April Rose, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Principal Investigator
Dr. April Rose is a clinician scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology at McGill University. She is a staff Medical Oncologist at the Segal Cancer Centre of the Jewish General Hospital (CIUSSS West-Central Montreal) and a Principal Investigator at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research.
Dr. Rose obtained her PhD in Experimental Medicine from McGill University. During this time she identified GPNMB as a novel mediator of breast cancer metastasis. She went on to obtain her medical degree from McGill University where she also completed residency training in Internal Medicine. She went on to pursue residency training in Medical Oncology at the University of Toronto, followed by a fellowship in clinical and translational oncology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center.
Dr. Rose has clinical interests in melanoma and genitourinary cancers. Her research interests are in molecular and translational oncology as well as in the development of novel immunogenomic therapies for treatment resistant cancers.
Dr. Rose is also a mom to 3 kids and 2 dogs and in her leisure time she enjoys sleeping.
Team RoseLab
Dr. Huijie Wang
Lab Manager
Dr. Karen Christensen
Research Associate
Demystifying NRAS mutant cancers and metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer mechanims.
Jennifer Maxwell
PhD Student
Evaluating novel therapeutic approaches for Class 3 BRAF mutant cancers.
CIHR Doctoral Award (2025–2028); FRQS Doctoral Training Award (2024)
Emmanuelle Rousselle
PhD Student
Characterizing the genomic and clinical landscape of tumors with MAPK pathway mutations.
CIHR Doctoral Award (2025–2028); FRQS Doctoral Training Award (2024)
Marine Lingrand
Research Assistant
Translational cancer research support and Project coordination
Meghan Vrkoc
MSc Student
Delineate mechanisms of NRAS mutants in melanoma
CGRS‑M (09/2026–08/2027)
Imran Yahaya
MSc Student
Characterizing the functional interactome of BRAF mutant cancers
Chantel Mukonoweshuro
PhD Student
Exploring the role of RAS mutations in therapeutic resistance
Cancer Research Society Doctoral Research Award (2025–2027)
CIHR CGS‑M (2023–2024)
Dr. Islam Elkholi
Postdoctoral Fellow
Characterizing the functional interactome of BRAF mutant cancers
Canadian Cancer Society Postdoctoral Training Award (2024–2027);
FRQS Postdoctoral Award (2024–2026, declined)
Lisa David
MSc Student
Molecular Pathways Driving Therapeutic Resistance in Metastatic Castration‑Resistant Prostate Cancer
CGRS‑M (2026–2027);
Max Stern Fellowship (2025–2026)
Mehdi Haghi
PhD Student
Exploring circulating tumor DNA biomarkers to guide precision treatment in prostate cancer
Kuok Fellowship (2025–2028)
Farida Zakariya
Research Assistant
Undergraduates students
Claire Covert
Summer Program Student
Current role: BSc Student Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
Monica Moon
BSc Student
Current role: BSc Student, McGill University
Medical Fellow
Former Lab Members
Sadaf Solati
2024-2026
Current Role: Research Associate II, AstraZeneca
Théo Goullet de Rugy PhD
2025
Current Role: Senior Scientist III, AstraZeneca
Sera Whitelaw
2022-2023
Current Role: Medical Student, McGill University
Alessandra Giglia
2025
Current Role: BSc Student McMaster University
Isabel Soria Bretones PhD
2021-2022
Current Role: Associate Director, Precision medecine oncology
AstraZeneca
Erica Cianfarano
2021-2022
Current Role: PhD student, McGill University
Dr. Soumaya Labidi
2022-2025
Current role: Medical Oncologist, Dr. Georges L. Dumont University Hospital
Dr. Melody Riaud
2021-2025
Current Role: Scientist, Biocodex
Rania Khan
2023
Current Role: Incoming medical student, McGill University
Lucy An
2023-2024
Current Role: Medical student, McGill University
Shirin Rhaimipour Anaraki
2022-2023
Current Role: Medical student, Laval University
Marini Jayasekera
2022
Alicia Belaiche
2021
Current Role: Medical resident Ottawa
Peter Tai
2021
Current Role: Medical student, McGill University
Sara Fraser
2024
Current Role: MSc Student McGill University