Gentile Lab Members

Francesco is originally from Cuneo, a beautiful small town in Northwest Italy’s Alps. He did his bachelor’s and master’s in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Torino, where he developed a strong interest in molecular modeling.

In 2014, he moved to Alberta, Canada, to do a Ph.D. in computational physics at the University of Alberta, under the supervision of Jack Tuszynski and Khaled Barakat. During his Ph.D., he worked on discovering and designing small molecule inhibitors of DNA repair proteins that could enhance cancer chemotherapy. His research was primarly supported by an Alberta Innovates graduate scholarship.

In 2019, Francesco moved to Vancouver, B.C., to work as postdoc in the lab of Art Cherkasov at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. There, he developed machine learning methods for structure-based virtual screening and used them to identify novel small molecule inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease and key proteins involved in resistant prostate and breast cancer. His postdoctoral research was supported by an Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship, a CIHR fellowship, and a joint fellowship from Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute/VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.

In August 2022, Francesco joined the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Ottawa as Assistant Professor. Since 2023, he is also a Principal Investigator at the Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology.

Outside the lab, he enjoys playing basketball, biking, fishing, and traveling around the world.

Rahul received his Bachelor’s of Technology in Bioinformatics from D.Y.Patil University, Navi Mumbai. He was also a Bachelor’s thesis student at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. He attained his Master’s of Technology in Bioinformatics in 2018 at SASTRA University, India. He was also a Master’s thesis student at University of Malaya, Malaysia. In June 2023, Rahul completed his Ph.D. in Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy under the supervision of Prof. Sandro Cosconati.

Rahul’s main interest resides in the application of advanced structure-based methods in drug design. Outside the lab, Rahul tries not to think about work, he is a meme enthusiast and loves to play cricket.

Hazem has a BSc in Biochemistry (minor in Computer Science) and a MSc in Bioinformatics. He is currently pursuing cutting-edge cancer research in the field of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) under direct supervision of Dr. Victor Jeffrey Leyton and co-supervision from Dr. Francesco Gentile. Aside from research, Hazem enjoys swimming, mythbusting and competitive duck herding.

Sumin graduated from Earlham College in the US with a degree in Chemistry. In her undergraduate research, she studied thermodynamic properties of polar fluids using molecular dynamics simulation and molecular-based equation of states. She was also involved in research to study the diffusion in lipid bilayer membranes, especially the effect of periodic boundary conditions in molecular dynamics simulation. Outside of lab, Sumin enjoys going to the gym and exploring the city/nature on a bike.

Meet Thanawat, a passionate Pharmacist with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Rangsit University, Thailand. His expertise lies in developing innovative drug delivery systems through a blend of computational methods and organic synthesis. As a former researcher at Siriraj Hospital, Thailand, he focused on discovering new medicinal compounds against Dengue virus using both computational and laboratory techniques. Furthering his academic journey, Thanawat earned a master’s degree in Chemistry and Biology from Universität Siegen, Germany. His thesis centered on developing Kinetic Monte Carlo/MD simulations based on Eyring’s theory. Currently pursuing his dreams at the University of Ottawa, Thanawat finds joy in his leisure activities. A devoted AC Milan fan, he loves playing and watching football. Embracing his German influence, he enjoys leisurely walks around the city and trail walking in his free time.

Lilia is joining the lab as a USRO student and is excited to apply AI and machine learning to accelerate virtual screening in drug discovery. Outside the lab, she enjoys collecting vinyl records and taking walks in the city with friends.

Jean-Paul started in the lab in December 2022 as UROP student, and he is now continuing as a honours student, co-supervised by Prof. Pezacki.

Yasaman earned her B.Sc. in Computer Science from Alzahra University, Tehran. She then completed her MSc in Computer Science with a focus on AI at uOttawa. For her Master’s research, she developed a self-training, semi-supervised model for an online machine learning-based intrusion detection system, crucial for adapting to evolving cyber threats with limited labeled data. During her Master’s, she gained hands-on experience with machine learning project life cycles, deep learning architectures, natural language processing, and strategies for handling imbalanced data. In her free time, Yasaman enjoys long walks in nature and learning the violin.