Miguel Uyaguari, PhD.
Assistant Professor/Indigenous Scholar at the University of Manitoba since July 2019. I hail from Naranjal, a small town in the countryside of Ecuador. I did my undergraduate in Ecuador in Marine Biology. I migrated to the USA in 2005 to pursue graduate studies in Aquatic Ecotoxicology and Molecular Microbial Ecology. I was a postdoctoral fellow and Senior Research Associate for ~8 years at the University of British Columbia and British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. My current research focuses on anthropogenic activities and their impact on water quality and aquatic ecosystems. I use culture independent approaches such as function and sequenced based metagenomics, quantitative PCR, bioinformatics and statistical tools to study diversity, abundance and dynamics/interactions of microbiomes particularly the resistome.
![Jhannelle Picture[2].JPG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6ba14b_9351e6d60ba4468a8f08ed42b85432b9~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_100,w_800,h_1001/fill/w_398,h_498,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Jhannelle%20Picture%5B2%5D_JPG.jpg)
Jhannelle Francis
Jhannelle received her Hons. BSc in Molecular Biology from the University of Toronto. She is currently completing her MSc in Microbiology and is a previous trainee from the VADA program. Using quantitative PCR and metagenomic analyses, Jhannelle’s research seeks to evaluate seasonal patterns of viral community structures in urban aquatic environments impacted by wastewater discharge. As a VADA alumni, she brings a wealth of knowledge and skills in bioinformatics and data visualizations to support her current research. Jhannelle has an innate passion for water and has utilized her research as an opportunity to advocate the need to reform water policies. She appeared in local Winnipeg news channels: CTV News Winnipeg and CBC News Manitoba, as well as the UM Today Story highlighting the need for improved wastewater treatment processes at sewage plants. She is also a 2021 and 2022 3-Minute Thesis Finalist at the University of Manitoba. In the future, Jhannelle hopes to seek opportunities and initiatives that will enable her to travel abroad to developing countries to learn about water crises that exist in different communities.
Jocelyn Zambrano A.
My name is Jocelyn and I am currently pursuing my master’s degree in Microbiology at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. I am originally from the coast of Ecuador where I finished my undergraduate studies in Veterinary Medicine. The interesting research that I am conducting right now applies advanced molecular methods to identify T4-like phages, bacteria, and microeukaryotes present in aquatic bodies impacted by anthropogenic activities in rural Manitoba. I was recently awarded a Visual and Automated Disease Analytics (VADA) training stipend to continue with my studies in the field of environmental microbiology. I consider assessing freshwater microbial composition particularly important because environmental, animal, and human health are closely interconnected, and more efforts should be applied to promote the One Health approach for the benefit of all living things. I hope you will be reading my scientific publications soon.
Kadir Yanac
Kadir Yanac is doing his PhD under supervisions of Dr. Qiuyan Yuan and Dr. Miguel Uyaguari. Kadir received his BSc and MSc degrees in Environmental Engineering.
Kadir’s research is focusing on the metagenomic analysis of the resistome and phageome in wastewater treatment systems. Kadir is a part-time artist, has a published poetry book and likes to explore different environments, cuisines, art scenes, and sport activities.
Monir Zaman
I am Md Moniruzzaman, a Ph. D Student in Miguel Uyaguari’s lab from Bangladesh. I completed my bachelor’s and masters from the University of Dhaka in Microbiology. Then, I started my research at the laboratory of the environmental health of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). I worked there for the last couple of years as a research investigator. I pass my leisure time watching and playing football and cricket. I also love traveling as well as photography a lot.
Adetola Adeniji
Honours project student (MBIO 4530). She uses longer sequencing reads to provide insights of the resistome and phageome in Oxidation Lagoons from a First Nation community of Manitoba.
Volunteers:
​Ruzzel Flores (Undergraduate Student, Biology) assists Jhannelle Francis and Jocelyn Zambrano Alvarado’s projects related to viral metagenomics and deep-amplicon sequencing of microbial fractions from aquatic environments, respectively.
Camila Oda (Undergraduate Student, Microbiology) is involved with the characterization of the resistome and phageome within a First Nation community of Manitoba and surrounding aquatic environment.
HQP
