The Edmonton S2BN Chapter partners with regional stakeholders to organize career development and networking events for STEM and Health/Life Sciences graduate trainees. Our aim is to support the growth of Alberta's Health and Life Sciences sector by preparing highly qualified personnel for a career path outside of academia.
Interested in joining the team? Fill out this form to let us know.
Quinn Storozynsky
Co-President
PhD Candidate
Quinn is pursuing a Ph.D. through the Department of Oncology. His research focuses on improving the treatment of aggressive brain cancers by combining oncolytic vaccinia virus immunotherapy with radiotherapy. He hopes new knowledge generated through his studies will reveal strategies for killing cancer cells resistant to, or “missed” by radiotherapy– preventing deadly cancer recurrences and uncovering more effective cancer treatment strategies.
Gina Sykes
Communications/Marketing Coordinator
MSc Student
Gina is an M.Sc. student in the Division of Neurology with the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta. She is researching the acute immune response to ischemic stroke in elderly stroke patients with the goal of providing insights to help improve stroke outcome.
Bingcheng (Ted) Jiang
Social Media/Marketing Coordinator
PhD Candidate
Ted is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Oncology. His research is exploring the consequences of genetic mutations and DNA damage, mainly focused on neurological diseases and brain cancers.
Mira Shenouda
Co-President
PhD Candidate
Mira is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on using a state-of-the-art technique to study unique genetic elements in the vaccinia virus genome that play a role in virus attenuation. The approach used in her research can revolutionize the ability to make safer vaccine vectors and personalized therapies for cancer in a timely manner, leading to better patient outcome.
Jay Gamma
Treasurer
MSc Student
Jay is an MSc student in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta. His research is exploring the importance of myristoylation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, and assess the efficacy and functionality of Pacylex Pharmaceutical's drug candidate PCLX-001 as a novel, first-in-class treatment for AML and related cancers.
Nadia Daniel
Vice President/EDI Liason
PhD Candidate
Nadia joined S2BN to apply her event planning skills to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Nadia is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms underlying the development of allergic diseases. The main focus is the role of barrier function in airway epithelial cells using in vitro and ex vivo human models. Her research will improve our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of the barrier function in the airway epithelium.
Farah Elawar
Logistics Coordinator
PhD Candidate
Farah is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology. Her research is on the epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in North America. By sequencing clinical isolates, we are better able to elucidate viral behaviour in the community, thereby improving public health surveillance of this seasonal virus.
Brittany Umer
Event Coordinator
PhD Candidate
Brittany is a PhD student in the Medical Microbiology and Immunology program the University of Alberta. Her research investigates methods of improving oncolytic vaccinia virus immunotherapy for breast cancer treatment.
Quinten Kieser
Outreach Coordinator
PhD Student
Quinten is completing his degree through the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. His research focuses on understanding the entry mechanism used by respiratory syncytial virus in hopes of identifying new therapeutic targets.
