Lab Members

Berman, Jason

Dr. Jason Berman

CEO and Scientific Director of the CHEO Research Institute and the Vice President Research at CHEO

Full Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa

Jason completed a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Boston Children’s Hospital and his post-doctoral training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute funded by the prestigious Pediatric Scientist Development Program. Jason was recruited to Dalhousie University and the IWK Health Centre in 2005 as the named MSC Clinician-Scientist in Pediatric Oncology. Over the next 14 years, he ascended through the academic ranks to become Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology & Immunology and Pathology at Dalhousie University and Associate Chair Research for the Department of Pediatrics. In 2017, he assumed the role of interim Vice President Research, Innovation and Knowledge Translation at the IWK Health Centre. He relocated to Ottawa in 2019 to assume the role of CEO and Scientific Director of the CHEO Research Institute and the Vice President Research at CHEO. He is a full professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa.  

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Jason has always integrated clinical care and research into his career. He is internationally recognized for pioneering research using the zebrafish to study childhood cancers, cancer predisposition syndromes and rare inherited diseases. He has been co-chair of the C17 Childhood Cancer Network Developmental Therapeutics Committee and Director of the Clinician Investigator Program and Medical Research Graduate Program at Dalhousie University. He is the president of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation, Vice President of the Canadian Hematology Society and a founding member of the Canadian Rare Disease Models and Mechanisms Network. 

Jason’s research program investigates mast cell transcriptional regulation, personalized leukemia therapy, key transcription factors and cytokines in cancer progression and metastasis, bone marrow failure syndromes and hereditary disorders. He has held funding from CIHR, the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, Genome Canada, Ewing Cancer Foundation Canada, Terry Fox Research Institute, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, and C17 – Canadian Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorders Network. 

Jason aims to translate findings from the laboratory to the clinic. He has been a member of the Children’s Oncology Group Myeloid Committee since 2008, vice-chair of Myeloid Biology (2009-2012) and is the current co-chair of AAML1531, an international trial of risk-stratified therapy in Down syndrome myeloid leukemia. Jason is on the Executive Committee for the pan-Canadian PROFYLE program, where he co-chairs the Model Systems Node. This first-in-Canada program aims to use genomic profiling coupled with functional readouts in model organisms to help identify novel personalized therapeutic options for  children, adolescents and young adults with hard-to-treat cancers who have run out of conventional treatment options.

Jennifer Fiene

Graduate Student

Jen is a MSc. student who joined the Berman lab in 2023. She received her B.Sc. earlier that year, after completing the Molecular Biology and Genetics program at the University of Guelph. During her undergraduate thesis project, she worked in the lab of Dr. Terry Van Raay, where she used zebrafish as a model organism to examine the effects of Autism Spectrum Disorder-derived gut microbiome metabolites on development. She really enjoyed working with zebrafish and is excited to continue learning about their potential as an animal model in the Berman lab! Her project involves the investigation of TP53 point mutations associated with the cancer predisposition disorder, Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. When she’s not in the lab, Jen enjoys ice skating, crochet, baking, and spending time with her friends.

Lissandra Tuzi

Graduate Student

Lissandra is a MSc. student in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. She began in the lab during the Summer of 2022 as a co-op student, and stayed on as a research student for the 2022-23 school year.
Lissandra first started working on the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS) project with Kim to investigate the roles of TP53 gene mutations on cancer development, but has since moved to the xenotransplantation team to use zebrafish as a model to study cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) for her Master’s. Lissandra moved to Ottawa from Whitby in 2018 to pursue her BSc. in Biomedical Sciences, which she completed in May 2023. She loved Ottawa (and the Berman Lab) so much that she decided to stay for a Master’s. When she is not hanging out with her fish, she enjoys hiking, crafty things, trying new dinner spots, and meeting new people!

