People

Lab Members

Principal Investigator

Dr. Joanne A. Matsubara PhD

Professor & Lead Principal Investigator for the UBC Research Excellence Cluster in Vision Sciences

Project description: Dr. Joanne Matsubara’s research focuses on retinal degeneration, particularly AMD, and the development of ocular biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Her work aims to uncover early disease mechanisms, advance novel therapies and enable earlier, more accessible detection of neurodegenerative disease.

How she got interested in science:  Growing up in Southern California, I spent countless hours exploring the beaches, fascinated by the unusual marine life in the tidepools. That curiosity led me to biology and marine biology, and eventually to a PhD studying the electrosensory system. From there, I turned to a sensory system more familiar to us—vision and the eye. That journey, from tidepools to understanding how the eye works and what happens when vision is threatened, has shaped my path as a scientist.
Personal interests/hobbies: bird watching

Staff and Fellows

Dr. Printha Wijesinghe PhD, MSc 

MSFHR-CLEAR Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Project description: Printha investigates early Alzheimer’s disease changes across the brain–eye–tear axis, focusing on miRNA biomarkers, APOE-related regulation, and retinal dysfunction using mouse models, human cohorts, and advanced 3D imaging.

Interests/hobbies: Listening to medlofies & watching funny videos – optimal mood regulation strategy | Favourite eye structure: retina

 

Dr. Luba Kojic PhD

Research Staff

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jeanne Xi MD, MSc

Research Staff
Hometown: Beijing, China
Interests/hobbies: Skiing

 

 

 

Dr. Daniel Yoo PhD, MSc

CIHR Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Project description: Daniel studies how extracellular granzyme K contributes to wet AMD and is testing whether blocking extracellular granzyme B can reduce disease progression.

Interests/hobbies: vinyl & figure collection, weightlifting, running

Go-to cafe order: americano/cortado + croissant/pain au chocolat

 

Dr. Chuan-Hui Kuo

Dr. Chuan-Hui (Grace) Kuo MD, PhD

Research Associate | Lab Manager

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Harshini Chakravarthy PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Project description: Investigating molecular mechanisms driving AMD with blue light-induced stress models in RPE cells and dry AMD animal models to determine the therapeutic viability of targeted Granzyme B inhibition in preserving tissue integrity.

Interests/hobbies: Discovering new biking trails in Vancouver | Hometown: Bombay, India

Favourite science fact: Every eye has a literal blind spot, but you never notice it as your eyes cover for each other. And if you close one, your brain instantly photoshops the missing piece in real-time.

 

Graduate Students

Amir Hosseini

Amir Hosseini MSc

Graduate Student

Supervisor: Dr. Sonia Yeung

 

 

 

 

Lana Rummel BSc

Graduate Student
Project description: looking at the cornea for biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease
Interests/hobbies: Tennis, hiking, biking
Favourite science fact: bees will kill enemies by huddling around it and raising its temperature so high that it roasts them – I love bees.
Go-to cafe order: americano with oat milk

 

Undergraduates

Andrew Buss

Undergraduate Volunteer ’25 | FoM MRPM ’26 | Directed Studies ’27
Project description: Granzyme B and Granzyme K roles in CNV/nAMD, choroidal sprouting assays.

Program : BSc Neuroscience

 

 

 

 

Jenny (Juwon) Lee

Undergraduate Volunteer ’25 | FoM MRPM ’26 | Directed Studies ’26, ’27 | Digital Media Assistant
Project description: Granzyme B and Granzyme K roles in CNV/nAMD, choroidal sprouting assays.
Program: BSc Integrated Science

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Interests/hobbies: Dance & playing the violin

 

Seth Perez

Directed Studies ’26
Project description: Blue light-induced oxidative stress in Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells as a model of early Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) pathology.
Program: BSc Biology

Hometown: Canmore

Hobbies: Sewing & crocheting | Go-to cafe order: Iced London Fog

 

Helena Ghorbani

Honours Thesis Student ’27
Project description: Investigating the effects of granzyme B and granzyme K on choroidal angiogenic sprouting.
Program: BSc (Hons) Cellular, Anatomical, and Physiological Sciences

Personal interests/hobbies: Photography and figure skating

 

