Skip to content
T.-Cossa Lab Members Page Banner

Members

Vincent is a Full Professor in the Department of Physics, and a University Research Chair in Nanoscale Biophysics and Nanopore Science. His laboratory at the University of Ottawa was founded in 2010. He is a member of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Biomedical Engineering, and cross-appointed with the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences. Since 2020, he is also Chief Scientific Officer (part-time) of Northern Nanopore Instruments, a company he co-founded that specializes in research tools and solutions to support fundamental and applied research on solid-state nanopores. Vincent received the Early Career Researcher of the Year award at the University of Ottawa in 2018, was inducted to the College of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in 2019, and was awarded the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Industrial and Applied Physics medal in 2021.
T.-Cossa Lab group

Our philosophy

We are strongly committed to providing a positive, supportive and equitable work place. Our group is composed of researchers from diverse backgrounds and experiences, allowing us to tackle multidisciplinary problems with innovating solutions and rigorous science. We promote an open, fun and creative lab environment. To learn more, read our lab manual.

 

 

Matthew Waugh

Matthew Waugh

BSc. (Biochemistry, uO) MSc. (Physics, uO)
MBA (uO)

Lab Manager

Role: Laboratory manager
Projects:

Nanopore Fabrication by CBD; Nanopore Instrumentation; 3D printing; Membrane fabrication.

 
Martin Charron

Martin Charron

BSc. (Physics, uO) 
M.Sc. (Physics, uO) 
Ph.D. Student in Physics

Projects:

Dynamics of polymer capture and passage through nanopores; Nanoporous membrane fabrication  by CBD; DNA origami and nanostructures characterization; Characterize protein translocations.  

Kyle Briggs

Dr. Kyle Briggs

Ph.D. (Physics, uO)
Postdoctoral Fellow

Projects:

Nanopore Fabrication by CBD; Nanopore Analysis Software; Algorithm for DNA Origami and Nanostructures Design.

 
Zachary Roelen

Zachary Roelen

BSc. (Physics, McGill)
Ph.D. Student in Physics

Projects:

Nanopore integration with microfluidic-based iDEP devices; Synthesis of DNA scaffolds for biosensing; Nanoporous membrane fabrication by CBD. 

 

 

Philipp Karau

BSc. (Physics, Freie Universität Berlin) 
M.Sc. (Physics, uO) 
Ph.D. Student in Physics

Projects:

DNA nanostructure design; Characterization of synthetic polymer translocations; Nanopore-based decoding of information stored on molecules; Nanopore-based Single-Molecule Immunoassay.

Yassine Bouhamidi

Mohamed Yassine Bouhamidi

BSc. (Electrical Engineering, uO) 
Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering

Projects:

Developing multi-channel high-bandwidth nanopore measurement platform; Instrumentation for streaming potential measurements; Improvements to the Controlled Breakdown nanopore fabrication method

 

Breeana Elliott

Program of studies: B.Sc. in Physics with Biological Physics option Undergraduate Student Researcher 

Projects:

Protein translocation through nanopores; protein fingerprinting; nanopore-based digital assays; fundamentals of polymer translocation. 

 
Deekshant Wadhwa

Deekshant Wadhwa

B. Tech (IT, IPU) 
M.Sc. Student in Computer Science (co-supervised with Prof. Paula Branco)

Projects:

Algorithms and AI/ML approaches for nanopore data analysis.

Dmytro Lomovtsev

Dmytro Lomovtsev

B.A.Sc. (Mech. Engineering, uO) 
M.A.Sc. (Mech. Eng, uO) 
Engineering Research Associate

Projects:

Instrumentation development; 3D printing of milli- and micro-fluidic cells; Instrumentation for high-speed nanopore translocation recording with active temperature control.  

William Mcleigh

William Mcleish

Program of studies: B.Sc. in Biochemistry
Undergraduate Research Student

Project:

Unfolding proteins through solid-state nanopores. 

