The COBRALab is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to advancing RNA biology, bioinformatics, and computational medicine. Through innovative research and cutting-edge technologies, the lab develops solutions that deepen our understanding of biological systems and support the future of precision healthcare.
The COBRA Lab is a computational biology research group based at the Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering at the University of Alberta, led by Associate Professor Hosna Jabbari. Our mission is to help diagnose and cure human diseases by developing novel diagnostics and RNA therapeutics through cutting-edge techniques in bioinformatics, machine learning, data science, and computational genomics. With a strong focus on RNA transcriptomics, RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions, and the understanding of aging and disease progression, our interdisciplinary team brings together expertise in computer science, molecular biology, and engineering. We collaborate with a growing global network of researchers and students, working on projects ranging from early Alzheimer’s detection and biological age assessment to vaccine efficiency enhancement and gene switch development.
Publications
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Our Mission
Help diagnose and cure human diseases by developing novel diagnostics and RNA therapeutics through research using techniques from bioinformatics, machine learning, data science and computational genomics.
Our Focus
RNA, transcriptomics, RNA-RNA interaction, RNA-protein interaction, RNA therapy
Understanding Aging process and disease progression are new focus of our group, alongside explainable machine learning with applications in medicine.
Our Network
We have a large network of members and collaborators around the world.
Instrumentation calibration
Building and training deep neural networks for tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, speech recognition, and anomaly detection.
servicesThe unique selling points & advantages of our service
- Synthesis of specialized compounds and reagents
- Tailored solutions for specific research needs
- Advanced data analysis services
- Comprehensive interpretation and reporting of results
- Development of prototypes for new products
- Scale-up services for commercial production
- Hands-on training for laboratory techniques and instrumentation
- Workshops on emerging technologies and methodologies
Completed projects
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Alzheimer’s Early Detection: Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.
Alzheimer’s Early Detection: Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Alzheimer’s Early Detection: Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement: Identifying and designing functional structures to boost vaccine efficacy.
Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement: Identifying and designing functional structures to boost vaccine efficacy.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement: Identifying and designing functional structures to boost vaccine efficacy.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Biological Age Assessment
Utilizing RNA methylation to accurately determine biological age, enhancing preventative screenings and optimizing drug dosages.
Alzheimer’s Early Detection
Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.
Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement
Identifying and designing functional structures
to
boost
vaccine
efficacy.
Gene Switch Development
Creating
high
specificity
gene
switches
through
the
design
of
efficient
and
effective RNA molecules.
Science
Publications
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Alzheimer’s Early Detection: Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.Alzheimer’s Early Detection: Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Alzheimer’s Early Detection: Leveraging omics data and insights from related diseases for early Alzheimer’s identification.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement: Identifying and designing functional structures to boost vaccine efficacy.Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement: Identifying and designing functional structures to boost vaccine efficacy.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Vaccine Efficiency Enhancement: Identifying and designing functional structures to boost vaccine efficacy.Integrating neural network models into existing systems or softwa
Project #14 – Creating a Switch: Detecting Common Structural Elements in Splicing (Led by Stephani Da Costa and Supported by Finn Archinuk and Davy Ouedraogo and Sara Joubbi)
Project #14 – Creating a Switch: Detecting Common Structural Elements in Splicing (Led by Stephani Da Costa and Supported by Finn Archinuk and Davy Ouedraogo and Sara Joubbi)14 – Creating a Switch: Detecting Common Structural Elements in Splicing (Led by Stephani Da Costa and Supported by Finn Archinuk and Davy Ouedraogo and Sara Joubbi) Genes contain instr
Project #14 – Creating a Switch: Detecting Common Structural Elements in Splicing (Led by Stephani Da Costa and Supported by Finn Archinuk and Davy Ouedraogo and Sara Joubbi)14 – Creating a Switch: Detecting Common Structural Elements in Splicing (Led by Stephani Da Costa and Supported by Finn Archinuk and Davy Ouedraogo and Sara Joubbi) Genes contain instr
Project #13 – Structural Decoder: Unveiling Functional Motifs in RNA sequences (Led by Finn Archinuk, and supported by Alison Ziesel and Mateo Gray)
Project #13 – Structural Decoder: Unveiling Functional Motifs in RNA sequences (Led by Finn Archinuk, and supported by Alison Ziesel and Mateo Gray)13 – Structural Decoder: Unveiling Functional Motifs in RNA sequences (Led by Finn Archinuk, and supported by Alison Ziesel and Mateo Gray) Cells make proteins by reading RNA messages.
Project #13 – Structural Decoder: Unveiling Functional Motifs in RNA sequences (Led by Finn Archinuk, and supported by Alison Ziesel and Mateo Gray)13 – Structural Decoder: Unveiling Functional Motifs in RNA sequences (Led by Finn Archinuk, and supported by Alison Ziesel and Mateo Gray) Cells make proteins by reading RNA messages.
