Lochmüller Lab

Our research team is growing! We are excited to announce three new research staff who have joined the lab this winter, as well as two visiting physicians.

Haifa Kourdi

Clinical Research Coordinator

Haifa joined the team at CHEO RI as a Clinical Research Coordinator in January 2026. She coordinates various neuromuscular disease trials for Dr. McMillan and Dr. Lochmüller.

Haifa holds an Honours Bachelors of Science in Molecular Biology from York University. Before joining CHEO RI, Haifa worked at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto coordinating clinical trials for the Division of Dermatology. She has also held roles in trial coordination, assistance, and clinical data management at clinical research organizations.

Stéphanie Belliveau

Clinical Research Assistant

Stéphanie holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with an option in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Ottawa. She completed her Honours project in Dr. Yannick Benoit’s laboratory, where she developed a 3D co-culture colorectal cancer model to better replicate the colorectal cancer tumor microenvironment.

She has completed several co-op placements across healthcare, academic, and industry settings, including working as a Recreational Therapy Assistant at Bruyère, a Research Assistant at the CHEO Research Institute under the supervision of Dr. Kyle Cowan supporting research on the role of Pannexin 1 in skeletal muscle function, and a Research Assistant at STEMCELL Technologies contributing to the development of 3D liver models to assess drug-induced liver injury better.

Having gained wet-lab research experience from her undergraduate degree, she is now transitioning to clinical research, working with Dr. Lochmüller’s research group at the Ottawa Hospital Neuromuscular Centre and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

Ghazal Alavian

Clinical Evaluator and Research Assistant

Ghazal Nasirpour Alavian joined Dr. Lochmüller’s clinical research team at the OHRI in 2025 as a master physiotherapist and research assistant. Ghazal is a healthcare professional with a clinical and research background in physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and chiropractic care. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation from Bahçeşehir University, Turkey, in 2022, followed by a Master of Science in Chiropractic from the same institution in 2024.

As part of her professional training, Ghazal completed a six-month clinical internship in Cologne, Germany, gaining valuable international experience and exposure to diverse healthcare systems and patient populations. She has four years of clinical experience as a physiotherapist and chiropractor in Turkey, along with two years of experience as a research assistant.

Manuel Pühringer

Clinical and research fellow

Dr. Manuel Pühringer is a pediatrician in neuropediatric training with specialization in neuromuscular medicine at the Kepler University Hospital in Linz, Austria. Manuel has joined Dr. Lochmüller and Dr. McMillan‘s research group at CHEO RI for a clinical and research fellowship to deepen his clinical knowledge and gain new insights in neuromuscular research.

Johanna Engel

Pediatric resident and visiting scientist

Johanna is a visiting physician from Germany with a strong interest in learning genetic data analysis. In Germany, she works in the field of pediatric neurology and is involved in the European genetic newborn screening project Screen4Care as part of Prof. Janbernd Kirschner’s research group (University Medical Center Freiburg). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Bioinformatics and a Master’s degree in Women & Children’s Health, during which she studied the impact of physical cues on the differentiation of neural crest cells.