Sergey Prykhozhij

Research Associate

I am using the zebrafish animal model to create disease models and gain
insight into the mechanisms of rare genetic diseases, blood-related disorders and cancer. Gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 is currently the main tool for this purpose and I have contributed significantly to this area of zebrafish disease modeling by developing computational and experimental tools as well as by writing review articles on the subject. I am currently working on several muscular dystrophy projects in partnership with AGADA Biosciences, where we developed new muscular dystrophy models. My second area of research is on cancer models involving Li-Fraumeni syndrome mutations in tp53 gene as well as  its modifier gene mutations. I have also been involved in creating and characterizing zebrafish disease models of blood disorders and several other rare genetic diseases.

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Nicole Melong

Researcher

Nicole joined the Berman lab group in February 2014 at the IWK Health Centre/Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. She moved with the Berman lab to the CHEO RI/University of Ottawa in September 2019.
Nicole uses the larval zebrafish as a xenotransplantation platform for drug discovery and improving current clinical chemotherapies for pediatric cancers. She is especially interested in using this platform as patient avatars for those with hard-to-treat cancers and few treatment options left. This platform can provide rapid pre-clinical drug response data for relapsed, refractory, or metastatic tumours, to the oncology staff and can provide a personalized medicine aspect that is not feasible in other models. Nicole is enjoying Ottawa and in her spare time likes to check out local restaurants, cook, watch sports, and hang out with friends and her dog Lloyd.

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Nadine Azzam

Research Coordinator

Nadine joined the lab in 2020. She uses the larval zebrafish as a xenograft model to advance drug discovery and enhance existing clinical chemotherapies for pediatric cancers. Her primary focus lies in using this platform to create patient avatars for young patients with high-risk cancers with limited treatment options. This model has the potential to provide relevant drug response data in a clinically actionable timeframe, which can help improve patient outcomes and aid in a better quality of life. Outside the lab, Nadine likes to play the piano, volleyball, and travel.

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Kim Kobar

Graduate Student

Kim is a MSc. student in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and she is using a zebrafish model to investigate the roles of TP53 and modifier gene mutations in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome as well as to examine genetic polymorphisms that result in a predisposition to cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. Kim is originally from northern Manitoba, but moved abroad to obtain her B.Sc in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Superior where she studied the roles of transcriptional co -regulators in both normal development and rhabdomyosarcoma using a zebrafish model. Outside of the lab, Kim enjoys playing hockey and soccer, adventuring in nature with her dog Ember, playing the guitar, and exploring Ottawa with her friends 

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Kevin Ban

Research Technician

Kevin graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2016 with a BSc. in Biology. After graduating, he spent 3 years working as a technician in Dr. David Dyment’s lab at the CHEO Research Institute using zebrafish to study epilepsy related rare diseases. Kevin joined the Berman Team in January 2020 and is excited to continue to build upon his skills to further learn the possibilities that zebrafish have to offer.

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Sarada Ketharnathan

Postdoctoral Fellow

Sarada received her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Biotechnology from SASTRA University, India. Having developed a liking for molecular biology and genetics, she pursued a Master’s degree in Human Genetics from SRMC, India and graduated with a gold medal in 2014. Sarada then moved to New Zealand for her PhD in the Horsfield lab at the University of Otago where she used zebrafish to study two different diseases. She established a pipeline for the functional characterization of gout-associated genetic variants and in parallel, studied the role of cohesin in normal embryonic hematopoiesis and leukemia. Having enjoyed a fair share of Antarctic winds, she moved to Canada in 2020 where she joined the Berman lab as a postdoctoral fellow. She is currently investigating the pathogenesis of bone marrow failure syndromes and their evolution to leukemia. Outside of the lab, Sarada enjoys travelling, hiking, yoga and experimental cooking.  

