海角社区

Dominique L枚uer听(PhD, Communication Sciences and Disorders)

Winner: First prize听

Dominique is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Communication Sciences and Disorders specializing in neurolinguistics. Her research explores the intersection of bilingualism, brain function, and aging. Drawing from a multidisciplinary background in linguistics, psychology, and practical experience in various fields, she advocates for holistic aging solutions, emphasizing the importance of factors like bilingualism in maintaining cognitive health. As a Three Minute Thesis finalist, she passionately shares how language can enhance quality of life across generations. Her talk,听鈥淏ilingualism鈥檚 Protective Effect on Aging,鈥� won first prize.

Manon Fantino (PhD, Human Nutrition)

Winner: First place (French)

Manon est en deuxi猫me ann茅e de doctorat en nutrition humaine. Sensibilis茅e 脿 la nutrition depuis longtemps gr芒ce 脿 sa pratique sportive, elle s鈥檈st passionn茅e pour la recherche afin de mieux comprendre les m茅canismes du corps humain en interaction avec l鈥檃limentation. Ses recherches actuelles se concentrent sur le r么le des facteurs g茅n茅tiques et environnementaux dans les comportements alimentaires et les troubles m茅taboliques tels que l'ob茅sit茅. En parall猫le de son doctorat, Manon travaille 脿 temps partiel comme nutritionniste dans une clinique priv茅e, ce qui lui permet de mieux comprendre les d茅fis auxquels font face les patients au quotidien. Sa presentation, 鈥溾�橨e vois, donc je mange鈥� - Instagram,鈥� a remport茅 le premier prix.

Michael Luo听(MD-PhD, Integrated Program in Neuroscience)

Winner: Second place

Michael is doing his PhD in the Petrecca Lab where he studies the origins of brain cancer and works on developing new treatments. His personal experiences caring for family members with cancer inspired him to focus on cancer research. He is training to become a clinician-scientist to translate lab findings into innovations that will improve quality of life for cancer patients. When Michael is not in the lab, you can find him practicing archery, training for a marathon, or trying out a new slow cooker recipe.

Dominique Lumley听(MD-PhD, Integrated Program in Neuroscience)

Winner: Third place

Michael is doing his PhD in the Petrecca Lab where he studies the origins of brain cancer and works on developing new treatments. His personal experiences caring for family members with cancer inspired him to focus on cancer research. He is training to become a clinician-scientist to translate lab findings into innovations that will improve quality of life for cancer patients. When Michael is not in the lab, you can find him practicing archery, training for a marathon, or trying out a new slow cooker recipe. Dominique听was awarded Third place for her talk 鈥淯nravelling the Enduring Effects of Child Abuse on Perineuronal Nets.鈥�

Shamika Shenoy (PhD, Human Genetics)

Winner: People's Choice award

Shamika is a first-year Ph.D. student in human genetics whose passion for biology was kindled early on. With a mind brimming with questions about the human body鈥檚 intricate workings, she embarked on a quest to decode the secrets of our genetic code and its impact on human health. At Cuella-Martin Lab, Shamika delves to understand genes involved in the DNA damage response pathways, particularly in cell cycle regulation, breast cancer development and our immune system鈥檚 adaptability. Shamika was voted winner of the People's Choice award for her talk听鈥淒ecoding Immunity for Future Vaccines.鈥�

Michael Ilagan (PhD, Experimental Psychology)

Michael is a fourth-year PhD candidate in quantitative psychology. Bringing together machine learning and psychometrics, Michael's research provides social scientists with statistically-sound tools to better support their theories. Michael earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of the Philippines Diliman and a master's degree in statistics at the University of Calgary. Outside research, Michael enjoys fencing and watching other people play videogames.

Alexandra Goudreau (PhD, Experimental Medicine)

Alexandra is a second-year PhD student in Experimental Medicine. She completed her bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees at the University of Ottawa, where she had a hard time picking a lane. Through proposals and projects across topics such as vaccine development, placental immunology, and exercise physiology, she developed a passion for bench to bedside research, moving discoveries in the lab towards treatments and policies that help real people. She is currently applying this to her research on the tumor microenvironment, working to connect molecular findings to new therapies for breast cancer. She is also an obsessive reader, and has enough on her TBR list to last her nine lifetimes.

