Michelle completed an undergraduate degree at the Université de Montréal in Biochemistry and a Masters degree at the University of Calgary in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology followed by several semesters in computer engineering before discovering Bioinformatics. Following this revelation, she undertook a PhD in Bioinformatics at McGill University in Montreal under the co-supervision of Mike Hallett and David Thomas, studying the prediction and characterization of protein localization in the cell. She then moved to Geoff Barton's group at the University of Dundee in Scotland for her postdoc. Amongst her research interests during this time, she investigated the prediction of protein-protein interactions in human and the localization of proteins in the nucleolus. She also got intiated into the marvelous world of RNA (and particularly snoRNAs) by members of the Lamond group, working on snoRNAs regulating splicing and an evolutionary relationship between snoRNAs and miRNAs.
Laurence graduated from Bishop's University in Biochemistry. She began her master's degree in the summer of 2018 in the laboratory of Sherif Abou Elela codirected with Michelle Scott. Her project is about understanding the role and mechanism of overexpressed snoRNAs in high-grade ovarian cancer to discover biomarkers as earlier diagnostic tools for this very aggressive cancer.
Kristina graduated from McGill University in May 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and biology. During her last year of undergrad, she completed a 6-months internship at the Scott lab studying the yeast transcriptome. Kristina returned to the lab in September 2021 and started her Master’s degree. Her project is on the investigation of the diversity of functions guided by human snoRNAs. Outside of the lab, Kristina is busy learning French!
Serine received her undergraduate degree in health biochemistry. During her internship, she was interested in the metabolic disorder of lipids and biochemical alterations in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Having a growing interest in clinical biochemistry, mathematics and programming, this led her to begin her Masters in Biochemistry in the fall of 2020 in the laboratory of Dre. Artuela Çaku, co-supervised by professor Michelle Scott. Her project focuses on the discovery of differentially expressed genes in ASD and FXS involved in the cholesterol metabolic pathway in order to predict autism in subgroups of individuals using bioinformatics tools.
Outside of work, Sérine has several varied passions, such as gaming, piano, guitar and classical music.
Third year student in biochemistry at Bishop's University. Andrea is currently doing an internship in Michelle Scott and Sherif Abou Elela's lab on a snoRNA splicing effect in different cancer cell lines.
Morgane obtained a double degree in Computer Science (Master at the University of Nice and at the University of Milano-Bicocca). In her second year of the master's degree, during her internship, she discovered bioinformatics and fell in love with this field. She is currently doing her PhD in the laboratory of Prof. Michelle Scott. Her project concerns a predictor of C/D snoRNA interactions in eukaryotes, the objectives being to extend it to other species and to host this predictor in a web server developed for it.
Alphonse Birane Thiaw completed a master's degree in bioinformatics with analysis and modeling data specialization at the University of Clermont Auvergne. He also graduated from Cheikh anta Diop University in Dakar with a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in parasitology. His research project aims to predict H/ACA snoRNAs using machine learning.
After two years of preparatory classes in Biology in France near Paris, Baudouin went to ENSAT in Toulouse, a school of agronomic engineer where he made his way to bioinformatics and data analysis. Internships oriented him towards human health and cancer research on RNAs. In 2023, he joined the Scott Lab team for his PhD project to work on the rRNA modifications and the expression of snoRNAs in ovarian cancer.
Louis-Philippe obtained a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of Sherbrooke. Towards the end of his undergraduate studies, he discovered bioinformatics and decided to pursue his interest in this field in graduate school. In fall 2023, he begins his master's degree with of Pres Michelle Scott and Karine Choquet as his supervisors. His project aims to determine whether the expression of snoRNAs is regulated during neurogenesis and influences the alternative splicing of their host transcripts.
Third year student enrolled in a mathematics bachelor at the Université de Sherbrooke, Charles is an intern in Michelle Scott and Karine Choquet's labs for fall 2023. His project is about exploring how the knockdown of splicing factors affects the retention of introns containing snoRNAs.
Suzon graduated with a master's degree in bioinformatics from Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in 2023. She then began her PhD under the co-supervision of Michelle Scott at the Department of Biochemistry at the Université de Sherbrooke and Virginie Marcel (Claude Université Bernard Lyon 1) at the Lyon Cancer Research Center.
Her research focuses on mapping small nucleolar RNAs with C/D boxes (SNORDs) in the murine genome and identifying 2'-O-methylation sites in ribosomal RNAs.
Sooyeon graduated with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and a master's degree in RNA and enzyme sciences from the University of Lorraine. During her final year of her master's program, she joined Professor Michelle Scott's lab for a six-month internship.
Currently a master's student in biochemistry at the University of Sherbrooke, she is continuing the project she began during her internship. Her project aims to characterize the molecular interactors of a family of “orphan” snoRNAs involved in the development of Prader-Willi syndrome, in order to better understand their non-canonical functions.
Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) such as C/D snoRNAs direct 2'-O methylation of ribosomal RNAs via a ribonucleoprotein complex containing core proteins such as SNU13, NOP56, FBL, and NOP58. However, the precise mechanisms of recognition between snoRNAs and these proteins remain poorly understood. Zakaria's project explores the interactions between C/D snoRNAs and their core proteins. By combining structural and sequence descriptors with machine learning models, he aims to identify the key factors governing this binding. The goal is to better understand the mechanisms of snoRNP complex assembly.
