This is my current team - for past members, click here.
Last updated 27/04/2026
Dr. Rabia Fatima
Postdoc (2025 - )
Phd 2019-2024 (Biochemistry)
Rabia joined us from a BSc at McMaster, with a thesis in the MacNeil lab. From worms to bacteria to phages… and by the end of the PhD, she was bring them all together! The picture here is her receiving the now-traditional Hynes Lab warhammer for completing her PhD. Her grad school journey was littered with awards for her exceptional work and presentation skills, culminating in the Canadian Society of Microbiologists Armand-Frappier award for the best PhD in the country. The pandemic drove her to baking and photography, starting “Chaotic Bake” which you can check out on Instagram. She also runs an online book store as a Director of Online Sales at Friends of the Mississauga Library . Her McMaster email is fatimr1@…
Gayatri Nair
PhD Candidate (MedSci) 2021-, Research Assistant IV B (Fall 2019-S2021)
Even prior to joining the lab, she could frequently be found in lab, keeping Hiba company. Might as well make it official - with her MSc defence her departure from the Surette lab, she joined us as an RA to work on the IIDR/Farncombe Joint Phage Initiative. She became so enamored with the lab, she started a PhD with us in the Fall of 2021, following up work identifying new signals of phage induction. She was supported by a Farncombe Studentship, an OGS-D, has won awards as an outstanding student - but none top the award for best presentation she effortlessly clinched despite (subtly!) throwing up during it. That’s talent! The reason she was throwing up… is the reason she’s currently on a 1 maternity leave. She’s earned the break!
Christine Cerson
PhD Candidate 2022-
(Biochemistry)
Christine met Dr. Hynes through his phage lectures in 3MI3. A few raised hands and some exceptionally sharp questions later, her fate was sealed. Now a member the Hynes lab supported by an OGS, looking for the opportunity to ask and answer a billion more questions. As you may have divined from the picture (left), She is currently on Maternity leave, but I have it on good authority there’s a picture of her last gel at home that takes the spiritual place of the ultrasound pictures she had over her lab bench - she’ll be back in Sept 2025. Her McMaster email is cersonc@...
Ayesha Umair
MD/PhD 2024 -
Thesis (2023-2024)
Ayesha joined us as a thesis student from a BHSc (Hons) degree with a concurrent certificate in immunology, microbiology, and virology. She displayed such a mastery of the field and the literature that I nominated her for a CSM undergraduate award, and celebrated when she agreed to stick around for her PhD, as part of the McMaster MD/PhD program. Supported by a CGS-M, she’s trying to undo all the hard work of her predecessors in the lab by, instead, supressing phage induciton. In her spare time, she likes reading, chess, and video games.
Eve Adams
MSc Student 2025-
(Biochemistry)
Thesis 24-25 (Arts & Sci/MolBio)
Eve was a thesis student in Arts & Science combined with Molecular Biology & Genetics, crushing her father’s hopes of having one more physicist in the family. To be fair, it’s a short step between Phage and Physics, as Max Delbrueck can testify. She did superbly over the year, then chose to keep her picture here after graduation… as she decided to stick around for an MSc in the fall!
Niousha Fazeli
PhD Student (2025 -)
(Biochemistry)
Niousha spent most of her undergraduate degree researching bacterial-phage interactions in the Finan Lab, here at Mac. Four co-op terms and a thesis later, she knew she wasn’t done with the topic. After meeting Dr. Hynes for the first time and learning about the lab’s work, she jumped at the chance to start her PhD here. Her favourite after-lab activity is collecting books and attempting to catch up on reading them. She’s also decided a PhD is the perfect excuse to pick up a second instrument: electric guitar, because apparently stress needs both academic and musical outlets.
McMaster Undergraduate Students
Teneilia Simpson
BBS Summer Scholars (2026)
As mentors, our lab has long supported the BBS Summer Scholars program, but due to the awkward timing for our onboarding boot camps, never actually taken on a student. Teneilia changed all that - as an incoming 4th year student exposed to phages through 3K03, she’d already shown her strong interest applying for a thesis. When the program coordinator mentioned there was one student who might be able to shift their schedule for us… and it was already one of my top thesis candidates... isn’t it great when the stars align? Outside of academics, she enjoys volunteering and crafting (especially crocheting and brush calligraphy).
Kirsten Cheung
Summer Studentship (2026)
Kirsten joined the lab at the end of her second year in the Honours Biochemistry program as a summer student supported by a Farncombe Summer Studentship. What started as a quick post-lab question for her BIOCHEM 2L06 TA, Christine, spiralled into a growing stack of papers to read, weekly conversations about phages, and a lot more questions. Eventually, she brought these questions to Dr. Hynes, ultimately leading to her joining the team. Outside of the lab, Kirsten plays the violin with the McMaster Symphony Orchestra and enjoys drawing jellyfish or reading mystery novels in her spare time.
