Education
Ph.D. Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 2014
- Supervisor: Warren Chan
- Thesis: “Characterizing the Role of Nanoparticle Design on Tumor Transport and Stability in the Extracellular Environment”
- Synthesis, functionalization and characterization of nanoparticles
- Evaluation of nanoparticle interactions with proteins, cells and micro-tissues
- Development of microfluidic model for tissue transport (tumor-on-a-chip)
- Supervised graduate and undergraduate students
M.Sc. Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, 2006
- Supervisor: Ciro Piccirillo
- Thesis: “Functional impact of the protective Idd3 allele on regulatory T cells and protection from type-1 diabetes”
- Evaluation of suppressor T cells
- Adoptive transfer of cells into mice and analysis of tissues with flow cytometry
- Supervised undergraduate student
B.Sc., Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University 2004
- Thesis: “Proteome Characterization of Regulatory T cells” with Ciro Piccirillo
- Graduated with first class honours, CGPA = 3.56/4
Research
Postdoctoral Fellow, Picower Institute at MIT, 2016-present
- Supervisor: Kwanghun Chung
- Recipient of MIT Picower Felloship
- Recipient of a NSERC fellowship
- Recipient of a CIHR fellowhip
- Developing vascularized brain organoids
- Developing tools to image cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions at the nanoscale
Postdoctoral Fellow, Koch Institute at MIT, 2014-2015
- Supervisor: Sangeeta Bhatia
- Recipient of a NSERC fellowship
- Developed ultrasmall assembled nanomaterials for urine-based cancer detection
- Developed metastatic-targeting nanoparticles
- Developed assays to probe nanoparticle transport in decellularized liver matrix
Research Technician, Vasogen Inc., 2008
- Worked on synthetic immune-modulating liposomes
- Designed and developed ELISA-based assay to monitor liposome-mediated immuno-suppression of murine leukocytes
- Responsible for reagent ordering
Associate Scientist, GSK Biologicals (Laval, Qc) 2006-2008
- Protein synthesis for vaccine development
- Extraction, purification and refolding of recombinant proteins
- Characterization of recombinant proteins
- Evaluation of epithelial cell inflammatory response using ELISA and flow cytometry
Research Assistant, McGill University (Montreal,Qc) 2006
- Supervisor: Samantha Gruenheid
- Worked with mouse model for Enterohaemorrhagic coli (EHEC)
- Administered bacteria by oral gavage and monitored bacterial load in the colon and feces
- Developed an organized system for product ordering
Teaching Experience
Instructor, University of Toronto, 2010-2012
- DaVinci Engineering Enrichment Program (DEEP) – Summer Academy
- Participated in yearly Instructor Training Conference
- Taught “Nanomedicine: Improving Medicine with Nanotechnology” to high school students (grade 10-11)
- Co-created, prepared and presented 25h course (slides, activities and experiments)
- Ranked highly on student satisfaction survey
Teacher’s assistant, University of Toronto, 2010-2012
- BME340: Biomedical Engineering Instrumentation & Technology
- Taught and supervised ~40 students how to use ELISA, Spectrometer, fluorescent microscope
- Designed slides for course instructor
- Corrected lab reports, evaluated poster presentations
Workshop, University of Toronto, 2010-2011
- Faculty of Applied Sciences & Engineering workshop for prospective students
- Organized and prepared the Nano-Forensics component
Teacher’s assistant, McGill University, 2006
- MIMM413: Parasitology
- Taught and supervised group of 16 students throughout semester
- Corrected multiple reports and exams
- Rated highly by students (>90%) during their course evaluation
Community
Glimpse Podcast, MIT Postdoctoral Association, 2015-present
- Produced >35 episodes interviewing MIT scientist’s about their work and journey
- Awarded grant by MIT postdoctoral association to start podcast
- Creator, producer, host, editor, and audio engineer of Glimpse podcast
- Manage team of producers
IBBME Focal Point at the University of Toronto, 2013-2014
- Creator, producer, audio engineer and host of IBBME: Focal Point podcast
- Interviewed multiple faculty members to highlight research
- Worked under mentorship of the Communications Officer
- Recruited, trained and managed volunteers to take over the project
Peer Reviewer:
- ACS Nano, American Chemical Society Publications
- Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group
- Journal of Nanoparticle Research (Springer)
IBBME, University of Toronto, 2012-2014
- Participated in student recruitment event at McGill University (Montreal, Qc) in November 2013
- Member of the 2013 Scientific Day organizing committee
- Selected to participate in “2013 Departmental Website Re-design Committee”
Selected Online Projects
- GLiMPSE Podcast (MIT)
- Koch Institute Image Awards 2016 Interview
- BiopSys Network 2014 Interviews
- Focal Point Podcast (Univ. of Toronto)
Presentation and Meetings
Three Minute Thesis 2013 (3MT), University of Toronto
- University of Toronto finalist
- Tumor-on-a-Chip: Screening Nanoparticles to Cure Cancer (Albanese A, Lam AK, Rocheleau JV, Chan WC.)
BMES 2012 Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA
- oral presentation (peer reviewed)
- Effect of Active Targeting and Microfluidic Flow Rate on Nanoparticle Distribution in a Cell Spheroid. (Albanese A, Lam AK, Rocheleau JV, Chan WC.)
IBBME Scientific Day 2011, University of Toronto
- oral presentation (peer reviewed)
- The Effect of Gold Nanoparticle Aggregation on Cell Uptake and Toxicity (Albanese A & Chan WC.)
- Annual event organized by IBBME department
BMES 2010 Annual Meeting, Austin, TX
- Poster (peer reviewed)
- Synthesis of size-tunable protein-gold nanoparticle aggregates (Albanese A, Chan WC)
BiopSys All-Network Meetings (#2-8) 2008-2012, University of Toronto
- Poster (twice per year)
- Oral presentation in 2011
- NSERC Strategic Network for Bioplasmonic Systems
Awards
- MIT Picower Fellowship, institutional award, 2017
- SMASH Fellowship, International Award, 2016
- CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, National Award, 2015-2017
- Koch Institute Image Competition 2016, Institutional award, 2016
- PIng Grant from MIT-PDA, Institutional award, 2015
- NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, National Award, 2014-2016
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Provincial Award, 2012-2013
- SGS Conference Grant, Institutional Award (U of T), 2012
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Provincial Award 2011-2012
- Award for Best “Lightning Round Presentation (12 min)”, Departmental Award, 2011
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Provincial Award 2010-2011
- St. George’s Society Graduate Scholarship, Institutional Award (U of T) 2010
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Provincial Award 2009-2010
- Milligan Graduate Fellowship, Institutional Award (U of T) 2008
- McGill Graduate Studies Award, Institutional Award 2005
- McGill University Health Centre Award, Institutional Award 2005
- F.C Harrisson Institutional Award, (McGill) 2004