Dr. Suzanne Vercauteren

Co-Director

Dr. Suzanne Vercauteren is a hematological pathologist at BC Children’s Hospital, who obtained her MD and PhD at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. She did her residency in hematological pathology at the University of British Columbia. She is the co-Director of BC Children’s Hospital BioBank, the Head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Childrens and Women’s Hospitals, and the Chair of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for UBC’s Department of Pathology.

Dr. Jonathan Bush

Co-Director

Dr. Jonathan Bush completed his MD and Anatomical Pathology residency at the University of Manitoba before finalizing his training through the Northwestern University-Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Pediatric Pathology fellowship program. He joined BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital as a Pediatric and Perinatal pathologist, which provided him the opportunity to have an impact on children’s and women’s health by examining tissue samples. As the “gatekeeper” to biologic samples, He was naturally drawn to biobanking, resulting in completing additional training and eventually becoming the co-Director with Dr. Suzanne Vercauteren in early 2021. He has a specific interest in banking and promoting pediatric solid tissue and tumor research.

Veronica Chow

Lab Manager

Veronica is the BioBank lab manager, and has been with the team since 2016. She did her Bachelors in Science at UBC, majoring in Microbiology and Immunology and minoring in Commerce. She also did her Masters in Health Administration thru UBC. In her free time, Veronica likes to stay active thru playing tennis and multi-sport, loves a good restaurant and/or travel recommendation, and occasionally dabbles in reality tv! Ask her about biobank sample requests, and binge-worthy reality TV shows!

Ashton Ellis

Research Manager

Ashton graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BSc and majored in Kinesiology. She has been with BioBank since she started as a co-op student in 2015. Outside of work, she likes to stay active, craft, bake, and work on home renovations!

Vi Nguyen

Research Technician

Vi graduated from University of British Columbia with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and is a lifelong learner. In 2019, she joined the BioBank team as a Research Technician and some of her roles include data management, training new team members, processing research samples, and consenting patients. When she isn’t happily biobanking, Vi loves to go on hikes to eat delicious food after, train for Wimbledon (just kidding), and cozy up with a good book when it’s cold. Ask her about sample queries and her garden gnome collection.

Claudia Makhanko-Tang

Research Assistant

Claudia graduated from the University of Toronto with a HBSc, where she majored in Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, and minored in Spanish and Russian. She joined the BCCH BioBank in July 2024, and is excited to learn more about pediatric and women’s clinical research and collaborate with various healthcare professionals. In her free time, Claudia enjoys rowing, running, coaching skating, and lifting heavy things. Ask her about placentas and worms.

Seoyoung Chae

Co-op Research Assistant

Seoyoung is a fourth-year student at UBC studying Behavioural Neuroscience. She has been working with the BC Children’s BioBank team since September 2023 as a Co-op student. Seoyoung has a keen interest in healthcare research for pediatric patients, and she looks forward to contributing to the team’s fulfilling work. In her free time, Seoyoung enjoys going on hikes with her friends. Recently, she started kickboxing and just mastered her roundhouse kicks! Ask her about dry ice and dinosaurs. 

Nicole Tam

Co-op Research Assistant

Nicole is a fourth year student at UBC majoring in Integrated Sciences with integrations in Genetics, Microbiology, and Immunology. She joined the BCCH BioBank team as a co-op student in May 2024, and is excited to learn more about the ongoing medical research at BCCH through working both in the lab and with patients. Outside of work, you can often find Nicole baking, at a bookstore, or cheering on (stressing out about) the Canucks and Manchester City! Ask her about pocH-i, our lab robot, and her newfound (and perhaps short-lived) running endeavors. 

Former Members

• Sue Kang, Co-op Research Assistant
• Mackenzie Sturn, Research Assistant
• Tamsin Tarling, Administrative Manager
• Nidhi Arora, Lab Manager
• Adam Velenosi, Research Coordinator
• Thyrza Toledo, Masters Student
• Katey Townsend, Research Technician
• Stephen Fung, Data Programmer/Analyst
• Emma Valentino, International Intern
• Mandy Suen, Research Assistant 
• Rumbidzai Chiwaya, Research Technician
• Yohaan Johnson, Co-op Student
• Heather Van Tassel, Research Assistant
• Diana Farhat, Co-op Student 
• Thomas Soroski, Research Assistant
• Paige Muir, Research Assistant
• David Yang, Research Assistant
• Jasleen Grewal, Summer Student
• Lise Rutherford, Summer Student
• Kendall Plant, Research Technician
• Iryna Kayda, Research Assistant
• Marissa Song, Research Assistant
• Jaeden Moerike, Summer Student/Volunteer
• Rosa Balleny, Volunteer
• Sebastian Kondratowski, Co-op Student
• Qudrat Aujla, Research Assistant
• Olivia Bridgen, Volunteer