top of page
PI / Group Leader
Bahram Samanfar
Dr. Samanfar is a Research Scientist at AAFC, Ottawa-RDC and an Adjunct Professor at Department of Biology, Carleton University. He is a molecular geneticist and applied genomicist with expertise in allele-specific molecular marker developments, recombination mapping, marker-assisted selection (molecular breeding), functional genomics, transcriptome-wide (RNA-seq) approaches, computational biology and bioinformatics, particularly in relation to Soybean.
​
Degrees:
Ph.D. (Carleton University, Canada)
M.Sc. (Paul Sabatier University, France)
M.Sc. (University of Tehran, Iran)
B.Sc. (University of Tehran, Iran)
Technicians
​
Martin Charette
Genomics & Plant Biology
Graduated from La Cité Collégial (1999-Biotechnology program) and then joined the Ottawa Research and Development Centre (Ottawa-RDC). Martin had the chance to work on multiple projects including soybean marker assisted breeding, QTL analysis on multiple soybeans population using SSR, and SNPs, etc. At the moment, he is developing allele specific markers (marker assisted selection) for economically important traits (i.e. time of flowering and maturity, SCN, etc.) in soybean. Beside his laboratory duties, he is also one of the local administrators of the chemical inventory system and the chemical waste manager at Ottawa-RDC.
​
​
Nathalie (Natalia) Puchacz (nathalie.puchacz@agr.gc.ca)
Genomics & Plant Biology
​
​
​
​
​
​
Natalia is a skilled laboratory professional with a comprehensive background encompassing more than six years of research experience, in both academic and clinical domains. In 2016, Natalia began her molecular biology training in a Functional Genomics and Proteomics Lab during her Undergraduate Research Thesis, and went on to receive her Masters of Biology from Carleton University in 2018. Following stints in biotherapeutic and clinical research, she has since shifted her focus to agricultural research in the Samanfar lab. Natalia aspires to leverage the transferrable skills acquired from her previous experiences to undertake translational research with economically important crops, such as Soybean.
Graduate Students
​
​
Nour Nissan (nour.nissan@agr.gc.ca)
PhD candidate
Nour graduated from Carleton University with an Honours in Biochemistry, Bachelor degree in 2019 (she came in 4th place on research day for undergraduate students). As a graduate student (PhD) at Carleton University and AAFC (Ottawa RDC), she is working on two different research projects: 1- Functional genomics approach to investigate host-pathogen interactions between Soybean and SCN; 2- Identification of novel candidate genes for economically important traits in soybean. Besides volunteering as a First-Aid Responder, she enjoys walking her dog; loves hiking and driving.
Julia Hooker (Julia.hooker@agr.gc.ca)
PhD candidate
Julia graduated with a Bachelor in Science in Microbiology and a minor in Molecular Biology & Genetics with honours from the University of Guelph in 2014. She completed her Master of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph in 2017 with a focus on grapevine virology and disease. Her PhD project mainly focuses on environmental effects on differential gene expression in Western vs Eastern Canadian soybean, particularly on the seed protein synthesis pathway.
Siwar Haidar (siwar.haidar@agr.gc.ca)
PhD candidate
Siwar graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Sciences in 2019 and completed her Master of Science in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Microbial Genomics from the Lebanese American University (Beirut, Lebanon) in 2021. Her PhD research project mainly focuses on the identification of novel candidate genes involved in economically important traits in soybean, including but not limited to the time of flowering and maturity.
Simon Lackey (simon.lackey@AGR.GC.CA)
Master Student
Simon graduated with a Honours Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree from the University of Ottawa in 2013. He has been working for a number of years in soybean breeding at Ottawa-RDC assisting with the development of new short season cultivars as well as contributing to yield testing, phenotyping, and testing for tofu, natto and sprout quality. Simon’s project involves the investigation of early maturity genes present in a G. max/G. soja cross.
Undergraduate and COOP Students
​
Laura Yokota-Savoia (LauraYokotaSavoia@cmail.carleton.ca)
Undergrad student (4th year project)
Laura is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Carleton University. She is completing her Bachelor of Science, Honours in Biology. She has a broad interest in research related to sustainable agriculture and has joined AAFC to complete her Honours Research Thesis project. She is working very closely with a senior PhD candidate, Nour Nissan, on the identification of novel candidate genes associated with time of flowering and maturity in soybean, as well as on the identification of novel genes involved in disease resistance against SCN.
Volunteers and Visiting Fellows
​
Former Members (gone but not forgotten)
Doris Luckert (2023)
Retired Technician (EG-05)
Soybean/Barley Genomics
​
Arezo Pattang (2020-2022)
Master student- Carleton University
Project: Identification of novel candidate gene involved in time of flowering and maturity in soybean (E7)
Micheal (Mike) Sadowski (2018-2020)
Master student- Carleton University
Project: Identification of novel candidate gene involved in time of flowering and maturity in soybean (E8)
​
Jessica (Jess) Brown (2020)
COOP- Algonquin College
Project: Identification of novel candidate gene(s) involved in economically important pathways
Emilie Gervais (2020)
COOP- Algonquin College
Project: Marker-assisted screening for economically important traits in soybean
​
Shin Kato (2019)
Visiting fellow
Project: GWAS analysis of lodging resistance in soybean
​
Le Hoa Tan (2019)
Volunteer/casual
Project:
-
Allele-specific marker development for new maturity locus in soybean
-
Investigating active transposable elements in soybean
-
RNA-seq
​
Mahsa Aminsalehi (mahsaaminsalehi71@gmail.com)
PhD candidate
Mahsa is a PhD candidate (on sabbatical- Bu-Ali Sina University) with a passion for RNA-seq data analysis. She graduated with a Bachler of science in biology in 2014. She got her Master’s degree in plant development with a focus on plant tissue culture and gene transfer in 2018 from Kharazmi University, Iran. Despite enjoying these past research domains, she realized that her passion lies in data analysis in Biology. For her PhD, Mahsa is using bioinformatics approaches and computational methods in analyzing RNA-seq data to elucidate novel candidate genes involved in fruit development in blueberries.
Honorary Members
Dr. Steve Molnar
Plant Genomist
​
bottom of page