OUR TEAM

Thompson Lab, Fall 2025
Thompson Lab, Halloween Fun, 2025

Principal Investigator: Peter J. Thompson, PhD

Peter completed his BSc in Genetics and MSc in Molecular Biology at the University of Alberta. He went on to a PhD in Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia where he studied epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in embryonic stem cells. He carried out his postdoctoral training at the Diabetes Center at University of California San Francisco, where he began  to develop his research focus in islet cell physiology, immunology, and type 1 diabetes. In 2020 he became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Pathophysiology and a Principal Investigator in the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM) at the University of Manitoba. Outside the lab he enjoys spending time with his family, resistance training, exploring the outdoors, checking out new restaurants and playing chess.

Research technician: Roozbeh Akbari Motlagh, DVM, MSc



Roozbeh earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree in 2018 in Iran. During his studies, he conducted research on the role of LncRNAs in adipose stem cell differentiation into beta cells. In 2023, he completed his academic journey at the University of Alberta, where he earned his MSc in Human Nutrition. His MSc thesis focused on studying the role of the Src family member Lyn kinase in islet transplantation in mice. Roozbeh's research efforts also included identifying novel molecular mechanisms governing beta-cell proliferation and survival. Joining the Thompson Lab in 2023 as a technician, he will continue his research efforts, now contributing to a projects on extracellular vesicles from senescent beta cells within the context of T1D.

Research Technician: Mario Fonseca, MSc


Mario completed his BSc with a major in Microbiology from the University of Manitoba in 2001. He then went on to join the laboratory of Dr. David Eisenstat at the Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology (MICB, now known as RIOH). His tenure at Dr. Eisenstat’s Laboratory involved investigating the transcriptional regulation of Distal-less transcription factors in the developing vertebrate brain. After spending time investigating the gene regulatory networks controlled by Distal-less transcription factors in the developing CNS, he went on to investigate, as part of his Masters thesis, the identification of the tumour suppressor Apc as a direct DLX target in the intestine with application to colorectal cancers. From 2012-2024 Mario worked in the laboratory of Dr. V. Dolinsky where he was involved in various projects that investigated the mechanisms important in the development of gestational diabetes.  Mario joined Dr. Thompson’s lab in January of 2025. His project will focus on the characterization of the heterogeneity of the beta-cell population by identifying key markers that differentiate leader beta-cells from the rest of the beta-cell mass. Mario is an avid enthusiast of Baroque music and enjoys long distance running.

Postdoctoral fellow: Nayara Rampazzo Morelli, PhD

Nayara completed her BSc in Nutrition in 2010 at the Philadelphia University Center in Brazil. After working as a Nutritionist, she decided to pursue a career in science. She completed her MSc in 2015 and went on to a PhD in 2020, both in Health Sciences from the State University of Londrina in Brazil. During her PhD, she worked as a Research Volunteer at the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto in 2019. She went on to a postdoctoral researcher position at the Pain, Inflammation, Neuropathy and Cancer Research Group at the State University of Londrina in Brazil from October 2021 to April 2023. She joined the Thompson lab in June 2023 as a postdoctoral fellow, switching fields to study islet biology and diabetes. Her current research focus is on prosurvival signaling in senescent human beta cells in T1D.

Graduate student: Jasmine Pipella, BSc, PBD


 Jasmine completed her BSc with a major in Biochemistry from the University of Jamestown in June 2021. In September 2021, she joined the lab as a postbaccalaureate diploma (PBD) student in the Department of Physiology & Pathophysiology for two terms of lab rotations in PHGY5012 and completed her PBD in medical physiology & pathophysiology. In September 2022 she joined the lab as an MSc student in Physiology and in Nov 2023 she transferred to the PhD program. Her project examines the effects of anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody therapy on senescent beta cell accumulation in a mouse model for T1D.

Graduate student: Camille Préfontaine, BSc



Camille completed her BSc honors in Biology at the University of Manitoba in Spring 2024. She first joined the lab as a summer research student in 2022 and 2023 where her projects focused on identifying and characterizing novel biomarkers of senescent human beta cells as well as investigating the relationship between senescence and proinsulin processing. She continued her studies on proinsulin processing over the Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 terms for her honor's thesis project in BIOL4100. In Fall 2024, Camille joined the lab as a MSc student in Physiology to investigate molecular mechanisms of beta cell stress in T1D using a novel mouse genetic model.
 

Graduate student: Mystica Amonyi, BSc




Mystica completed her BSc honors in Biochemistry at the University of Winnipeg in 2023. Her honor’s thesis project explored naturally occurring inhibitors of glucose metabolizing enzyme alpha-glucosidase found in ginger. She joined the lab as an MSc student in Physiology in May 2024. Her project will examine the role of beta cell-derived extracellular vesicles in the pathogenesis of T1D using a novel mouse genetic model.

