Members

Vincent Tabard-Cossa

Vincent is a Full Professor in the Department of Physics, and a University Research Chair in Nanoscale Biophysics and Nanopore Science. His laboratory at the University of Ottawa was founded in 2010. He is a member of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Biomedical Engineering, and cross-appointed with the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences. From 2020 to 2023, he was Chief Scientific Officer (part-time) of Northern Nanopore Instruments, a company he co-founded that specializes in research tools and solutions to support fundamental and applied research on solid-state nanopores, which was acquired by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Vincent received the Early Career Researcher of the Year award at the University of Ottawa in 2018, was inducted to the College of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in 2019, and was awarded the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) Industrial and Applied Physics medal in 2021. Since 2024, he serves as Vice-Dean Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Partnerships at the Faculty of Science.

Our philosophy

We are strongly committed to providing a positive, supportive and equitable work place. Our group is composed of researchers from diverse backgrounds and experiences, allowing us to tackle multidisciplinary problems with innovating solutions and rigorous science. We promote an open, fun and creative lab environment. To learn more, read our lab manual.

Dmytro Lomovtsev

B.A.Sc. (Mech. Engineering, uO)
M.A.Sc. (Mech. Eng, uO)
Engineering Research Associate

Projects:

Technology development; 3D printing of milli- and micro-fluidic cells; Instrumentation for high-speed multi-channel nanopore recording.

Michel Stephan

B.A.Sc. (Mech. Engineering, uO)
M.A.Sc. (Mech. Eng, uO)
Engineering Research Associate

Projects:

Technology development; Multichannel instrument development; Membrane microfabrication; Nanopore fabrication by controlled breakdown.

Dr. Kyle Briggs

B.Sc. (Physics, uO)
Ph.D. (Physics, uO)
Research Fellow
Entrepreneur-in-residence in the Faculty of Science

Projects:

Project Leader and Supervision; Nanopore Fabrication by CBD; ML/AI-based Nanopore Algorithms for Data Analysis; Development of Protein Analysis

Nada Kerrouri

B.Sc. (Physics, uO)
Ph.D. Student in Physics

Projects:

Single-molecule assay design; Nanostructured DNA barcodes for multiplexed biomarker detection; Analysis of DNA nanostructures

Benjamin Hyatt

B.Sc. (Physics, uWaterloo)
Ph.D. Student (Physics, uO)

Projects:

Protein translocation through nanopores; protein shape and volume measurements; conductance modeling.

Mohamed Yassine Bouhamidi

B.A.Sc. (Electrical Engineering, uO)
Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering

Projects:

Pressure-controlled translocations; Instrumentation for streaming potential measurements; Improvements to the Controlled Breakdown nanopore fabrication method

Philipp Mensing

B.Sc. (Physics, Freie Universität Berlin)
M.Sc. (Physics, uO)
Ph.D. Student in Physics

Projects:

DNA origami design; Characterization of synthetic polymer translocations; Nanopore-based decoding of information stored on molecules.

Taelor Hendrick

B.Sc. (Biochemistry, uO)
MSc. Student (Molecular Biosciences, uO)

Co-supervised with Prof. Michel Godin

Projects:

Protein translocation through nanopores; protein fingerprinting; fundamentals of nanopore science.

Amélie Lemieux

Undergraduate Student in Biotechnology (uO)
Research Student part-time

Projects:

Multichannel instrument development; Nanopore fabrication by controlled breakdown.

Paulina Gloire Nanema

Undergraduate Student in Physics and Electrical Engineering (uO)
Research Student part-time

Project:

Iontronics – Fabricating nanofluidic devices to make diodes and memristors

You!

Former Graduate Students, Postdocs and Research Associates

Kexin (Kara) Zhao
MSc in Physics – From Fall 2024 to Summer 2026
Project: Investigating Heparin Dynamics through Solid-State Nanopores: Toward Nanopore-based Methods for Glycomics

Martin Charron
M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Fall 2016 to Fall 2019; Ph.D. student (Physics) – From Winter 2020 to Fall 2024. Postdoctoral Fellow – From Winter 2025 to Fall 2025.
Project: for his master’s, Precise DNA Concentration Measurements with Nanopores by Controlled Counting; for his doctorate, dynamics of polymer translocation through pores.
Now: Postdoctoral Fellow at EPFL

Matthew Waugh
Lab Manager of the T.-Cossa Lab – From 2015 to 2025. Previously co-founder and COO of Northern Nanopore Instruments – From Winter 2020 to Fall 2023. M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Fall 2013 to Fall 2015.
Now at: Marvell Technology (Ottawa)

Deekshant Wadhwa
M.Sc. in Computer Science – From Fall 2022 to Summer 2024
Thesis title: Nano Trees: Machine Learning Enhanced. Signal Processing of Nanopore Data
After at: Oxford Nanopore Technologies Canada (Ottawa)

