Bernice Ramos
PhD Student
Bernice is a graduate student in the Microbiology and Immunology program at the University of British Columbia, working under the supervision of Dr. Manish Sadarangani at the VEC. Her project focuses on describing the epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease and the effects of new generation conjugate vaccines.
Brynn McMillan
PhD Student
Brynn McMillan is a PhD student in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia, where she is supervised by Dr. Agatha Jassem at the BC Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Manish Sadarangani at the VEC. Brynn’s research focuses on SARS-CoV-2 humoral immune responses in the context of infection and vaccine-elicited immunity.
Dr. Florence Barbey
Postdoctoral Fellow
Florence is a pediatrician and PID specialist from Switzerland and is currently working as a fellow in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department at BC Children’s Hospital. At the VEC, Florence works under the supervision of Dr. Manish Sadarangani and Dr. Hana Mitchell. Her research focuses on vaccine adherence and on risk factors for under-immunization among immunocompromised children.
Dr. Gabrielle Gaultier
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Gabrielle completed her PhD in the Biotechnology program at Lakehead University in October 2020. Her PhD projects investigated B-cell and antibody responses to the 13-valent pneumococcal protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccine in adults with severe chronic kidney disease (CKD), natural immunity against Haemophilus influenzae type a and B-cell subpopulations in adults with CKD, as well as antibodies specific for Streptococcus pneumoniae in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous adults. Gabrielle joined Dr. Sadarangani’s lab group in April 2021 where her research focuses on the immunological analysis of infectious diseases for the purpose of vaccine development and evaluation, with a particular emphasis on SARS-CoV-2.
Guadalein Tanunliong
Graduate Student
Guad is a PhD Student in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC, based at the BC Centre for Disease Control under the co-supervision of Dr. Inna Sekirov and Dr. Mel Krajden. She joined the VEC in 2025 as a Visiting PhD Student working with Dr. Manish Sadarangani. Her research leverages residual antenatal sera to investigate coronavirus antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infections and vaccinations
Jessica Friesen
Masters Student
Jessica is an MSc student in Women and Children’s Health at the University of British Columbia, working under the supervision of Dr. Julie Bettinger at the VEC. Jessica completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Ottawa in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences in 2022 and has since worked as a Research Coordinator in Pediatric Respiratory Medicine until joining the VEC. Her research interests include health decision-making and vaccine hesitancy.
Jonah Hall
PhD Student
Jonah Hall is an immunology Ph.D. student in the University of British Columbia Microbiology department with Manish Sadarangani at the VEC and Daniel Coombs of the Mathematics department as his supervisors. His research is mainly focused on the recreation and optimization of the dynamics of maternal and neonatal vaccination strategies against pertussis (whooping cough).
Jung-Bahadur Singh Kandola
Masters Student in Experimental Medicine
Jung-Bahadur Singh Kandola is a graduate student in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia, working under the supervision of Dr. Julie Bettinger at the VEC. His research interests include understanding and addressing vaccine hesitancy in the South Asian population, with an emphasis on the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. He aims to translate knowledge into more effective and approachable interventions to address vaccine hesitancy in the information age.
Kaitlin Winter
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kaitlin completed her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University in June 2022. For her PhD, she developed a vaccine targeting Clostridioides difficile using Salmonella Typhimurium as a live, attenuated vaccine vector. Kaitlin joined Dr. Sadarangani's group in October 2022. She is currently working on the development of a vaccine against Klebsiella pneumoniae.
Liam Mullins
Graduate Student
Liam is a graduate student in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia, working under the supervision of Dr. Manish Sadarangani in the VEC since 2022. He is part of the team researching the development of vaccines for Klebsiella pneumoniae as a strategy to combat antibiotic resistance. Liam completed his B.Sc. (Hons) in Microbiology at the University of Guelph, studying E. coli efflux pumps. Outside of the lab, he is passionate about health equity and climate justice.
Lianne Presley
PhD Student
Lianne is a graduate student in the Microbiology and Immunology program at the University of British Columbia, working under the supervision of Dr. Manish Sadarangani at the VEC. Lianne completed her MSc in Microbiology and Immunology at UBC in May 2025. For her MSc, she developed a bioassay for preclinical evaluation of novel host-directed antivirals against human respiratory viruses in ALI-cultured human airway epithelial cells.
Lisa Zhang
UBC Med FLEX Student
Lisa Zhang is a medical student at the University of British Columbia. She completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Child Development at Vanderbilt University. This year, she joined the VEC as a FLEX student, working with Dr. Manish Sadarangani on a project exploring the epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae in the pediatric population in Canada. Before medical school, Lisa worked as a clinical research coordinator in pediatric gastroenterology, where her projects focused on Clostridioides difficile and inflammatory bowel disease.
Natalie Wilks
Graduate Student
Natalie is a graduate student in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia, working at the VEC. Passionate about biology and infectious diseases, Natalie envisions a future where nature and medicine can be used in unison for health and humanity. Her project encompasses Klebsiella pneumoniae and the generation of novel vaccines to confront the evolving antibiotic resistant trend in this species. Natalie earned her B.Sc. in Biology at the University of Guadalajara and continues to pursue research and innovation.
