People | The Howarth Lab

Ashlee J. Howarth

Principal Investigator

Ashlee J. Howarth was born and raised in London, Ontario. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario in 2009, and then went on to do her PhD in inorganic materials chemistry at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Michael O. Wolf. Before joining the faculty at Concordia, she completed an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University with Joseph T. Hupp and Omar K. Farha. In 2018, Ashlee was recognized by Forbes Magazine as a “30 under 30” in Science for her contributions to research in the field of wastewater treatment, and the detoxification of chemical warfare agents. At Concordia, the Howarth group is focused on the design and synthesis of rare-earth metal-organic frameworks targeting applications in wastewater remediation, catalysis, and chemical sensing.

Hudson Bicalho

PhD Candidate

Hudson is originally from Minas Gerais, Brazil. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at CEFET-MG (Brazil) and his master's degree in Chemistry at UFMG (Brazil). Hudson works on the development of new iron-based MOFs for applications in adsorption and catalysis.

While not in the lab, Hudson plays more video games than he should and watches lots of TV series and movies of questionable taste.

Victor Quezada

PhD Candidate

Victor is an international student from Chile. He is currently working on the synthesis of new rare-earth MOFs by applying complex linkers. Victor's main goal is to study their potential applications as adsorbents in wastewater treatment, and catalytic oxidation of hazardous substances. He is also interested in the synthesis of carbon-dot/RE-MOF composites, mixed RE-MOFs, and synthesis of new organic linkers in order to achieve complex topologies. One of his dreams is to create a material with real environmental applications.

Pedro Donnarumma

PhD Student

Pedro (or Rafael) Donnarumma is an ex-MSc student in the Howarth Lab turned PhD in 2022. He spent a small 8-month hiatus in the industry before realising his mistake. He enjoys profusely learning Italian (and now French), reading philosophy, and helping his colleagues with their research. Sometimes he also TRIES to express himself through painting.

Chris Copeman

PhD Student

Chris was raised in Montréal, and graduated with his BSc degree from Concordia in 2019. He has been with the Howarth group since 2018 as a volunteer and undergraduate researcher before starting his MSc in 2021. Chris likes to paint mountain views (Bob Ross is a huge inspiration), bake all sorts of sweet treats (he has a secret biscotti recipe), skiing (Vermont is an old time favorite), and all kinds of Pringles (sour cream and onion are his least favorite).

Lavinia Trifoi

PhD Student

Lavinia is a PhD student and a new Quebec resident. In 2020, she completed an undergraduate honours thesis in the Impellizzeri lab at TMU focused on the development of molecular systems that can mimic Boolean logic operators and reproduce basic arithmetic function. She received her MSc in 2022 from the same lab with her thesis focused on the design and fabrication of hybrid solid nanocomposites based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) interfaced with organic fluorophores. In her free time Lavinia likes to bake, spend time with her friends, and travel. She hopes to travel on every continent in the near future.

Amna Muhammad

MSc Student

Amna was born in Islamabad, Pakistan, and grew up all over the Middle East including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. She moved to Canada in 2016 to complete her chemistry and philosophy degree at Western university in London, Ontario and is now an MSc candidate at the Howarth lab. After chemistry, Amna also loves scenic hikes and all kinds of tea that aren't fruit flavoured (she strongly believes the two should not be mixed in that way).

Lars Miller

MSc Student

Lars is an international student from Missoula, USA. He received a bachelor's in chemistry from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. He joined the Howarth lab in January 2021 and is studying the synthesis and design of rare-earth metal organic frameworks (MOFs) for applications in sustainable energy storage. His research interests include chemical synthesis and green chemistry. In his free time Lars enjoys swimming and traveling.

Ximena Canales Galvez

MSc Student

Ximena was born in Lima, Peru. She completed a BSc Specialization in Biochemistry with a Minor in Modern Chinese Language at Concordia. Ximena will be working on the design and synthesis of rare-earth MOFs for bioimaging applications. In her free time she loves learning languages, dancing and singing.