Zachary Roelen
PhD. student (Physics) graduated in 2023 then Postdoctoral Fellow – From Winter 2024 to Fall 2024
Project: Digital assays and DNA barcodes for multiplexed detection
Now at: Oxford Nanopore Technologies Canada (Ottawa)

Gengyang (Albert) Mu
Research Associate – From Spring 2022 to Summer 2023
Project: Microfabrication of membranes.
After at: Sysmex (previously at Northern Nanopore Instruments)

Liqun He
Ph.D. in Physics – From Spring 2018 to Winter 2022
Thesis title: DNA Nanostructures for Nanopore-based Digital Assays.
Now at: postdoc at Wyss Institute at Harvard University

Dr. Erin McConnell
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate (Chemistry) – From Fall 2020 to Summer 2022
Project: Aptamers and DNAzymes; digital immunoassays; Developing nanopore assays compatible with enzymatic amplification techniques for infectious disease diagnostics.
Now at: Carleton University (Chemistry)

Dmytro Lomovtsev
M.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering co-supervised with Prof. Raphaël St-Gelais – From Winter 2019 to Winter 2022
Thesis title: A platform for high-bandwidth, low-noise electrical nanopore sensing with thermal control.
Now at: uOttawa (previously at Northern Nanopore Instruments)

Simon King
M.Sc. in Physics – From Fall 2018 to Fall 2021
Thesis title: Development of Nanopore Sensing Methods for the Detection of PCR-amplified Pathogenic DNA.
Now at: GeneRxN Research

Dr. Daniel Tessier
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate (Biology) – From Fall 2016 to Summer 2020
Project: Development of digital immunoassays
After at: Abbott Point-of-Care

Dr. Autumn Carlsen
Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate (Physics) – From Fall 2014 to Fall 2019
Project: Nanopore detection of DNA and proteins.
Now at: Canada Revenue Agency

Dr. Reza Khanbabaie Shoub
Research Associate (Physics) – From Fall 2019 to Spring 2020
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin (http://godinlab.uottawa.ca)
Project: Nanopore Sensors Integrated with Microfluidics
After at: Cognixion

Dr. Ali Najafi Sohi
Postdoctoral Fellow (Mech. Eng.) – From Fall 2017 to Fall 2019
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin (http://godinlab.uottawa.ca)
Project: Nanopore Sensors Integrated with Microfluidics
After at: Nautilus (previously at Iridia)

Kyle Briggs
PhD. student (Physics) – From Fall 2014 to Summer 2018
Vanier Scholar and Winner of the Pierre Laberge Prize for best doctoral thesis in 2019 in the Sciences and Engineering
Project: Applications of Solid-State Nanopores.
Now at: Research Fellow (Professorial rank) in Physics, and Entrepreneur in Residence at uOttawa. Previously co-founder and CEO of Northern Nanopore Instruments – From Winter 2020 to Fall 2023.

Radin Tahvildari
PhD. student (Physics) – From Fall 2013 to Winter 2017
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin (http://godinlab.uottawa.ca)
Project: Nanopore arrays integrated with microfluidics
Now at: IMEC

Philipp Karau (now Mensing)
M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Winter 2016 to Winter 2018
Project: Translocation characteristics of branched DNA through nanopores
After at: Ph.D. student in the T.-Cossa Lab

Benjamin Watts, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (Physics) – 2014-2015
Co-supervisor: Prof. Godin
Project: Custom Membrane Fabrication and Microfluidic Integration
After at: ArtIC Photonics

Jose Bustamante
M.Sc. student (Physics) – From Fall 2012 to Summer 2014
Project: Simultaneous Single-Molecule Fluorescence and Electrical Detection of DNA through Nanopores.
After at: Ph.D. student at McGill

Harold (Wing Hei) Kwok
Ph.D. student (Physics) – From Fall 2010 to Winter 2014
Project: Nanopore Fabrication by Controlled Dielectric Breakdown.

Former Undergraduate Students

Alejandra Carolina González González
Undergraduate Research Student full-time/part-time (Software Engineering, uO); Poriscope Software Developer (Nanopore Data Analysis Software)
May 2025 – August 2026

Alexandre Sylvestre
Undergraduate Research Student full-time NSERC USRA (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2026 – August 2026

Elvin Okotie-Eboh
Undergraduate Research Student full-time/part-time (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2025 – April 2026

Emma Saunders
Undergraduate Research Student full-time/part-time (Biophysics, uO)
May 2024 – April 2025

Nada Kerrouri
Undergraduate Research Student full-time/honours project part-time (Physics, uO)
May 2024 – December 2024

Raghav Bhargava
Undergraduate Research Student full-time/part-time (Biochemistry/Translational and Molecular Medicine), team lead of Stratapore project with Canadian Space Agency.
May 2023 – August 2024

