The Sabatinos Lab
Since 2015, the Sabatinos Lab has been conducting research at Toronto Metropolitan University and is located in the MaRS Discovery District. The lab has staff, graduate students and undergraduate students working individually and collaboratively to answer our critical research questions. The Sabatinos Lab welcomes passionate researchers to reach out about potential opportunities to join our amazing team!
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sarah A. Sabatinos
Dr. Sarah A. Sabatinos started her science career at the University of Guelph (BSc) before diving into research at the University of Toronto where she achieved her PhD. Following her PhD, Sarah worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Forsburg Lab at the University of Southern California investigating DNA replication mechanisms in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
In 2015, Dr. Sabatinos started her academic lab at Toronto Metropolitan University where she is an Associate Professor. Her lab currently drives forward cancer research using fission yeast and mammalian cells. Primarily her lab’s interests are in DNA replication and repair mechanisms and assessing chemotherapeutics and novel compounds effects in cancer cell survival.
Dr. Sarah Sabatinos is not just a professor! She is also the Graduate Program Director for the Molecular Science program at Toronto Metropolitan University and in 2023 she was recognized with the Dean’s Service Award.
Our Team
Kyle Cheung
PhD Candidate
Zohreh Kianfard
PhD Candidate
Kerenza Cheng
PhD Candidate
Sabrina Sherman
MSc Candidate
Sirasie Magalage, MSc
Laboratory Manager
Carolen Bagaqkagean
MSc Candidate
Matti Co
BSc Candidate
Biomedical Science
Kadija Rauf
BSc Candidate
School of Nutrition
Past Members
TMU Graduate Students
Cindy Ong, MSc (2023 – 2025)
Essam Karam, MSc (2022 – 2024)
Mohammed Ayan Chhipa, MSc (2022 – 2024)
Zeeniya Zuhair, MSc (2022 – 2024)
Sirasie Magalage, MSc (2021 – 2024)
Gillian Okura, MSc (2020 – 2022)
Daniel Rappaport, MSc (2020 – 2022)
Venezia Benvenuto, MSc (2019 – 2024)
Saba Zafar, MSc (2018 – 2020)
Liza Calhoun, MSc (2017 – 2019)
Dehi Joung, MSc (2016 – 2018)
Pooja Patel, MSc (2015 – 2017)
Nora Dannah, Phd (2015 – 2023)
Postdoctoral Fellows and Staff
Samantha Sanayhie, Lab Manager (2024-2025)
Beverlee Buzon, Postdoctoral Fellow (2021 – )
Samantha Sanayhie, Research Assistant (2021 – 2022)
Larasati, Postdoctoral Fellow (2020 – 2022)
Saiimatul Huq, Postdoctoral Fellow (2018)
Jin Duan, Postdoctoral Fellow (2017)
University College London Pharmacy Students
Ilsa Ali (2024 – 2025)
Anjali Bilku (2023 – 2024)
Ivneet Ghatoura (2023 – 2024)
Zainab Kagalawala (2022 – 2023)
Hardy Bhadra (2019 – 2020)
Sunaina Babbra (2018 – 2019)
Layla Abdalla (2017 – 2018)
TMU Undergraduate Students
Taiba Dawood, Aastha Patel, Bhanuja Bakthavaksalan,
Shikha Narula, Shruti Manna, Shanoth Manivannan,
Intesar Shah, Carolen Bagaqkagean, Assya Miraj,
Sara Alam, Lloyd Pineda, Heba Fatmi,
Lohitika Sibia, Shirin Kalavi, Parastoo Golrazian,
Kevin Wawrzyn, Nikola Urosevic, Abdurrahaman Rana,
Mew Pongnoppa, Jordan Auger, Solmaz Ebrahimi-Iranpour,
Nishka Gupta, Aeedryyn-Semuel Perez, Bahar Tagizadeh,
Sani Nadaf, Seerat Kang, Ezzat Dehi,
Jirachaya Pognoppa, Julia Pelligrino, Vasiliki Kiosederis,
Hoang Nhi Nguyen, Sydney Pelger, Essam Karam,
Eeshaan Pandya, Samir Kanji, Meeraah Parasanathy,
Mohammed Ayan Chhipa, Hamiida Ibrahim, Tanmay Vasa,
Sirasie Magalage, Ashley Ligtenberg, Samantha Sanayhie,
Maria Fernanda Ortega, Piero Calcagno, Kieran Boyd,
Daniel Nussey, Syeda Zainab Bokhari, James Arras,
Nima Akhyari, Mahsa Paydarnia, Garett Armstrong,
Christian Viera, Bailey Kennedy, Nemanja Ilic,
Sierra Scodellaro, Syed Mark Zaidi, Rhea Salinas,
Ethan Francis, Gianluca Calcagno, Victoria DaPra,
Iryna Shchybyvolok, Imaad Hamud, Kaitlyn Rodriguez,
Venezia Benvenuto, Christopher Taghizadeh, Segan Gegziabher, Liona Vu, Kyle Cheung, Kazeera Aliar,
Saba Zafar, Dianne Ganeswaran, Christina Su,
Nadia Mohammad Sharif, Zoeie Major-Orfao, Rawan Nasser,
Sabrina Barker, Hameeda Nabie Zadah, Negin Tavana,
Roxanne Ziman, Asha Usulow, Serena Morrone,
Mobeen Akhtar, Sara Nenada, Samantha Sanchez,
Francis Buguis, Carly Blanchette, Tracy Tran,
Simin Mohammedi, Antonia Racz, Dehi Joung,
Maryam Siddiqui, Reeda Mahmood, Nairy Khodabakhshian,
Suneel Sing, Alia Khan
Sabatinos Lab 