 
Katrine Labonte

Katrine Labonté

Program of studies: B.A.Sc. in Biomedical Mechanical Engineering
Coop Research Student

Project:

Single-molecule assay design; DNA nanostructure assembly. 

 
Sofia Zaynullina

Sofia Zaynullina

Program of studies: B.Sc. in Physics 
Undergraduate Research Student

Project:

Nanopore-based decoding of information stored on molecules

 

Former Graduate Students, Postdocs and Research Associates

Gengyang (Albert) Mu
Research Associate – From Spring 2022 to Summer 2023
Project: Microfabrication of membranes.
Now at: Sysmex (previously at Northern Nanopore Instruments)

Liqun He
Ph.D. in Physics – From Spring 2018 to Winter 2022
Thesis title: DNA Nanostructures for Nanopore-based Digital Assays.
Now at: postdoc at Wyss Institute at Harvard University

Dr. Erin McConnell
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate (Chemistry) – From Fall 2020 to Summer 2022
Project: Aptamers and DNAzymes; digital immunoassays; Developing nanopore assays compatible with enzymatic amplification techniques for infectious disease diagnostics. 
Now at: Carleton University (Chemistry)

Dmytro Lomovtsev
M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering co-supervised with Prof. Raphael St-Gelais – From Winter 2019 to Winter 2022
Thesis title: A platform for high-bandwidth, low-noise electrical nanopore sensing with thermal control.
Now at: Northern Nanopore Instruments

Simon King
M.Sc. in Physics – From Fall 2018 to Fall 2021
Thesis title: Development of Nanopore Sensing Methods for the Detection of PCR-amplified Pathogenic DNA.
Now at: GeneRxN Research

Dr. Daniel Tessier
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate (Biology) – From Fall 2016 to Summer 2020
Project: Development of digital immunoassays
Now at: Abbott Point-of-Care

Dr. Autumn Carlsen
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate (Physics) – From Fall 2014 to Fall 2019
Project: Nanopore detection of DNA and proteins.
Now at: Canada Revenu Agency

Dr. Reza Khanbabaie Shoub
Research Associate (Physics) – From Fall 2019 to Spring 2020
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin (http://godinlab.uottawa.ca)
Project: Nanopore Sensors Integrated with Microfluidics
Now at: UBC Okanagan (lecturer)

Dr. Ali Najafi Sohi 
Postdoctoral Fellow (Mech. Eng.) – From Fall 2017 to Fall 2019
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin (http://godinlab.uottawa.ca)
Project: Nanopore Sensors Integrated with Microfluidics
Now at: Nautilus (previous at Iridia)

Martin Charron
M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Fall 2016 to Fall 2019
Project: Precise DNA Concentration Measurements with Nanopores by Controlled Counting
Now at: Ph.D. student in T.-Cossa Lab

Kyle Briggs
PhD. student (Physics) – From Fall 2014 to Summer 2018
Vanier Scholar and Winner of the Pierre Laberge Prize for best doctoral thesis in 2019 in the Sciences and Engineering
Project: Applications of Solid-State Nanopores.
Now at: Postdoctoral Fellow in the T.-Cossa Lab and CEO of Northern Nanopore Instruments

Radin Tahvildari
PhD. student (Physics) – From Fall 2013  to Winter 2017
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin (http://godinlab.uottawa.ca)
Project: Nanopore arrays integrated with microfluidics
Now at: IMEC

Philipp Karau
M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Winter 2016 to Winter 2018
Project: Translocation characteristics of branched DNA through nanopores
Now at: Ph.D. student in T.-Cossa Lab

Benjamin Watts, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (Physics) – 2014-2015
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin
Project: Custom Membrane Fabrication and Microfluidic Integration
Now at: ArtIC Photonics

Jose Bustamante
M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Fall 2012 to Summer 2014
Project: Simultaneous Single-Molecule Fluorescence and Electrical Detection of DNA through Nanopores.
Now at: Ph.D. student McGill

Harold (Wing Hei) Kwok
Ph.D. student (Physics) – From Fall 2010 to Winter 2014
Project: Nanopore Fabrication by Controlled Dielectric Breakdown.

