Sofia Graham

Sofia Graham is a Research Fellow at the School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) of the University of British Columbia (UBC), working under Dr. Govind Kaigala. She holds a dual doctoral degree in Biotechnology Engineering (Technion Israel Institute of Technology) and Technical Chemistry (Leibniz University Hannover). Her research focuses on developing microfluidic technologies to study cell communication, particularly in cancer and immune systems. She has received prestigious awards including the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship and Israel’s VATAT Fellowship.

Education:

• PhD in Biotechnology Engineering (Technion Israel Institute of Technology)
• Simultaneous PhD in Technical Chemistry (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)

Research Interests: Sofia pioneers open space microfluidics and reconfigurable microfluidics to analyze cell interactions at high spatial and temporal resolution. Her work targets cancer cell invasiveness, immune-cancer interactions, and medical diagnostics using biosensors such as porous silicon platforms. Her technologies aim to improve precision in diagnosing pathological conditions like cancer and autoimmunity.

Awards:

• 2023: Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
• Previous: Israel’s VATAT Postdoctoral Fellowship for Women in Science

Advising & Grants: Currently supported by the Killam Fellowship, Sofia contributes to establishing cutting-edge research at UBC, focusing on translational biomedical engineering.

Labs & Teams: Core member of Dr. Kaigala’s lab, actively involved in UBC’s SBME research initiatives.