The Harrington Group

Gagan was born in India and grew up in the Vancouver (Canada) area. She completed her BSc in Combined Honours in Chemical Biology at the University of British Columbia. Here, she worked in the MacLachlan lab on synthesis of supramolecular chiral assemblies of platinum complexes and development of stretchable photonic materials through polymer-based chemistry. In the fall of 2021, she moved to Montreal to pursue a Ph.D. in the Harrington group at McGill University, focusing on the characterization and understanding of velvet worm slime. In her free time, she enjoys photography, dance, baking and spending time outdoors with friends and family.

Stephen is from the United States, where he graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2019 with Bachelor's degrees in Chemistry and French. In undergrad, Stephen enjoyed research in an organic mechanochemistry lab, but he has made the jump into the world of Materials Science. In awe of nature's design, he is excited to research the intriguing properties observed in the viscin of mistletoe berries. In his free time, Stephen likes to read, drink coffee, learn really unimportant facts about the music industry, play board games with friends, and bake.

Having been raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sam received her BSc with Honours in chemistry from Dalhousie University in 2021. Pursuing her interest in green chemistry, her research in the Harrington group focuses on characterizing metal storage particles found in the mussel byssus with the hope of using them in the creation of future bioinspired materials. Outside of the lab, Sam can be found hiking, crocheting yet another sweater, or exploring Montreal's vast array of cafés.

Originally from Argentina, Guido immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 4 and was fortunate enough to graduate from McGill University with an honours degree in materials chemistry in 2021. During his last undergraduate year, he completed his honours research project in the Harrington lab because of his interest in bio-inspired materials. Obsessed with nature's exceptional material properties which surpass man-made materials, he decided to accept a joint project with Dr. Blum and Dr. Harrington to engineer a new class of material that integrates a non-infectious part of a virus into a polymer. Outside of school, you can catch Guido playing soccer, cheering for his favorite soccer team at the top of his lungs, or simply spending some time with family and friends.

Born and raised in Lebanon, Mostafa completed a B.Sc at the American University of Beirut in 2017, during which he worked as an undergrad in the Labs of Dr.Mazen Al-Ghoul and Dr.Mohammad Hmadeh. Currently, he is working on microfluidic production of microemulsions to create high performance materials inspired by nature. In his free time, Mostafa likes to play soccer, lift weights, bake, and maintain his position as Harrington Lab Burger Tasting Expert.

Originally from northern Ontario, Mathieu completed his B.Sc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2018 at the University of Toronto. After stepping away from Chemistry for a few years to pursue his interest in web development, Mat decided to return to academia to pursue research in the fall of 2021. His fascination with the field of Materials Chemistry and biomimetics led him to do his Ph.D. with the Harrington group at McGill. In his free time, you can find Mat at the local rock climbing gym, fiddling around on web dev side projects or playing spikeball with his friends in the park.

Nathalie is from Surrey, BC, and completed her BSc in Chemistry at The King's University in Edmonton, AB. After completing an internship in an industrial analytical laboratory, Nathalie joined the Harrington Lab to combine her interdisciplinary background and admiration of hierarchical materials. Her project focuses on the characterization of sea cucumber dermis, with the hopes of its use as a tunable scaffold in tissue engineering. Outside of the lab, Nathalie enjoys bouldering, hiking, and getting ice cream with friends.

Originally from Burlington, Ontario, Abbileigh received her HBSc in Chemical Biology just down the road at McMaster University. After working on her undergraduate thesis project, she fell in love with materials chemistry which led her to join the Harrington Group for graduate school. Currently, she is working on characterizing various types of mussels (specifically, their byssus formation) with the goal of creating new bio-inspired materials. In her free time, Abbileigh loves to play sports, try new food spots, go shopping, and take naps.

Coming from Lebanon and completing her bachelor's degree in chemistry at American University of Beirut in 2019, Lucia decided to discover what nature has provided us with strategies in order to enhance bio-materials. Mussel byssus fabrication will be her focus of interest, a process throughout which step by step chemi- cal and physical transformations occur and are yet to be tracked. Outside of the science world, she would be playing sports, jogging around the park, and searching for nice views to sketch or paint.

Born and raised in Mexico City, where he completed his bachelor's degree and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and UAM (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana), respectively, David was awarded a CONACYT scholarship to pursue his doctoral studies abroad. Now he is a Ph.D. candidate from the Materials Modeling Research Group and the Dorval Lab in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and the Harrington Lab in the Department of Chemistry at McGill University. His project involves the in-silico study of Liquid Crystals, their presence in biological systems just as the one seen in the mussel byssus, and the founding principles that lead them to their transformation into materials with remarkable properties. When not involved in research or at McGill, you can find him at some cafe/food places trying out new food or enjoying a cup of coffee while he lurks through the immeasurable music realm looking for new songs/bands or the next concert in town. His interests besides music are drawing, reading, and long walks.