Former Undergraduate Students

Alison Nandram
Undergraduate Student COOP and part-time (Biomedical Mechanical Engineering and Computing Technology, uO)
May 2022 – April 2023

Karolina Kropop
Undergraduate Student COOP  (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2022 – August 2022

Mohamed Yassine Bouhamidi
Undergraduate Student COOP and part-time (Electrical Engineering, uO)
May 2021 – April 2022

Lucas Philipp
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biophysics, UBC)
May 2019 – April 2020

Ahmed Rezk
Undergraduate Student 4th year Honours Project (Physics, uO)
January – April 2020

Dmytro Lomovtsev
Undergraduate Student COOP, USRA  and part-time (Biomed. Eng, uO)
September 2018 – December 2019

Marie-Pier Laberge
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biomed Eng., uO)
September – December 2019

Guillerme Roballo
Undergraduate Student Exchange program (Electrical Eng, Brazil, Military Engineering Institute)
September – December 2019

Matthaios Tsangaris
Undergraduate Student Honours Project BCH4040 and part-time (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2018 – December 2019

Derek Boase
Undergraduate Student summer research part-time (Physics and EE, uO)
May 2018 – December 2019

Chelsea Leung
Undergraduate Student COOP (NanoScience, uWaterloo)
January – August 2019

Smile (Xi Man) Peng
Summer Researcher (Engineering Science, University of Toronto)
May – August 2019

Guillaume  Pregliasco
Undergraduate Student COOP (Chem. Eng, uO)
September – December 2018

Nathaniel Leslie
Undergraduate Student COOP (Chemistry, uO)
September – December 2018

Quinn Ingram
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry/Chem. Eng, uO)
January – December 2018

Michelle Vandeloo
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry, uO)
January – April 2018

Michelle Lam
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biophysics, UBC)
September 2017 – April 2018

Melissa Jimenez
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biomed. Mech. Eng, uO)
September 2017 – April 2018

Amanda Alain
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Biochemistry, uO)
July 2017 – March 2018

Mohammed Sayeem
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biopharmaceutical Science)
September – December 2017

France Manigat
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biopharmaceutical Science)
January – August 2017

Samuel Berryman
Undergraduate Student COOP (Mech. Eng, UBC)
January – August 2017

Giulio Pregnolato
Undergraduate Student COOP (Mech. Eng, UBC)
September – December 2016

Caroline Tippins
Undergraduate Student COOP (Physics, uO)
May – August 2016

An Duong
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biology, uO)
May – August 2016

David Gregory Hobson
Undergraduate Student NSERC URSA (Physics-Math, uO)
May – August 2015

Erick Rene Espindola
Undergraduate Student Mitacs (Physics, Mexico)
May – August 2015

Sanmeet Chahal
Undergraduate Student NSERC URSA (Physics, uO)
May – August 2014

Timothea (Betty) Le
Undergraduate Student UROP, NSERC URSA (Biochemistry, uO)
January 2014 – August 2014

Pierre Janusz
Undergraduate Exchange Student (Physics, France)
September 2013 – April 2014

Nick Yelle
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry, uO)
September – December 2013

Julie Montgomery
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Physics, uO)
September 2012 – April 2013

Julien Thibert-Leduc
Undergraduate Student COOP (Physics, uO)
January – August 2012

Matthew Windeler
Summer Researcher (Physics, uO)
May – August 2012

Chris Wlodarczyk
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Physics, uO)
September 2011 – April 2012

Jean Luc Rukundo
Summer Researcher (Physics, McGill University)
May – August 2011

Edward Percy
Summer Researcher (Physics, Queen’s University)
May – August 2011

Matthew Rigby
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Physics, uO)
September 2010 – April 2011

Contacts

Dr. Vincent Tabard-Cossa
Associate Professor
Department of Physics
STEM Complex
University of Ottawa
Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada