Our People

PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Maxwell completed her BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Waterloo and her PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. She has been working on various aspects of phage biology since her PhD work, starting with studies of phage assembly, and moving into the phage-host evolutionary arms race.

Fun Fact: Dr. Maxwell has a large collection of power tools and knows how to use them.

LAB MANAGER

Diane Bona completed her MSc at York University in 2000 in the Department of Biology. She is the original member of the Maxwell Lab!

Fun Fact: Diane has three kids AND three cats

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Véronique Taylor obtained her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph where a side project involving phage motivated her to join the Maxwell lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2017. She’s currently interested in the effect of bacterial communication on phage lifecycles.

Fun Fact: Véronique makes her own hot sauce.

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

Landon J. Getz completed his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie Univeristy in 2022, before moving to Toronto to pursue a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Dr. Karen Maxwell. His work is focused on antiphage defence mechanisms in Vibrio spp.

Fun Fact: Landon has a cat named Susan!

PHD STUDENT

Alexa Fitzpatrick was born in Toronto and completed her Honours BSc in Biology at Western University. She came back to Toronto in 2017 to begin her PhD in the Maxwell Lab to investigate mechanisms underlying phage infection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Fun Fact: Alexa is "half-Kiwi" (New Zealander), loves travelling and being outdoors playing tennis, volleyball and snowboarding.

PHD STUDENT

Pramalkumar Patel completed his Honors in Microbiology at the University of Alberta and moved to Toronto in 2019 to pursue Ph.D. in the Maxwell Lab. He loves the rush of discovery and is currently investigating antiphage weaponries present in Pseudomonas phages.

Fun Fact: Pramal has a 1500 rating in chess.

GRADUATE STUDENT

Bella Kim completed her Honours in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Western University in 2023. She moved away from home in London, ON to start her graduate studies at the Maxwell lab. Her work involves identifying the biological and structural basis of antiphage defence proteins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Fun Fact: Bella will always opt for an iced coffee with extra ice, no matter how cold the weather is.

GRADUATE STUDENT

Amy (Licheng) Qian is from Beijing and completed her Honours BSc in Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University. She can’t picture herself doing a PhD degree in any lab that’s not a phage lab. Her current project focuses on characterizing novel antiphage defence systems in Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Fun Fact: Amy has been trying to stop dumping her stipend at the MaRS Starbucks.

GRADUATE STUDENT

Alyssa Vander Zee completed an Honours BSc in Genetics and Biochemistry at Western University in 2023. She came back to Toronto to begin her graduate research investigating the regulation of anti-phage systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Fun Fact: Alyssa did competitive dance for over 10 years

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

Vivian is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Toronto. She joined as a summer student in 2023, working under Dr. Landon Getz. Her project aims to screen and characterize phages that infect Vibrio species.

Fun Fact: Vivian has gone through more Tim Hortons’ coffee than pipette tips - we assure you that she is okay.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT (CO-OP)

Sam is a co-op student from the University of Waterloo, currently pursuing a BSc in Biochemistry. They are working under Dr. Landon Getz to screen and characterize antiphage defense systems in Vibrio species.

Fun Fact: Sam's dream job is to be Chief Science Officer on the starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

Isaac joined the lab as a summer student in 2024 and is currently pursuing a BSc in Kinesiology at Western University. He is currently working under Dr. Véronique Taylor on a project that aims to identify anti-phage defence systems in various Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.

Fun Fact: Isaac is an expert at 3-point shooting in basketball and with launching pipette tips into the biohazard waste bin.