Diallo Lab

Jean-Simon Diallo profile picture

Contact Information

Jean-Simon Diallo
613-737-8899 x 75203
jsdiallo@ohri.ca

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Centre for Cancer Therapeutics
501 Smyth Road
Box 926
Ottawa, ON
K1H 8L6

ORCID logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4862-2795

Lab Members


Current Members

current member
Rozanne Arulanandam
Senior Scientific Manager

Dr. Rozanne Arulanandam has been a Researcher with the Diallo lab since 2012. She completed her BSc in Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University and obtained her PhD in Pathology & Molecular Medicine at Queens' University in Kingston, where she studied the role of Stat3 in cancer cell growth and survival. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Bell lab, she aimed to provide mechanistic insight to the inherent vascular targeting ability of oncolytic viruses and their ability to synergize with chemotherapeutics to allow for improved and rational cancer therapies. As a Research Associate in the laboratory of Dr. Jean Simon Diallo, she has been contributing to the application of virus sensitizing technology to the field of vaccine manufacturing.  Currenty she helps to manage many of the academic and industrial collaborations in the lab and co-mentors the excellent trainees. In her spare time Rozanne enjoys spending time with her family and making omelets.
current member
Elena Godbout
Research Laboratory Manager

Dr. Elena Godbout, a laboratory manager who joined the Diallo lab in 2019. Her work encompasses the development of novel strategies for therapeutics  biomanufacturing, translational research, commercialization activities and training initiatives.  Prior to her tenure at the lab, she earned her PhD from the University of Freiburg in Germany, with a research focus on molecular aspects of inherited and autoimmune skin diseases. Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Godbout pursued postdoctoral training at the University of Toronto, under the guidance of Dr. Boris Hinz. Subsequently, she conducted research on small molecule therapeutics for blood cancers, utilizing mass spectrometry approaches in the laboratory of Dr. Derek Wilson at York University in Toronto. Beyond her professional pursuits, Elena enjoys outdoor activities with her family and is a passionate designer.
current member
Andrew Chen
Senior Research Technician  

Andrew Chen joined the Diallo lab as a Senior Research Technician in 2012. Prior to joining the lab he was a research technician in the lab of Michael Chretien at the ICRM in Montreal. He oversees all in vivo-based experiments in the Diallo lab and provides the lab with invaluable technical support every aspect of lab activities. His research is focused on determining the relationship between in vivo and ex vivo efficacy of oncolytic virotherapy. Andrew enjoys his outdoor time and is often spending his weekends on long bike rides and runs in Gatineau Park and surrounding countryside.
current member
Anne Landry
Senior Research Technician

Anne Landry joined the Diallo lab as a Senior Research Technician in 2017. Prior to joining the lab she was a research technician in the lab of Alexander Sorisky for more than 12 years. His lab is also with OHRI but within the Chronic Disease Program. The focus of the lab was on metabolic syndrome most particularly with adipocytes cells and macrophages. She is currently working with lentivirus and adeno-associated virus platform combined with Viral Sensitizers, one of the main focus of the Diallo Lab. Anne enjoys outdoor time and spending time with her family. 
current member
Marcus Spinelli
Research technician

Marcus joined the Diallo lab in the fall of 2021 as a research technician. He received his BSc in microbiology at the University of Guelph, working with Dr. Sarah Wootton for his Honours project on stability studies for a recombinant AAV gene therapy vector. Since joining the lab Marcus has assisted in multiple projects including Covid and viral sensitizer drug screens. After his own experience with cancer, Marcus' passion for research and discovering new or improved treatments has been reignited. In his free time, Marcus is either in the kitchen or out for a walk listening to music a little too loud.
current member
Anna Jirovec
PhD Candidate

Anna Jirovec started in the Diallo lab as an Honours student in May 2016. She completed her BSc in Biopharmaceutical Science at the University of Ottawa in 2017. Her PhD research project involves establishing the tumour immune profile of dedifferentiated liposarcoma using Nanostring technology and immunohistochemistry. In parallel she is working on developing a heterologous prime-boost immunotherapy for the treatment of this rare sarcoma subtype.
current member
Zaid Taha
PhD Candidate