Project #12 – RNA-Protein interactions (Led by Utkarsh Kalra)
Project #12 – RNA-Protein interactions (Led by Utkarsh Kalra)12- RNA-Protein interactions (Led by Utkarsh Kalra) Proteins and RNA molecules work together inside cells to control many essential biological processes, including how genes are turned on or
Project #12 – RNA-Protein interactions (Led by Utkarsh Kalra)12- RNA-Protein interactions (Led by Utkarsh Kalra) Proteins and RNA molecules work together inside cells to control many essential biological processes, including how genes are turned on or
Project #11- Fast and Efficient RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction (Led by Mateo Gray)
Project #11- Fast and Efficient RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction (Led by Mateo Gray)11- Fast and Efficient RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction (Led by Mateo Gray) RNA molecules are not just simple strings of genetic information. They fold into shapes, and these
Project #11- Fast and Efficient RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction (Led by Mateo Gray)11- Fast and Efficient RNA Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Prediction (Led by Mateo Gray) RNA molecules are not just simple strings of genetic information. They fold into shapes, and these
Project #10 – Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Evaluator (Led by Yahya Al-Shamali and supported by Mateo Gray)
Project #10 – Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Evaluator (Led by Yahya Al-Shamali and supported by Mateo Gray)10 – Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Evaluator (Led by Yahya Al-Shamali and supported by Mateo Gray) RNA molecules are not simply straight strings of genetic material. They fold into
Project #10 – Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Evaluator (Led by Yahya Al-Shamali and supported by Mateo Gray)10 – Pseudoknotted Secondary Structure Evaluator (Led by Yahya Al-Shamali and supported by Mateo Gray) RNA molecules are not simply straight strings of genetic material. They fold into
Project #9 – Dense network analysis (Led by Finn Archinuk)
Project #9 – Dense network analysis (Led by Finn Archinuk)9 – Dense network analysis (Led by Finn Archinuk) Healthy and diseased cells often differ in the small molecules they contain. These molecules, called metabolites, reflect what is happe
Project #9 – Dense network analysis (Led by Finn Archinuk)9 – Dense network analysis (Led by Finn Archinuk) Healthy and diseased cells often differ in the small molecules they contain. These molecules, called metabolites, reflect what is happe
Project #8 – Riboswitch design for Pesticide detection in Honey bees (Led by Lacey Haddon)
Project #8 – Riboswitch design for Pesticide detection in Honey bees (Led by Lacey Haddon)8 – Riboswitch design for Pesticide detection in Honey bees (Led by Lacey Haddon) Honey bees play a vital role in Alberta’s agriculture by pollinating crops and supporting healthy, pr
Project #8 – Riboswitch design for Pesticide detection in Honey bees (Led by Lacey Haddon)8 – Riboswitch design for Pesticide detection in Honey bees (Led by Lacey Haddon) Honey bees play a vital role in Alberta’s agriculture by pollinating crops and supporting healthy, pr
Project #7 – mRNA structuredness (Led by Alison Ziesel, and supported by Mateo Gray and Yahya Al-Shamali)
Project #7 – mRNA structuredness (Led by Alison Ziesel, and supported by Mateo Gray and Yahya Al-Shamali)7 – mRNA structuredness (Led by Alison Ziesel, and supported by Mateo Gray and Yahya Al-Shamali) RNA molecules do more than carry genetic instructions; they also fold into shapes that c
Project #7 – mRNA structuredness (Led by Alison Ziesel, and supported by Mateo Gray and Yahya Al-Shamali)7 – mRNA structuredness (Led by Alison Ziesel, and supported by Mateo Gray and Yahya Al-Shamali) RNA molecules do more than carry genetic instructions; they also fold into shapes that c
Project #6 – miRNA-mRNA interaction (Led by Lacey Haddon and supported by Mateo Gray and Utkarsh Kalra)
Project #6 – miRNA-mRNA interaction (Led by Lacey Haddon and supported by Mateo Gray and Utkarsh Kalra)6 – miRNA-mRNA interaction (Led by Lacey Haddon and supported by Mateo Gray and Utkarsh Kalra) MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that play an important role in controlling gene expressi
Project #6 – miRNA-mRNA interaction (Led by Lacey Haddon and supported by Mateo Gray and Utkarsh Kalra)6 – miRNA-mRNA interaction (Led by Lacey Haddon and supported by Mateo Gray and Utkarsh Kalra) MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that play an important role in controlling gene expressi
Project #5 – Phage Therapy (Led by Davy Ouedraogo and supported by Utkarsh Kalra)
Project #5 – Phage Therapy (Led by Davy Ouedraogo and supported by Utkarsh Kalra)5- Phage Therapy (Led by Davy Ouedraogo and supported by Utkarsh Kalra) Antibiotic-resistant infections are becoming a serious global health threat, making some bacterial infections harder to
Project #5 – Phage Therapy (Led by Davy Ouedraogo and supported by Utkarsh Kalra)5- Phage Therapy (Led by Davy Ouedraogo and supported by Utkarsh Kalra) Antibiotic-resistant infections are becoming a serious global health threat, making some bacterial infections harder to