Genetic Models of Rare Diseases

 

Zebrafish are a remarkably versatile platform for studying rare diseases (RD). The Berman lab studies genetic lesions that cause limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD). LGMD are a group of RDs that cause weakness and wasting of the muscles most proximal to the trunk, with multiple subtypes and different inheritance patterns that include mutations in LMNA, CAPN3, and DYSF genes. To assess zebrafish phenotypes, we use the birefringence assay and functional assays depending on the disease being modeled. Zebrafish models of LGMD and other muscular dystrophies have been generated to perform drug screens with chemical libraries to identify promising therapies.

The Berman lab also studies familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR), a rare congenital disorder commonly caused by mutations of the FZD4 gene and other genes coding for proteins in the Norrin signaling pathway. FEVR is characterized by a lack of blood vessel growth to the periphery of the retina causing leakage and hemorrhage and resulting in retinal detachment and blindness. We have generated a visually impaired zebrafish FEVR model exhibiting abnormal retinal vasculature to study vascular biology in retinovascular disorders and improve patient outcomes.

Lastly, CHARGE syndrome is linked to autosomal-dominant mutations in the CHD7 gene and results in multiple physiological and structural abnormalities, including heart defects, hearing and vision loss, and gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Our zebrafish CHARGE models have allowed us to examine GI structure, innervation, and motility, along with heart rate and responses to anesthesia. These zebrafish models help us to better understand the biological and genetic causes of pathology in these diseases and provide a platform for high-throughput drug screening.

Xenotransplantation Models of Pediatric Cancers​

 

The Berman lab has pioneered the transplantation of human cancer cells into the larval zebrafish for novel drug discovery and improving current clinical chemotherapies. We transplant both human cancer cell lines and patient derived tumour cells into larval zebrafish to better understand cancer progression and to find more personalized therapies. Cells can be tracked in real-time for proliferation, migration and homing to tissue niches. Responses to therapeutics added to the larval water or administered by intraperitoneal injection or gavage can be evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and quantified using ex vivo cell enumeration.

This platform has already been adapted to study metastasis in sarcoma; test novel compounds in AML; and reveal drug response-tumour genotype correlations in primary patient-derived T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This model has the potential to provide relevant drug response data in a clinically actionable timeframe, which can help improve patient outcomes and aid in a better quality of life. The Berman lab has leveraged this platform in the Model Systems Node of the Terry Fox Research Institute PRecision Oncology For Young peopLE (PROFYLE) program, which is an innovative pan-Canadian medicine program that strives to create new therapeutic inroads for children and youth with refractory, relapsed, or metastatic childhood cancers. The PROFYLE program aims to molecularly characterize 450 hard-to-treat cancers from children across Canada, experimentally model these tumours, and find molecularly targeted and biologically active treatments.

Genetic Models of Cancer and Cancer Predisposition Syndromes​

 

The Berman lab uses transgenic and CRISPR based approaches in the zebrafish to model cancer mutations and cancer predisposition syndromes to better understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning childhood leukemia and other cancers. We have developed and study zebrafish models of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), a devastating cancer predisposition syndrome most frequently caused by autosomal inheritance of germline mutations in the TP53 gene.

We also study and have generated models of inherited bone marrow failure syndrome (IBMFS), which are characterized by deficient hematopoiesis in a subset of blood lineages and predispose children to developing myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is a well-known IBMFS, commonly caused by germline mutations in the SBDS gene and less frequently in the DNAJC21 gene. Affected children have an increased risk of developing MDS and AML.

We have been developing a model of DNAJC21-deficient SDS. Infant leukemia (IL) is a rare and aggressive leukemia that progresses rapidly with significant treatment and management challenges. Reciprocal translocations of the MLL1 (KMT2A) gene are present in most cases of either infant AML or infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We have generated the first IL zebrafish model by expressing MLL1 gene fusions in pathologically relevant blood cells. Our goal for these models is to increase the biological understanding of these diseases and to perform high-throughput phenotype-based in vivo testing of small molecules and targeted therapies that ameliorate disease and would otherwise be infeasible in other model systems.