Meet the Team

Principal Investigator

A/Prof. Alen Faiz

Institute: UTS

A/Prof. Alen Faiz is a molecular biologist and geneticist who is leader of the Respiratory Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology (RBMB) Lab. The labs primary focus is to understanding the biology of respiratory systems at the genetic and epigenetic levels, including under conditions of exposure to cigarette smoke and viral infection. A/Prof. Faiz’s research program has made significant contributions to the understanding of the molecular pathways that underpin the development and progression of COPD and asthma through the development of bioinformatics pipelines and advanced cell culture and genetic editing techniques.

A/Prof. Faiz obtained his PhD at the University of Sydney, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in 2014. He then travelled on a RESPIRE2 fellowship from ERS as a postdoctoral researcher at the Experimental Pulmonology and Inflammation Research (EXPIRE) laboratory, Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands (2014-18).

A/Prof. Faiz started at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in 2018 and was promoted to Senior Lecture in 2021. A/Prof. Faiz has established a research program in Australia where he developed and set up the UTS CRISPR facility (2019-ongoing). As leader of this facility, he provide expert advice and training to students and research staff

Recently A/Prof. Faiz has focused on understand risk factors associated with SARs-CoV-2 infection through investigating the expression of genes required for viral entry which was published in an article by Reuters and picked up by the New York Times (https://medrxiv.altmetric.com/details/89343468/news).

A/Prof. Faiz has won American Thoracic Society Rising Star Award in 2018 and 2019 and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Lung Science Award in 2020.

Post-Doc

Dr. Sobia Idrees

Institute: Bioinformatics Cluster Center of Inflammation

Dr. Senani Rathnayake Mudiyanselage

Institute: UTS

Hao Chen

Institute: UTS

Hao Chen is a first-year post-doc whose work focuses on 1) spatial transcriptomics in respiratory conditions as well as 2) the role of mast cells in COPD patients. Through these projects, he aims to generate insights that advance the understanding of respiratory pathology and guide future therapeutic strategies. Outside of academia, he is a professional wine taster and holds certification in mastery of an Australian wine region. He also plays the piano and does boxing, bringing together science, art, and sport in his life.

Dr. Saima Rehman

Institute: Bioinformatics Cluster Center of Inflammation

PhD Students

Antonia Karabatic

Institute: UTS

Antonia Karabatic is a third year PhD student. She has a vehement interest in genetics, with a particular focus on rare pathogenic genetic variants involved in the development of COPD and early onset emphysema.

Her research focuses on CRISPR screening libraries to identify susceptible genes against cigarette smoke exposure, as well as bioinformatic analysis on the genome sequencing of patients with severe COPD and emphysema. When she’s not at the lab bench or teaching undergraduate students, she enjoys embroidery, travelling, bird watching and diving into the spider verse.

Manav Sharma

Institute: UTS

Manav Sharma is a third-year PhD student with a strong interest in genetics and respiratory diseases. He previously completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in RBMB, where his research focused on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His current doctoral research investigates lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare respiratory disease. The project aims to determine the origin of LAM, identify novel biomarkers, and develop a LAM cell model for research. To achieve this, he combines both wet lab experimentation and bioinformatics approaches, bridging molecular biology with computational analysis. Outside of research, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, travelling, and exploring new museums.

Mitchell Spicer

Institute: UTS

Mitchell is a second-year PhD candidate who is currently working on respiratory projects with a primary focus on viral and mTOR-related diseases, making use of his specialties in bioinformatics and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing techniques to do so. Another focus of his PhD degree is to construct a single-cell Air-Liquid Interface (ALI) atlas. He is thrilled to be applying his passion for learning and discovery through his PhD.

Andy Lan

Institute: UTS

Andy Lan completed a Bachelor’s degree at Hanzehogeschool Groningen, University of Applied Sciences, and a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Groningen. His research experience spans wet laboratory work and bioinformatics, with a strong focus on translating scientific findings into patient outcomes. During his time at the University Medical Center Groningen, he gained valuable experience collaborating with clinical, epidemiological, and molecular researchers, which deepened his interest in bridging science and medicine.

Andy is now a PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney, where his research investigates the epigenetic regulation of asthma. Andy’s projects focuses on DNA methylation in asthma, mechanisms of T2-low asthma, corticosteroid sensitivity through FKBP5, and clinical and genomic differences between early- and late-onset asthma.

Ruby Walz

Institute: UTS

Ruby holds a Bachelor of Forensic Science and a Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours, Class I) from UTS, where she completed her Honours research in the RBMB laboratory. Her work focused on the gut–lung axis, with particular emphasis on genetics associated with COPD and asthma. Now undertaking a PhD, Ruby continues to advance this research while also refining polygenic risk scores for COPD.

Beyond academia, Ruby maintains a strong interest in the visual arts and literature, which provides a creative balance to her research pursuits.

Research Assistants

Fia Sabrina Boedijono

Institute: UTS

Fia Sabrina Boedijono is a bioinformatics research assistant with the RBMB group. She is skilled in mapping, processing and analysing several different types of biological data, particularly in single-cell RNA sequencing and bulk-RNA sequencing datasets. Her bioinformatics experience equipped her with proficiency in several coding languages including R, python and linux.

Kathy Phung

Institute: UTS

Kathy is a Research Assistant who previously completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Medical Science & Biotechnology) with RBMB. Her honours research investigated the effect of inhaled corticosteroids on genetic and epigenetic regulation in COPD patients. Currently, she supports research projects focusing on the molecular mechanisms that drive COPD and other respiratory diseases. Her work combines bioinformatics and laboratory research, using CRISPR editing experiments in respiratory cells to validate computational findings. She additionally manages the lab inventory for RBMB and the UTS CRISPR Facility.

Honours Students

Athena Shandil

Institute: UTS

Tan Nguyen

Institute: UTS

Master (by Research) Students

Habib Eichoue

Institute: UTS

Alumni

Dr. Tayyaba Sadaf

Institute: Bioinformatics Cluster Center of Inflammation/UTS

Former PhD student and Post Doc that is now working for NSW Health.

Dr. Diren Reddy

(Co-supervised)
Institute: UTS (former)

Former PhD student in the group, now a Post Doc at UKSH Lübeck.

Jos van Nijnatten

Institute: UTS (former)

A previous PhD student that is now working in the IT and program design sector

Margo Jansen

(Co-supervised)
Institute: UTS

A previous PhD student that is now working in the IT and program design sector

Matin Aljabali

Institute: UTS

Rachael Rowntree

Institute: UTS

Former Honours Student who is currently studying Medicine at the University of Queensland.