Graduate student: Aimeen Sharoze, BSc






Aimeen completed her BSc in Microbiology at the University of Manitoba in 2024. In the summer of 2025, she joined the Thompson lab as a Master’s student and is working on understanding metabolic reprogramming in senescent beta cells, exploring how these changes contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes. She is passionate about research that bridges science and patient care.
Outside of the lab, Aimeen enjoys weight-lifting, travelling, and spending time with her sisters. She also has a deep appreciation for good coffee.

Graduate Student: Alycia Johnson, BSc






Alycia completed her B.Sc. with a major in Biological Sciences from the University of Alberta in May 2025. She first joined the Thompson lab in May 2024 as a summer student and has now rejoined in September 2025 as a Master’s student. Her project looks at examining the impact of senescent beta cells on T-cell activity and the autoimmune process, involving the characterization of beta cell antigen presentation changes and machinery.

Graduate student: Niloofar Beheshti, BSc






Niloofar Beheshti completed her Bachelor's degree in nutrition and dietetics in Iran. She then worked as a research assistant in the Endocrine Institute of Shahid Beheshti University, where she studied the role of dietary components in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Niloofar continued her academic journey by joining Dr. Mishra's lab at the University of Manitoba for her Master's degree, where she investigated sex-related differences in brown adipose tissue using PHB1 knock-in mouse models. In 2025, she joined Dr. Thompson's lab to pursue her PhD, focusing on the role of epigenetic mechanisms, particularly H3K9 methylation, in regulating islet cell identity and function.

BSc Med Program Student: Kyle Asmundson, BSc




Kyle completed his general B.Sc. degree in June 2024 at the University of Manitoba and started the M.D. program at the University of Manitoba in September 2024. He joined the Thompson lab as a B.Sc. Med student co-supervised by Dr. Christine Doucette for summer 2025 and 2026. His research project seeks to understand the link between DNA damage repair and circadian regulation in pancreatic beta cells and how this connection may be disrupted in diabetes.

Lab Alumni.

Alaina Bagan, Summer Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2025
Dayu Liu, Faculty of Science Co-op Student, Jan 2025 - Apr 2025
Halle Bacinger, Summer Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2024
Sameer Batla, Summer Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2024
Ian Heidinger, Summer Undergraduate Researcher, Summers 2024, 2025
Alycia Johnson, Summer Undergraduate Researcher, Summer 2024
Jasmine Manji, Summer Undergraduate Researcher,  Summers 2022, 2023, HEAL4650 project student, Fall 2023
Nicole Alcasid, Faculty of Science Co-op Student, Jan 2023 - Apr 2023
Jay Wieler, Faculty of Science Co-op Student, Jan 2023 - Apr 2023
Camille Préfontaine, Summer Undergraduate Researcher, Summers 2022, 2023, BIOL4100 honors student
Jasmine Pipella, PBD rotation student PHGY5012, Fall 2021-Winter 2022
Gabriel Brawerman, Research Technician, Sept 2020 - Oct 2022

Trainee Awards.

2025-2026:
Alaina Bagan, University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Award (URA 2025)
Nayara Rampazzo Morelli, CIRTN-R2FIC and Breakthrough T1D postdoctoral fellowship training award, (2025 - 2026)
Camille Préfontaine, CIRTN-R2FIC and NSERC-CREATE MSc training award (2025 - 2026), Research Manitoba MSc studentship (2025-2026)
Jasmine Pipella, Research Manitoba PhD studentship (2025-2026)
Ian Heidinger, T1D research fundraiser stipend (Summer 2025)

2024-2025:
Ian Heidinger, T1D research fundraiser stipend (Summer 2024)
Halle Bacinger, CIRTN undergraduate research stipend, (Summer 2024)
Sameer Batla, University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Award (URA 2024)
Camille Préfontaine, University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF, 2024)
Jasmine Pipella, Research Manitoba PhD Studentship (2024-2025), University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF, 2024- declined).

2022-2023:
Jasmine Manji, University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Award (URA 2022 and URA 2023)
Jasmine Pipella, University of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF, 2022), Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's (CGS-M, 2023-2024)

Open positions in the lab.

Postdoctoral fellow positions.

There are currently no available positions until 2027. Please check back in early 2027 for positions.

Graduate student positions.

 There are no available positions until 2027. Please check back in Winter 2027 for updates on new student positions for 2027.

Undergraduate student positions.

Co-op student positions. The Thompson lab is joining with the lab of Dr. Susan Logue (Human Anatomy & Cell Science) to seek a co-op student to work on 1-term summer project from May-Aug 2026 exploring the molecular mechanisms of unfolded protein response (UPR) cross-talk in pancreatic beta cells. The posting closes Jan 19th. Please see the co-op job portal at University of Manitoba for the posting.

Summer student positions. There are no available positions for summer 2026, as all available positions are filled. Please check back in Nov-Dec 2026 for summer student opportunities.