Arkya Jyoti Ghosh
Undergraduate Summer Research Student through Mitacs Globalink (Biochemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi)
May 2024 – August 2024

Pauline Turpin-Vitry
Undergraduate Summer Research Student through Mitacs Globalink (EPISEN – École Publique d’Ingénieurs de la Santé et du Numérique)
May 2024 – August 2024

Breeana Elliott
Undergraduate Summer Research, part-time, honours thesis (Biophysics, uO)
May 2022 – April 2024

Sofia Zaynullina
Undergraduate Summer Research Student and honours thesis (Physics, uO)
June 2023 – December 2023

William McLeish
Undergraduate Summer Research Student (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2023 – August 2023

Katrine Labonté
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biomedical Mechanical Engineering)
May 2023 – August 2023

Alison Nandram
Undergraduate Student COOP and part-time (Biomedical Mechanical Engineering and Computing Technology, uO)
May 2022 – April 2023

Karolina Kropop
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2022 – August 2022

Mohamed Yassine Bouhamidi
Undergraduate Student COOP and part-time (Electrical Engineering, uO)
May 2021 – April 2022

Lucas Philipp
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biophysics, UBC)
May 2019 – April 2020

Ahmed Rezk
Undergraduate Student 4th year Honours Project (Physics, uO)
January – April 2020

Dmytro Lomovtsev
Undergraduate Student COOP, USRA and part-time (Biomed. Eng, uO)
September 2018 – December 2019

Marie-Pier Laberge
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biomed Eng., uO)
September – December 2019

Guilherme Roballo
Undergraduate Student Exchange program (Electrical Eng, Brazil, Military Institute of Engineering)
September – December 2019

Matthaios Tsangaris
Undergraduate Student Honours Project BCH4040 and part-time (Biochemistry, uO)
May 2018 – December 2019

Derek Boase
Undergraduate Student summer research part-time (Physics and EE, uO)
May 2018 – December 2019

Chelsea Leung
Undergraduate Student COOP (NanoScience, uWaterloo)
January – August 2019

Smile (Xi Man) Peng
Summer Researcher (Engineering Science, University of Toronto)
May – August 2019

Guillaume Pregliasco
Undergraduate Student COOP (Chem. Eng, uO)
September – December 2018

Nathaniel Leslie
Undergraduate Student COOP (Chemistry, uO)
September – December 2018

Quinn Ingram
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry/Chem. Eng, uO)
January – December 2018

Michelle Vandeloo
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry, uO)
January – April 2018

Michelle Lam
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biophysics, UBC)
September 2017 – April 2018

Melissa Jimenez
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biomed. Mech. Eng, uO)
September 2017 – April 2018

Amanda Alain
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Biochemistry, uO)
July 2017 – March 2018

Mohammed Sayeem
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biopharmaceutical Science, uO)
September – December 2017

France Manigat
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biopharmaceutical Science, uO)
January – August 2017

Samuel Berryman
Undergraduate Student COOP (Mech. Eng, UBC)
January – August 2017

Giulio Pregnolato
Undergraduate Student COOP (Mech. Eng, UBC)
September – December 2016

Caroline Tippins
Undergraduate Student COOP (Physics, uO)
May – August 2016

An Duong
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biology, uO)
May – August 2016

David Gregory Hobson
Undergraduate Student NSERC USRA (Physics-Math, uO)
May – August 2015

Erick Rene Espindola
Undergraduate Student Mitacs (Physics, Mexico)
May – August 2015

Sanmeet Chahal
Undergraduate Student NSERC USRA (Physics, uO)
May – August 2014

Timothea (Betty) Le
Undergraduate Student UROP, NSERC USRA (Biochemistry, uO)
January 2014 – August 2014

Pierre Janusz
Undergraduate Exchange Student (Physics, France)
September 2013 – April 2014

Nick Yelle
Undergraduate Student COOP (Biochemistry, uO)
September – December 2013

Julie Montgomery
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Physics, uO)
September 2012 – April 2013

Julien Thibert-Leduc
Undergraduate Student COOP (Physics, uO)
January – August 2012

Matthew Windeler
Summer Researcher (Physics, uO)
May – August 2012

Chris Wlodarczyk
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Physics, uO)
September 2011 – April 2012

Jean Luc Rukundo
Summer Researcher (Physics, McGill University)
May – August 2011

Edward Percy
Summer Researcher (Physics, Queen’s University)
May – August 2011

Matthew Rigby
Undergraduate Honours Thesis (Physics, uO)
September 2010 – April 2011

Contacts

For any inquiries get in touch.

vincent@tcossalab.net

Dr. Vincent Tabard-Cossa
Professor
Department of Physics
STEM Complex
University of Ottawa
Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada