
About Us
Welcome to the Prairies Node of the Canadian Bioinformatics Hub–Canada’s platform for Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Data Science skills and community development. The national CBH network consists of six Regional Nodes hosted by partner institutions in strategic regions: Atlantic, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, the Prairies, and British Columbia. Each node plays a crucial role in CBH’s mission by offering localized training programs, building partnerships with regional stakeholders, and providing opportunities for active involvement of community members in their initiatives.
The Prairies node is based at the Statistical Genomics and Bioinformatics (SGB) Core Platform at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at The University of Manitoba, representing all of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The Prairies node has also partnered with the CCMB Bioinformatics Core platform at Winnipeg as well as with the Bioinformatics Network (BioNet) Alberta / Prairie. This regional team is responsible for representing your bioinformatics and computational biology interests at the national level.
Our resources are structured around the platform’s two main pillars: training and community. The Training Portal will serve as a central hub for all partner-led bioinformatics and professional development training programs aligned with competency-based learning paths. It will also host our training awards program. The Community portal will extend the trainee experience with valuable resources and activities, including career recognition awards, mentorship opportunities, networking events, a national conference, and regional bioinformatics user groups.
CBH Prairies Team

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.

Eric Merzetti, PhD
Regional Coordinator, CBH Prairies
Network Manager, BioNet Alberta
Eric has a PhD in developmental biology and genetics, completing his Bachelor’s degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Master’s of Science in Genetics and molecular biology from the University of New Brunswick. As the network manager of BioNet since 2019, Eric has sought to build capacity in bioinformatics and computational biology across the prairie provinces. Recognizing that the first step in developing the highly qualified workforce necessary for the future is to understand and address the needs of today’s trainees, Eric has joined SGB and the CBH network to support the growth and success of Canada’s existing and upcoming scientists.

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.
Contact
To contact CBH Prairies, email prairies@bioinformatics.ca or use our contact form. For general inquiries about CBH, contact our Platform Leadership Unit at info@bioinformatics.ca.
Additionally, visit our LinkedIn page for regional updates.