Project #4 – Aptamer Design (Led by Sara Joubbi, and supported by Mateo Gray)
Project #4 – Aptamer Design (Led by Sara Joubbi, and supported by Mateo Gray)4- Aptamer Design (Led by Sara Joubbi, and supported by Mateo Gray) People with chronic kidney disease often depend on dialysis to clean their blood. However, dialysis does not remove all har
Project #4 – Aptamer Design (Led by Sara Joubbi, and supported by Mateo Gray)4- Aptamer Design (Led by Sara Joubbi, and supported by Mateo Gray) People with chronic kidney disease often depend on dialysis to clean their blood. However, dialysis does not remove all har
Project #3 – CircRNA (Led by Leyana Haile and supported by Sara Joubbi, Utkarsh Kalra and Yahya Al-Shamali)
Project #3 – CircRNA (Led by Leyana Haile and supported by Sara Joubbi, Utkarsh Kalra and Yahya Al-Shamali)3- CircRNA (Led by Leyana Haile and supported by Sara Joubbi, Utkarsh Kalra and Yahya Al-Shamali) Circular RNA therapeutics are an emerging platform for vaccine and therapeutic development be
Project #3 – CircRNA (Led by Leyana Haile and supported by Sara Joubbi, Utkarsh Kalra and Yahya Al-Shamali)3- CircRNA (Led by Leyana Haile and supported by Sara Joubbi, Utkarsh Kalra and Yahya Al-Shamali) Circular RNA therapeutics are an emerging platform for vaccine and therapeutic development be
Project #2 – Variance of Concern prediction (Led by Amirali Loghmani, and supported by Davy Ouedraogo)
Project #2 – Variance of Concern prediction (Led by Amirali Loghmani, and supported by Davy Ouedraogo)2- Variance of Concern prediction (Led by Amirali Loghmani, and supported by Davy Ouedraogo) As SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses continue to evolve, pandemic preparedness requires mov
Project #2 – Variance of Concern prediction (Led by Amirali Loghmani, and supported by Davy Ouedraogo)2- Variance of Concern prediction (Led by Amirali Loghmani, and supported by Davy Ouedraogo) As SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses continue to evolve, pandemic preparedness requires mov
Project #1 – Vaccine Recommendation (Led by Stephani da Costa and Sara Joubbi)
Project #1 – Vaccine Recommendation (Led by Stephani da Costa and Sara Joubbi)1- Vaccine Recommendation (Led by Stephani da Costa and Sara Joubbi) As global health threats emerge and evolve with increasing speed, proactive vaccine design and evaluation are becoming c
Project #1 – Vaccine Recommendation (Led by Stephani da Costa and Sara Joubbi)1- Vaccine Recommendation (Led by Stephani da Costa and Sara Joubbi) As global health threats emerge and evolve with increasing speed, proactive vaccine design and evaluation are becoming c
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Hosna
Hosna JabbariFull Professor of Computational Biology at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta.
Lacey
Lacey HaddonResearch Associate, Biomedical Engineering & Chemistry
Davy
Davy OuedraogoPostdoctoral Fellow, Bioinformatics
Sara
Sara JoubbiPostdoctoral Research Scholar, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta
Alison
Alison ZieselPhD student, Biomedical Engineering
Finn
Finn ArchinukPhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
Mateo
Mateo GrayPhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
Yahya
Yahya Al-ShamaliMaster's Student, Bioinformatics
Stephani
Stephani Da CostaM.Sc. student, in Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta
Utkarsh
Utkarsh KalraM.Sc. Student, Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta
Amirali
Amirali LoghmaniM.Sc. Student in Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta
Leyana
Leyana HaileM.Sc. Student, Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta
Lance
Lance LansingBsC Computer science at the University of Victoria
Hunter
Hunter BurseyBsC. With Honours in Computer Science with in Bioinformatics
Haley
Haley GreenyerM.Sc. in Computer Science with a Bioinformatics
Tara
Tara NewmanM.Sc. in Computer Science with a Bioinformatics
Mina
Mina EmadiMSc in Computer Science
Morgan
Morgan CunninghamMS Statistics and Biology at the University of Victoria
Luke TrinityPhD is a Washington, D.C.
Michael
Michael AmissBSc Biochemistry and Math / MSc in Computer Science at the University of Victoria
Raul
Raul Ivan Perez MartellPhD in Computer Science at the University of Victoria
Sanjay
Sanjay ThiyagarajanMitacs Globalink, Industry
Friederike
Friederike Therese KoerteMitacs Globalink, B.Sc. student, University of Konstanz
Sandra
Sandra TriebelMitacs Globalink, PhD student, University of Jena
Ittiphat
Ittiphat KijpaisansakMitacs Globalink
Sophie
Sophie SigfsteadB.Sc. Mathematics and Computational Science, University of Alberta
Andrew
Andrew HollarBsC Computer science, University of Vermont
Rob
Robert WoodBSc in Computer Science at the University of Victoria
Lea
Lea FriedemannMitacs Globalink student from Germany
Marwa
Marwa GhraiziMitacs Globalink student from Paris, France
Maria
Maria Eduarda Gonzalez Lopes TeixeiraUniversity of Alberta Research Experience (UARE) student
COBRA Lab Through the Years
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