Prairies Node

Athanasios (Athan) Zovoilis, MD, PhD
Director, CBH Prairies
Associate Professor, University of Manitoba

Athan is an Associate Professor of Bioinformatics at the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics at the University of Manitoba and a senior scientist at Cancer Care Manitoba (CCMB) Research institute. He is the co-director of the Statistical Genomics and Bioinformatics (SGB) Core Platform at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at The University of Manitoba and the director of the CCMB Bioinformatics Core platform at Winnipeg. Athan is a physician with a background in Medical Genetics, a doctorate from the University of Goettingen (Germany), postgraduate training in bioinformatics from the University of Manchester (UK), and expertise in bioinformatics of next generation sequencing from his time as research fellow at Vancouver Genome Sciences Centre (Canada), a research fellow at Harvard Medical School (USA), a Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics at the University of Lethbridge and the director of its bioinformatics core facility. As the academic lead of BioNet since 2019, Athan recognizes the importance of community building and training in bioinformatics and brings the deep knowledge learned through these initiatives to the CBH network.

Riya Roy, MSc
Regional Coordinator, CBH Prairies

Riya is currently in the final year of her Ph.D. in Biomolecular Science, specializing in the molecular biology of non-coding RNAs. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics from India. In 2025, Riya joined the Canadian Bioinformatics Hub as the Regional Coordinator for the Prairie region. With a strong interest in science communication and public engagement, Riya is committed to advancing bioinformatics education and fostering stronger connections within both regional and national bioinformatics communities.

Travis Haight, PhD
Training support, CBH Prairies
Operations Manager, Statistical Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Platform, University of Manitoba

Travis is in his final year of his PhD program in Biomolecular Science with a focus in Bioinformatics from the University of Lethbridge. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Lethbridge. Through his employment as a graduate student contractor of BioNet, Travis has had the opportunity to address and assist in the bioinformatic needs of research groups across Canada. In addition he has recently started in his new role as the SGB platform manager where he aims to continue addressing and assisting in these needs.

Sani Zaidi, PhD
Administrative support, CBH Prairies

Sani e Zehra Zaidi is a member of the SGB and CCMB Bioinformatics Core platforms and provides administrative support to the Prairies Coordinator. Sani holds a PhD in Biomolecular Sciences with a focus on bioinformatics from the University of Lethbridge, Canada, where she conducted her research at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Since 2024, Sani has worked as a research associate at the University of Manitoba, where her efforts contribute to advancing cancer genomics and transcriptomics. With expertise in next-generation sequencing and bacterial genomics, she is committed to addressing critical challenges in human health.

Liam Mitchell, PhD
Training support, CBH Prairies
R&D Manager, Statistical Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Platform, University of Manitoba

Liam is the R&D of the University of Manitoba SGB platform and provides support for the training activities to the Prairies Coordinator.