Corentin Conan (PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Corentin est un doctorant en g茅nie 茅lectrique et informatique. Il a choisi de poursuivre une carri猫re en g茅nie a茅ronautique l鈥櫭塩ole Nationale de l鈥橝viation Civile. Il s'est sp茅cialis茅 en interaction homme-machine et sur les interfaces utilisateur de syst猫mes critiques. Il a ensuite d茅m茅nag茅 脿 Montr茅al pour participer 脿 un projet de recherche sur l'impact des futurs concepts op茅rationnels sur les pilotes, et comment les accommoder de mani猫re 脿 respecter les contraintes humaines de ces derniers. En parall猫le, il poursuit sa licence de pilote priv茅 pour acqu茅rir de l'exp茅rience sur le terrain et mieux appr茅hender les contraintes op茅rationnelles de son domaine de recherche.

Yu Gu (PhD, Biochemistry)

Yu is a PhD student in Biochemistry at 海角社区. During her undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia, she developed a keen interest in understanding how the human immune system fights cancer and, more interestingly, how tumors can evade it. This interest led her to pursue graduate studies at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, where she is investigating the intricate collaboration between cancer cells and non-cancer cells, contributing to disease relapse in patients. Beyond her lab bench, Yu enjoys reading and trying new foods around the city.

Rebecca Marie Bellworthy (PhD, Human Genetics)

Rebecca is an international PhD candidate in the department of Human Genetics. Her research focuses on how the immune system functions in parasitic diseases, with a focus on malaria. During an elective in Ghana as part of her medical degree, she felt powerless to treat children with malaria that has spread to the brain and pivoted to pursue a PhD in this field. Outside of the lab, she is kept busy by her two-year-old daughter who is, so far, a willing partner in her various cycling and skiing adventures.

Mehtab Singh (PhD, Plant Science)

Mehtab obtained his B.Sc. Agriculture (Honours), with a gold medal in plant breeding and genetics from Punjab Agricultural University, India. Why plants look different yet similar always captivated him, but he was unaware of the science behind it, which motivated him to pursue a career in plant science. He joined Singh labs as a Master鈥檚 student and later fast- tracked to a Ph.D. He aims to adapt spring oats to Canadian Agro-climatic conditions by genetically tweaking the flowering genes. He loves product photography and can shoot up your business sales with his stunning shots.

Rania Gamal (PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Rania is a PhD student in the Photonics Systems Group. Growing up, she felt like physics was the closest thing to real-life wizardry; this led her down an eclectic path that started with a major in electronics and communications engineering and ended with research in biosensing using photonics. She began designing silicon-based diagnostic devices in 2012. Her current research centers on creating highly sensitive microcavity biosensors for early- detection using mass-producible technologies. She is passionate about equity-centered engineering and puts effort towards constructing designs that are affordable and accessible across various socioeconomic backgrounds.

Yuxin Zhou (PhD, Human Genetics)

Yuxin est 茅tudiante au Doctorat en g茅n茅tique humaine. Elle est d'origine chinoise et pr茅sentera ses recherches en fran莽ais, qui est sa troisi猫me langue. Durant son baccalaur茅at 脿 l'Universit茅 海角社区, Yuxin a d茅velopp茅 une grande passion pour l鈥檌nformatique et la sant茅 humaine, une combinaison qui l'a pouss茅e 脿 d茅brouiller le code g茅n茅tique. Cet int茅r锚t l'a amen茅e 脿 poursuivre directement un doctorat en g茅n茅tique pour continuer son exploration en sant茅 humaine. Et maintenant, plongeons ensemble dans l鈥檜nivers captivant de la bio- informatique et des myst茅rieux codes g茅n茅tiques avec Yuxin.

Samantha Dizon (Master's, Entomology)

Samantha completed her B.Sc. in Biology at the University of Ottawa, and while working at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, she developed a passion for plant-insect interactions and insect biodiversity with a particular love for all things flies. This led her to pursue a master鈥檚 degree with Dr. Jessica Gillung at the Lyman Entomological Museum. Her research focuses on the effects of agriculture on pollinator diversity in Quebec cranberry farms. Outside of research, Samantha is passionate about science communication and outreach, and in her spare time, she spends hours baking and painting.

Mariaelisa Polsinelli (PhD, Bioresource Engineering)

Mariaelisa has just begun the 1st year of their PhD in bioresource engineering after accepting an offer to fast-track from the master鈥檚 program. Their passion for food, sense of adventure, and interdisciplinary background in both computer science and agriculture has led them to explore food-systems around the world and to their current research topic: applying new technologies to model farm fields funded by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. After graduation, they hope to continue work on creating tools to support food security and farmer resilience in the face of climate change.

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