Our People
Dr. Rod Russell
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02.
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03.
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04.
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05.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
Dr. Rod Russell
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
02.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
03.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
04.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.
05.
Our People
Dr. Rod Russell
Rod grew up in Newfoundland and completed his BSc in Biochemistry as well as his MSc (supervised by Dr. Mike Grant) at Memorial before moving to Montreal to pursue his PhD at McGill, studying HIV (supervised by Dr. Mark Weinburg). Rod completed his Post-doctoral training at the NIH studying HCV before coming back to Newfoundland to establish his own lab. The Russell Lab was started in January 2008.
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Lingyan Wang, PhD Student
Lingyan is a PhD student who spends half of her time in the Russell Lab. She grew up in China, and is working on a more detailed biography :)
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Hannah Wallace, PhD Student
Hannah grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick and did her undergraduate degree at the University of New Brunswick - Saint John. She received her BSc (honours) in Biology-Psychology in May 2017 before moving to Newfoundland to join the Russell Lab in September 2017. Although undecided at first, Hannah now calls St John's her second home and is thrilled to be staying to do her PhD. When not in the lab, Hannah can often be found in a dance studio or volunteering her time as MGSS President.
Rob Nettle, PhD Student
Rob was trained as a Medical Laboratory Scientist, and has worked in a many medical laboratories in the United States. In 2012, he came to Newfoundland and Labrador to manage the NL Provincial Public Health Laboratory. Currently he is working at the NL Provincial Public Health and Microbiology Laboratory as a R&D Scientist. His research concentrates on the development on syndromic molecular panels to increase accuracy and access of infectious disease testing. He joined Dr. Russel’s group in the fall of 2018 as a part-time PhD student, to further develop his skills as a researcher.
Leah Crunew, MSc Student
Leah is from a rural community in Newfoundland and Labrador called Bell Island. She completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Cell and Molecular Biology with a minor in Biochemistry at Memorial University. Leah is currently a first year master’s student at Memorial University and she is studying Immunology and Infectious Diseases within the Faculty of Medicine. Leah is working with Dr. Russell to visualize the HCV protein, p7 via unnatural amino acid technology in order to better understand the functional role of p7 during HCV infection.
Arron Maynard, MSc Student
Arron Maynard is from Brampton, Ontario and completed his undergraduate degree at Memorial University in Cell and Molecular Biology. In the past he has completed a diploma in Social Service Work from George Brown Collage and a Certificate in Pre-nursing from Sheridan Collage. Before completion of his undergraduate degree he worked as a social worker in AIDS prevention. He is currently a second year Master’s student in The Russell lab where he will be exploring pyroptosis in both woodchuck liver tissue infected with Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus (Model of HBV), and humanized mouse liver tissue and human liver tissue infected with Hepatitis C Virus.
Kate McNicholas, MSc Student
Kate is a 2nd year Master's student in the Russell Lab. This is not her first time in the Russell Lab, as she previously completed an Honours project with Dr. Russell in 2018.
Cassandra Davidson,
Research Assistant II
Cass joined the Russell Lab as a Research Assistant in October 2018. Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Cass completed her HBSc in Applied Biomolecular Science at Lakehead University in 2016. She moved to St. John's, Newfoundland in August 2016 and began a Master's program in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University. She completed her MSc - Medicine (Cancer & Development) in 2019. She is a proud 'dog mom' to Birchy, and she and her partner David are getting married in 2021! Outside of the lab, she enjoys hiking, playing softball, doing yoga, reading, and baking.
Lab Alumni
Post-Doctoral
Daniel Jones (2013), Maryam Ehteshami (2015)
PhD
Ali Atoom (2014), Hassan Kofahi (2017)
MSc
Heidi Morris (2013), Kayla Holder (2013), Nathan Taylor (2016), Jackie Barry (2017), Ahmed Oraby (withdrawn)
Honours
Chelsea Ash (2012), Sabrina Klingele (2013), Heather Warren (2015), Kylie Everard (2016), Bridgette Green (2016), Kathleen (Kate) McNicholas (2018), Rhiannon Cooper (2019), Annika Kappes (2020)
