancer prevention and screening with interests in endometrial, pancreatic and skin cancer. At the Uterine Health Research Lab, she is currently evaluating the utility of risk prediction models for early detection of endometrial cancer.
Vincent Tu
BCS Student, UBC
Vincent is a Bachelor of Computer Science student at the University of British Columbia with a previous Bachelor of Commerce (Finance & Economics) from the University of Toronto’s Rotman Commerce. He works in the Uterine Health Research Lab on machine learning research and data engineering to support clinician decision-making in endometrial cancer. Before transitioning to computing, Vincent worked at Fidelity Investments Canada as a Financial Analyst, experience that sharpened his quantitative rigor and evidence-based approach. His interests include applied machine learning, reproducible data systems, and translating analytics into better patient outcomes.
Rachel Zhao
HBSc Student, UBC
Rachel is a fourth-year Honours Computer Science student at the University of British Columbia. Her research interest lies in data science and machine learning/AI applications in health, to support clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes. At the Uterine Health Research Lab, she is excited to help leverage administrative health datasets to validate predictive risk models for Endometrial Cancer. Outside of school and work, Rachel enjoys going on long walks with music, trying out new restaurants and travelling to new places.
Ananya Mahapatra
BSc Student, UBC
Ananya recently completed her B.Sc. in Combined Computer Science and Biology at the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about the intersection between bioinformatics, women’s health, and machine learning. At the Uterine Health Research Lab, she is excited to work on bioinformatics analyses supporting the screening and detection of endometrial cancer through the vaginal microbiome.
Selina Wang
BSc Student, UBC
Selina Wang is a fourth-year Statistics student at the University of British Columbia. She is interested in applying data science and data analysis methods to healthcare research, with a focus on improving data quality, streamlining research workflows, and generating meaningful insights from clinical and health-related datasets.
Outside of school and work, Selina enjoys watching movies, exploring new places on road trips, and spending time with friends.
Volunteers
Yuji Wang
BSc Student, UBC
Yuejia is a second-year Neuroscience student at the University of British Columbia with a strong interest in women’s health and gynecologic cancer research. She is excited to be part of the Uterine Health Research Lab, where she supports clinical research focused on improving early detection and monitoring of endometrial cancer. Through her work in the lab, she hopes to contribute to research that supports earlier detection and better health outcomes for women.
Ivy Guo
BSc Student, UBC
Ivy is currently a second-year undergraduate student at UBC majoring in Cellular, Anatomical, and Physiological Sciences. She is interested in cancer research, particularly in women’s health. As a volunteer clinical research assistant, she supports patient recruitment at BC Cancer for the DETECTR study and is excited to be involved in the lab and contribute to research concerning endometrial cancer detection.
Alina Jarvis
BSc Student, UBC
Alina is completing her BSc in Biology at the University of British Columbia with an interest in women’s health research, cancer prevention, and population health. She is particularly interested in research focused on early detection and improving health outcomes through screening, risk prediction and machine learning approaches. She is excited to be involved with the Uterine Health Research Lab and contribute to endometrial cancer research and prevention.
Angie Chen
BSc Student, UBC
Angie is a third-year Neuroscience student at the University of British Columbia with a strong interest in cancer research and women’s health. She is excited to be part of the Uterine Health Research Lab. Through her work in the lab, Angie hopes to contribute to research that advances women’s health outcomes while gaining experience in addressing meaningful healthcare challenges.
Taya Moyls
BSc Student, UBC
Taya is a third-year Microbiology and Immunology student at the University of British Columbia with a strong interest in healthcare, biomedical research, and women and children’s health. She is particularly passionate about advancing research that improves health outcomes for young women through earlier disease detection and patient-centered care. Through her work with the Uterine Health Research Lab, Taya is keen to support recruitment for research aimed at developing less invasive approaches to endometrial cancer intervention.