Dr. Phyumar Soe
Postdoctoral Fellow
Phyumar completed her PhD in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia in May 2025, focusing on COVID-19 vaccine safety in special populations. She joined Dr. Sadarangani’s group in August 2025 and is currently working on the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in immunocompromised children in Canada.
Ryan Vethanayagam
Medical Student
Ryan is a medical student at the University of Limerick Graduate Medical School. He holds a B.Sc. in Biology (Major) and Microbiology and Immunology (Minor) from the University of British Columbia. He is working at the VEC under the supervision of Dr Manish Sadarangani. Ryan has also worked at AbCellera, a biotech company specializing in antibody-based therapeutics. Beyond academics, Ryan is passionate about community outreach, healthy equity, and advancing vaccine literacy.
Ty Sounthong
PhD Student
Ty is a PhD student in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, where he is supervised by Dr. Devon Greyson. At the VEC, Ty works under the co-supervision of Dr. Devon Greyson and Dr. Julie Bettinger. His research is focused on understanding decision-making for vaccination and post-market vaccine surveillance.
Winnie Fu
Pediatric Resident
Winnie is a pediatrics resident at UBC in the research track. She is working at the VEC under the supervision of Dr Manish Sadarangani. Her current work involves evaluating vaccination trends at the Family Immunization Clinic. Her research interests include health advocacy and prevention.
Alumni
Continued learning is one of the Vaccine Evaluation Center’s core values. We welcome and appreciate the work of our students and trainees, including undergraduate, medical and graduate students as well as postdoctoral and clinical research fellows.
Graduate Students
Emily Mason, PhD Experimental Medicine
2020-2025 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Avani Lamba, MSc
2022-2024 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Susmita Chakma, Graduate Research Assistant
2023-2024 with Dr. Devon Greyson
Maria Mulder, Graduate Student Researcher
2023-2024 with Dr Julie Bettinger and Dr. Devon Greyson
Marian Orhierhor, MSc
2021-2023 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Madalief Ozephius, MSc
2022-2023 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Natalie Cavalin, MSc Klebsiella pneumoniae
2021-2022 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Jimmy Lopez, MSc Population and Public Health
2019-2021 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Aaron Liu, PhD Experimental Medicine
2018-2021 with Dr. Soren Gantt
Rana Minab, MSc Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
2018-2021 with Dr. Soren Gantt
Bahaa Abu Raya, PhD Experimental Medicine
2017-2021 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Catherine Byrne, PhD Microbiology and Immunology
2016-Present with Dr. Soren Gantt
May Abdel-Hamid Ahmed, MSc Population and Public Health
2016-2018 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Jessica Tuengel, PhD Experimental Medicine
2014-2021 with Dr. Soren Gantt
Adriana Cabrera, PhD Student
2019-2022 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Medical Residents and Fellows
Gabriel Blank, Pediatric Resident
2021-2024 with Dr. Julie Bettinger, Dr. Hana Mitchell and Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Mahin Delara, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2020-2024 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Kyle Amaral, Medical Student
2021-2023 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Eve Nakebembe, Clinical Research Doctoral Fellow
2023 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Anne (Tinta) Deasy, General Pediatrics Fellow
2021-2022 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Diana Bark, Public Health Resident
2020-Present with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
James Zlosnik, Research Associate
2016 - 2021 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Sarah Silverberg, Pediatrics Resident
2020-Present with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Abdulwahed Zainel, Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellow
2020-2022 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Dalal Mohammad, Pediatric Resident
2019-2021 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Stephan Saad, Adult Infectious Disease Fellow
2019-2021 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Nassr Nama, Pediatrics Resident
2019-2021 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Te-Yu Hung, Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellow
2019-2020 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Rabab Al-Ghaithi, Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellow
2018-2020 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
Alastair McAlpine. Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellow
2018-2020 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani
James Toft, Pediatric Resident
2018-2020 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Hana (Mijovic) Mitchell, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow
2017-2018 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Bahaa Abu Raya, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow
2015-2017 with Dr. Tobi Kollmann
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Nirma Khatri Vadlamudi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Feb 2022- Aug 2024 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani (Co-supervised by Dr. Julie Bettinger)
Wendy Pringle, Postdoctoral Fellow
2019 -2022 with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Jennifer Gillis, Postdoctoral Fellow
2021-2022 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani (Co-supervised by Dr. Gina Ogilvie)
Elisabeth McClymont, Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-Present with Dr. Soren Gantt (Co-supervised by Dr. Manish Sadarangani)
Citlali Marquez, Postdoctoral Fellow
2019-2021 with Dr. Soren Gantt
Robine Donken, Postdoctoral Fellow
2017-2020 with Dr. Manish Sadarangani (Co-supervised by Dr. Gina Ogilvie)
Clara Rubincam, Postdoctoral Fellow
2015-Present with Dr. Julie Bettinger
Raidan Alyazidi, Postdoctoral Fellow
2015-2018 with Dr. Soren Gantt
Devon Greyson, Postdoctoral Fellow
2015-2018 with Dr. Julie Bettinger