Samantha Prelaz

MSc Student

Samantha graduated with a BSc Specialization in Biochemistry at Concordia University. Having completed her undergraduate research project on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for biomedical applications, she will continue working on the design and synthesis of MOFs for ophthalmic drug delivery as an MSc student. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys outdoor recreation, travel, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Laure-Anne Dubuc-Kanary

MSc Student

Laure-Anne completed her BSc Biology in 2016 and BSc Chemistry in 2022. Her research in the Howarth lab centres on the encapsulation of enzymes in new RE-MOFs, as well as a novel method for separating MOFs. Outside of the lab, Laure-Anne is a technician at Apple, a 3D-printing enthusiast, and a web developer (design, coding and maintenance) for the Howarth lab.

Zoey Davis

BSc Student - Research Assistant

Originally from Ottawa, Zoey is a second year specialization ecology student completing their SCOL 290 project in the Howarth lab studying recycling methods of solvents. When they're not in the lab, Zoey enjoys dancing, writing (questionable) scifi, playing dnd and accumulating concerning amounts of houseplants.

Claude Massabni

BSc Student - CHEM 419

Claude is currently in her last year of the BSc specialization program in Biochemistry at Concordia. Claude will be working on finding new ways to synthesize RE-MOFs previously developed in the Howarth lab. She is a nature lover and an artist, she likes to hike and bike during summer, and she does digital art during her free time.

MSc Alumni

Felix Saraci

Then: MSc Student

Now: Product Associate at erthos

Pedro Donnarumma

Then: MSc Student

Now: PhD Student in the Howarth lab

Paola Marino

Then: MSc Student

Now: Health Economics & Market Access Quality Associate at Amaris Consulting

Zvart Ajoyan

Then: MSc Student

Now: Business Systems Analyst at TELUS Health

Paula Nkulikiyinka

Then: PhD Exchange Student

Now: PhD Student at Cranfield University

BSc Alumni

Hoai An Luu

Then: Chem 450 Student

Now: Doctorate of Pharmacy Program at the University of Montreal

Justin Sardilli

Then: Chem 419 Student

Now: Manager of Expansion at Estateably

Sabine Plummer

Then: Chem 450 Student

Now: Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University

Panagiota Taktikakis

Then: Chem 450 Student

Now: Research Assistant at Concordia (DeWolf lab)

Ninaad Kalla

Then: Chem 450 Student

Now: Research Scientist at Galenvs Inc

Danna Schwartz

Then: Chem 419 student

Now: Inside Sales Associate at Walter Surface Technologies

Chen Si

Then: MITACS Globalink Research Intern

Now: Masters student in Materials Science and Engineering at KAUST

Ecaterina Sirghi

Then: Chem 419 Student

Now: Health, Safety, and Risk Assistant at the University of Ottawa

Soraya Manya Toussaint

Then: BSc Student

Now: BSc Student

Reginald Gratia

Then: BSc Student

Now: Technical Packaging Coordinator at Agropur

Valerie Mulvey

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Product Specialist at CDW Canada

Sahara Frojmovic

Then: CHEM 450 Student

Petar Babic

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Quality Control Analyst, at Lonza Biologics

Dang Vo

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Regulatory Affairs Associate at Knight Therapeutics Inc

Gemini Ramasamy

Then: BSc Student

Now: Masters program in experimental medicine at McGill University

Yolla Fallouh

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Technical Support at Medisca Pharmaceutical

Elissa Mariani

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: MSc Student in Chemistry (Vuckovic Group) at Concordia

Anthony Falgiani

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: MEng Student in Environmental Engineering at Concordia

Jaina Cardenas Paez

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Validation Coordinator at GlaxoSmithKline

Meggy Mengele

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Project Manager at NeuroRx

Ramnik Riar

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Pfizer

Carmen Yan

Then: CHEM 450 Student

Adriana Danko

Then: CHEM 419 Student

Now: Graduate Diploma Student in Chemical and Materials Engineering Concordia

Molly Clark

Then: Exchange Student

Now: PhD Student at University of Southampton

Tiffany Te

Then: CEGEP Student

Now: Undergraduate student in Science at McGill University

Iris Radu

Then: CEGEP Student

Emily Deligia

Then: CEGEP Student