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Dr. Stokes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, carrying a prestigious Banting Fellowship from 2018-2020. Stokes established his laboratory back at McMaster in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences in August 2021. The Stokes lab leverages a balance of experimental and computational approaches to discover the next generation of life-saving antibiotics with novel structures and functions that expand the capabilities of these medicines beyond the current state of the art. One of the lab’s primary interests, quite broadly, is in the application of deep learning approaches to help predict the antibacterial properties of structurally novel small molecules. Stokes also co-founded a non-profit organization, Phare Bio, which aims to de-risk promising antibiotic candidates and position these molecules for more rapid advancement through the clinical trial process.
Jeff has worked in the Canadian Healthcare industry for over 20 years with a focus on Business Development and Partnering. He has experience in all stages of development, from discovery to generics, including preclinical and clinical development companies and several early-stage
biotech start-ups. Most recently, Jeff worked with Valeo Pharma, a commercial-stage Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company, to build a market-leading product portfolio in three therapeutic areas. Prior to Valeo, Jeff worked at SteriMax, a Canadian generic pharmaceutical company, acquiring products and managing the partnerships.
Jeff holds an Honours Bachelor's degree in Genetics and and MBA, both from the University of Western Ontario.
When Jeff isn't working, he enjoys time with his wife and daughter and is quickly moving towards his black belt in Karate.
Chris is Co-Founder/Executive Char of Brand Blvd Inc. located in Niagara. Their team of 50 specialize in branded merchandise servicing clients across North America. He is Co-Founder of Orion Supply Company, Founder of Chris Sinclair Consulting and Co-Founder of the Niagara Golf & Cycling Marathons which have raised over $1M for local charities. Chris graduated from Niagara College with a BA Marketing Diploma and is a recipient of the Niagara College Distinguished Alumni Award.
Denise received her Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) in 2022 with summa cum laude honors and is currently pursuing her PhD in in vivo infection dynamics and antimicrobial drug discovery, both from McMaster University. Her research focuses on (1) curating a comprehensive list of “in vivo essential” biological processes that model the crosstalk between bacterial cell and host physiologies during infection; and (2) in vitro and in vivo validation of machine learning-guided antibiotic discovery. She applies multi-omics approaches to understand how pathogen and host cellular responses change throughout the course of an infection. By leveraging this data, she aims to invent functionally novel therapies that modulate the pathogen and/or the host to predictably suppress the severity of infection. Beyond her research, Denise contributes as a teaching assistant and dedicates her time to Let’s Talk Science, where she engages children and youth in STEM activities within educational settings. Her interests outside of academia include camping, hiking, watching Netflix series, and attending spin classes. Her academic excellence has been recognized through the award of the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s program and nomination for the SC24 Women’s History Project.
I am Gary Liu, and have always been highly optimistic about the impact technology can have on healthcare and medicine. I therefore eagerly accepted the opportunity to develop my skills by pursuing a PhD in the Stokes Lab at McMaster University. My research leverages reinforcement learning to efficiently explore billions of chemicals in silico for efficient hit discovery. I like to spend my free time exploring new genres of gaming and music and spending time with my dog.
Jeremie graduated with a bachelor's degree (BSc) in biotechnology from Queen’s University in 2019. He is currently pursuing his MSc at McMaster in machine learning (ML) guided drug discovery. His research is centred around the development of chemical language models for de-novo drug design, focusing specifically on the design of next-generation antibiotics targeting Acinetobacter baumannii and new chemotherapy agents for glioblastoma. Jeremie also holds a keen interest in the commercialization of biological research and the process of transforming innovative ideas into impactful new ventures. Outside of the lab, Jeremie enjoys playing hockey, cycling, and hanging out with friends.