Amy Thachil
PhD Student
Amy completed her Master’s degree in Experimental Medicine at UBC. She joined the Blydt-Hansen research team as a Research Assistant in November 2023. She is primarily involved in transplant-focused research, including the HOPE SOT, SOT Biobank, and NAPRTCS studies.
Phillip Ly
MSc Student
Phillip is an Immunology and Neuroscience graduate from the University of Toronto. He joined the Blydt-Hansen research team as a research assistant in January 2025. He is involved in chronic kidney disease and transplant-related projects, including FIT4KID, PROACT, and SOT Biobank.
Kelsey Lynch
Research Manager
Kelsey has a Master of Science in Genetic Counselling from the University of British Columbia. She has worked previously in clinical and research genetic counselling settings. Kelsey has managed research projects at the University of British Columbia for over 10 years. She joined the team in April 2026 as the Research Manager. Kelsey has a strong personal interest in the Solid Organ Transplant Lab's goal to evaluate and improve the quality of life experienced by transplant recipients. One of her family members was the first person in Canada to receive a third double lung transplant.
Mike Guron
Database Manager & Analyst
Mike has a Master of Data Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia. He has previously worked with the Solid Organ Transplant research team as a Research Assistant and rejoined the team as a Database Manager and Analyst in September 2025. Mike's current work focuses on projects investigating biomarkers of rejection, with the aim of improving transplant outcomes for pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. He is passionate about applying data-driven approaches to advance patient care and support clinical decision-making.
Kennedy Austin
Research Assistant
Kennedy is a BSc Molecular Biology and Genetics graduate from McMaster University, and a MSc Medical Genetics graduate from UBC. She joined the Blydt-Hansen laboratory in September 2025. Her research projects include clinical drug trials for children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease, as well as pilot trials identifying biomarkers for transplant rejection. She is involved in the FIT4KID study, PROACT, Torque-Tino Virus study, BEAT-BK virus study, and TACKLE-IT.
Mattias Hui
Research Assistant
Mattias is a BSc Biology graduate from UBC. He joined the Blydt-Hansen laboratory in September 2026. He currently focuses on research aimed at improving outcomes in children and adolescents with kidney transplants, including clinical drug trials, pharmacokinetic studies, and research investigating transplant complications. A few studies he is currently involved in are the CIHR and Kidney Foundation PK studies, BEAT-BK, ADVANTage, Anti-Nephrin, as well as the TRIO studies.
Fun fact: Mattias was named after former Vancouver Canuck Mattias Öhlund and grew up playing ice hockey.
Caitlyn Chan
Worklearn Research Assistant
Caitlyn is a fourth year Biochemistry student from UBC. She joined the Blydt-Hansen research team as an undergraduate research assistant in June 2025.