 

Justin Tamasanu

Directed Studies ’27
Project description: Investigating the relationship between Alzheimer’s Disease, APOE polymorphisms, and miRNA biomarkers across the brain-eye-tear axis. 
Program: BSc Neuroscience

Hobbies: Hiking, Weightlifting, Running | Go-to cafe order: Iced Coffee + Fruit Tart

Favorite Vancouver Spot: English Bay Beach

 

 

Medical Students

Matthew Campbell

Matthew Campbell

Medical Student

 

 

 

 

 

Jenny Fan (Medical Student | Flex ’26 | FoM MRPM ’26)

Debon Lee BSc

Medical Student | Flex ’26

Project description: Looking for corneal biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease and reviewing known ocular biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Interests/hobbies: Swimming, Hiking, Model Building, Video Games, Aviation

Favourite science fact: Pigeons can “feel” magnetic fields to help with navigation.

 

Priyanka (Medical Student | Flex ’26) 

 

 

Lab Alumni

2020–2025
Makena Ngi (NSCI 400 Capstone ’25)
Olivia Klassen (NSCI 400 Capstone ’25)
Philip Yu (MRPM ’25)
Boaz Li
Cole Wagen
Ceres Zhou (MRPM ’25)
Shivani Tejpal (MRPM ’25)
Manjosh Uppal (MSc. ’24)
Natalie Ma, UBC (MRPM ’24)
Neilan Tan
Eric Ai, UBC (MRPM ’24)
Emily Chen, UBC (MRPM ’24)
Yoojin Choi
Khola Bilal, UBC (Flex 2022–2023)
Karanvir Gill, UBC (Flex 2022–2023)
Jean Oh, UBC (Flex 2022–2023)
Haoran Li, UBC (Flex 2022–2023)
Tony Zhang, UBC (Flex 2022–2023)
Darian Cheng
Wania Khan
Lyden Irani
Nan Hui Yao, UBC (Flex 2021–2022)
Yan Heng Zhu, UBC (Flex 2021–2022)
Yi Han Yin, UBC (Flex 2021–2022)
Harjot Bhandol, UBC (Flex 2021–2022)
Nilanga Bandara, UBC (Flex 2021–2022)
Katt Schwab, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
Eden Dubchak, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
Fatemeh Khounsarian, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
Mary Zhao, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
John Zhu, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
Anna Gleave, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
Pierre Boerkoel, UBC (Flex 2020–2021)
2010–2020
Eden Dubchak (MD ’24)
Julie Zhu (MD ’25)
Elliott To
Harjot Bhandol
Susan Yao
Evi Dorsch
Phoenix Yin
Ajay Grewal
Danielle Harrington (2020 Co-op Student)
Rachel Chen, UBC (Flex recipient 2017)
Alice Liu, UBC (Flex recipient 2017)
Sunghan Jung, UBC (Flex recipient 2018)
Johnathan Hoggarth, UBC (Biophysics Co-op Student)
Monica Dahiya, UBC (Flex and SSRP recipient 2017)
Tom Liu, UBC Ophthalmology (Best Research Presentation by a Resident, UBC Ophthalmology Research Day 2015)
Kailun Jiang, UBC Ophthalmology (Project in collaboration with Dr. Sonia Yeung)
Brennan Eadie, UBC Ophthalmology (Project: Novel Retinal Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease)
Kresimir Ukalovic, UBC (SSRP recipient 2016)
Brandon McIlmoyle, UBC (Summer Researcher 2016)
Heather Cadenhead, UBC (SSRP recipient 2015)
Tom Zhao, University of Alberta (Best Research Presentation by a Medical Student, UBC Ophthalmology Research Day 2015)
Minnie Teng
Chen Liang
Matthew Wong
Chris D’Arcy
Dean Zhang
Ayda Askri
Steve Tsai
Jay Wang
Chris Or
Jun Wang
Geoffrey Law
Carol Tadros
Brett Poulis
Isabella Cheung (In collaboration with Dr. Sonia Yeung)
Jennifer Van
Alice Chen
Edward Fang
Cecilia Yang
Colten Wendel
Laith Ishaq
Navroop Sandhu