Zaid completed his BScH at Queen's University in Life Sciences, with a specialization in Drug Development and Human Toxicology. He next pursued his MSc with Dr. Leda Raptis, in the department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, as part of the joint Collaborative Cancer Research Program at Queen's University. Zaid joined the Diallo lab in 2018, and with his background in pharmacology and cell signaling, has been working on generating novel antibody-drug conjugates that can enhance the effectiveness of oncolytic viruses when combined together. To assess the activity of these antibody-drug conjugates, Zaid has also been working on generating and characterizing novel mouse models for the assessment of his proposed pharmacoviral therapeutic approach. In addition to lab work, Zaid spends much of his time in community outreach through the Canadian Cancer Society's research volunteer group, the Research Information Outreach Team (RIOT). In his spare time, Zaid enjoys playing floor hockey, painting, cooking, and eating croissants.     
current member
Nouf Alluqmani
PhD Candidate

Nouf joined the Diallo team during the Summer of 2018 as a PhD candidate. She got her master’s degree from the University of Toronto with specialization in immunology under the supervisor of Dr. Bebhinn Treanor where she discovered a novel glycoprotein on the surface of B cells that regulates B cell signaling. During that time, she gained cutting edge skills on live cell imaging (using the planar lipid bilayer to mimic the cell membrane and visualize B cells spreading and colocalization assays) and flow cytometry analyses, intracellular cell signalling, and pull-down assays for mass spectrometry. With all of these immunology experiences, Nouf's project now focuses on understanding the impact and mechanism of action when combining viral sensitizers with oncolytic viruses and its anti-tumour immune response. Nouf plans to investigate this through multiple approaches including in-vivo therapeutic models, immune profiling, and various other approaches. She is also studying the impact of viral sensitizer on infected cells vaccines. Outside of the lab, Nouf is a professional photographer, enjoys spending time in nature, expressing her creativity skills, and exploring her interest as a designer. Fun fact about Nouf: she believes in the law of attraction and energy.
current member
Boaz Wong
MD/PhD Candidate

Boaz started at the Diallo lab as an MD/PhD candidate in the summer of 2019. He obtained his BMSc from Western University, working with Dr. John Di Guglielmo on the role of TGFβ receptor 3 in invasive lung cancer. With a background in cell signalling, Boaz's project analyzes the potentiation of oncolytic viruses by modifying the phosphatome of the cell and engineering these effects into novel oncolytic viruses for pre-clinical testing. He hopes to combine his passions for clinical care and research as a clinician-scientist one day. Outside of the lab, Boaz is an avid softball player, fitness fanatic and aspiring chef.
current member
Akram Alwithenani
PhD Candidate

Akram joined the Diallo lab in the summer of 2019 as a PhD candidate. His research involves oncolytic viral engineering and development of immune therapeutics adjuvanted oncolytic virotherapy regimens in pre-clinical cancer models. Before joining the Diallo lab, he obtained his MSc from Dalhousie University in Drs Xu/Marcato lab where he studied lung cancer molecular biomarkers and their relation with PD-L1 in lung cancer patients. Outside the lab, Akram enjoys outdoor activities with his family and friends.

Past lab members

Serge Neault -PhD Candidate
Keara Sutherland - MSc Candidate
Glib Mazyni - Research Technician
Daniel Serrano - Postdoctoral Fellow
Harsimrat Birdi - PhD student
Mohsen Hooshyar - Post-Doctoral Fellow
Nicole Forbes - Research Associate
Fanny Tzelepis - Research Associate
Naveen Haribabu - Research Technician
Michael Phan - M.Sc Student
Anabel Bergeron - M.Sc Student
Oliver Varette - M.Sc Student
Ramya Krishnan - Ph.D Student
Mohammed Selman - Ph.D Student 
Nader El-Sayes - M.Sc Student
Hwan Hee "Connie" Son - M.Sc Student
Fabrice Le Boeuf - Senior Research Associate
Colin Davis - M.Sc Student
Jeff Hamill - Senior Research Technician
Vanessa Garcia - M.Sc Student
Paula Ou - Honours Student
Rachel McPhedran - Honours Student