Deborah Pushparajah

Research Associate & Retinal Project Manager

Debbie is working as a research associate and scientist with the Slavcev Research Group. She completed her M.Sc. Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo in December 2022, where she worked on the construction of a hybrid phage display system that can be used for cancer therapeutic applications. She has also worked as a Research Associate with Mediphage Bioceuticals, where she assisted with the development of a polymer and lipid-based nanoparticle carrier for ministring DNA delivery. She is currently working to optimize the iPhAGE system for retinal applications and is integral to the development and optimization of anelloviral vectors for a novel gene therapy platform.

Education

B.Sc. Honours Biology, with Molecular Genetics Specialization, University of Waterloo (2020)
M.Sc. Pharmacy, University of Waterloo (2022)

Contact

deborah.pushparajah@theraphage.bio

PUBLICATIONS:

Wong, S., Jimenez, S., Pushparajah, D., Prakash, R., & Slavcev, R. (2025). A novel miniaturized filamentous phagemid as a gene delivery vehicle to target mammalian cells. Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids, 36(2), 102571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtn.2025.102571
Talebnia, F., Pushparajah, D., Chandrasekaran, S., Hersch, S. J., Nafissi, N., & Slavcev, R. (2023). Application of an electro elution system for direct purification of linear covalently closed DNA fragments. Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences, 1218, 123622.
Pushparajah, D. (2022, December 21). Design of a DNA-Encoded Human Papilloma Virus-Like Particle Displaying a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Antagonistic Peptide for Characterization in Mammalian Cells. UW Space.
Pushparajah, D., Jimenez, S., Wong, S., Alattas, H., Nafissi, N., & Slavcev, R. A. (2021). Advances in gene-based vaccine platforms to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 170, 113–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2021.01.003

Presentations:

Wong, S., Jimenez, S., Pushparajah, D., Prakash, R., Lumini, J., Slavcev, R. (Presented by Julia Lumini). A novel miniaturized filamentous phagemid as a gene delivery vehicle to target mammalian cells. Poster presented at: American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy 28th Annual Meeting. 2025, May 13. New Orleans, Louisiana
Prakash, R., Pushparajah, D., Cheung, S., Hosseinali, M., Lumini, J., Slavcev, R. (Presented by Julia Lumini & Roderick Slavcev). An E. coli-based platform for the production and assembly of anellovirus vectors in vitro for gene therapy platform. Poster presented at: American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy 28th Annual Meeting. 2025, May 13. New Orleans, Louisiana

Interests