People

Dr. Lharbi Dridi (Research Associate)

lharbi.dridi@mcgill.ca

Lharbi Dridi obtained a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University Paris XI in 2005, studying the role of the efflux in C. difficile. During his first postdoctoral fellowship at Laval University in Quebec (2006-2009) his research interests focused on Folate and AdoMet transporters in Leishmania and on the bacteriocin activity on C. difficile. From 2009 to 2014 he worked at Ste-Justine Research Center, in Montreal, first as Postdoctoral Fellow and after as associate researcher. He studied the effect of Neuraminidase 1 on the insulin receptor and worked on the characterization of a mouse model of MPS IIIC. In 2015, he joined the Castagner Lab at McGill University, as an Associate Researcher. He developed a metabolic labeling method to study the gut microbiota glycan metabolism. He is also studying the in vivo mechanism of inositol phosphate analogues in a mouse model of C. difficile infection. 

Rebecca Cummer (Ph.D. Student)

rebecca.cummer@mail.mcgill.ca

Rebecca obtained her BSc Hons in Biochemistry at the University of Winnipeg, completing the program at the top of her class. Amidst her undergraduate studies Rebecca worked in the Chemistry department at the University of Winnipeg, investigating an aryl migration reaction affiliated with the Truce-Smiles rearrangement. Rebecca joined the department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 2018 as a direct entry PhD student in the Rotation Program. For her thesis project Rebecca is developing a second-generation therapeutic targeting Clostridioides difficile.

Reilly Pidgeon (Ph.D. Student)

reilly.pidgeon@mail.mcgill.ca

Reilly obtained his Honours Bachelor of Science at McGill University in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics. His current graduate research project aims to discover dietary prebiotics (polyphenols or glycans) that modulate the gut microbiota to improve the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer. Once identified, he will employ chemical biology tools and next-generation sequencing techniques to understand how prebiotics affect microbial communities. He has received numerous scholarships throughout his undergraduate and master’s degrees. Most recently, he was awarded the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s, as well as an FRQS scholarship.

Justin Meneses (M.Sc. Student)

justin.meneses@mail.mcgill.ca

Justin obtained his Bachelor of Science (Honours) at Toronto’s Ryerson University in the Chemistry Co-operative program. As an undergraduate, Justin was involved in vaccine manufacturing and process improvement efforts at Sanofi Pasteur for over a year, where his project was awarded an NSERC Industrial Experience Award and the Sanofi Global Innovation Award: Gold Medal. Since then, Justin has gone on to work in research roles at the UCL School of Pharmacy and at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. His current graduate research project aims to design and synthesize inositol phosphate analogs to probe their role in viral assembly.

Elaine Xing (M.Sc. student)

elaine.xing@mail.mcgill.ca

Elaine obtained her Honours Bachelor of Science with high distinction in Physiology and Human Biology at the University of Toronto. In the Castagner Lab, she will be exploring the role of glycan prebiotics in cancer.

Catherine Prattico (M.Sc. student)

catherine.prattico@mail.mcgill.ca

Catherine obtained her Bachelor of Science, Honours Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University. She is currently obtaining a Masters of Science in Microbiology and Immunology in the lab of Dr. Corinne Maurice under the co-supervision of Dr. Bastien Castagner. Her graduate research project will be to identify glycan consumers in the human gut microbiota via metabolic labeling paired with fluorescent activated cell sorting.