Lili-Naz Hazrati

The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine; University of Toronto, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

Dr. Lili-Naz Hazrati MD, PhD, FRCPC is a staff neuropathologist at the Hospital for Sick Children, clinician scientist at the SickKids Research Institute, and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. She completed her PhD in neurobiology at Laval University followed by postdoctoral training at Yale University. She obtained her medical degree at the University of Montreal and residency training in neuropathology at the University of Toronto. Currently, Dr. Hazrati and her lab investigate molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration induced by brain trauma. The team aims to elucidate key molecular players that drive chronic physiological and behavioral changes post-TBI. Their recent findings have brought forward DNA damage-induced cellular senescence as a significant contributor to TBI-associated brain dysfunction. Additionally, Dr. Hazrati and her team examine patient brain banks for a systematic approach to identifying potential treatment strategies.

Daria Taskina

The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine

Daria Taskina is a research associate in Dr. Hazrati’s laboratory at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. She is currently investigating neuroinflammatory and chronic behavioral outcomes of brain trauma. In her recent graduate research with Dr. Georg R. Zoidl at York University, Daria examined the role of Pannexin1 channels in the onset and propagation of seizures in a zebrafish model. Her areas of expertise include molecular and behavioral assessment of neurological disorders in animal models, in-vivo electrophysiology, and implementing computational analyses such as machine learning techniques into her research.