2026 Women+ in Science

Meet the Mentors!

2026 Women+ in Science In-Person Session

Nasim Abrishami (she/her/hers) Station #3: Inside the Lab: A Day in the Life of a Researcher

Tibbits Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Department of Biological Sciences, SFU Research Area: Cardio-oncology and toxicology Fun Fact: A toxicology course in Nasim’s last year of undergrad changed her trajectory from studying medicine to pursuing toxicological research.

Maddy Baron (she/her/hers)

Station #7: Inside the Lab: A Day in the Life of a Researcher Digital Health Innovation Lab, BC Children’s Hosptial Master’s Student, School of Biomedical Engineering, UBC Research Area: Biomedical engineering Fun Fact: Druring her undergraduate degree, Maddy was a member of the varsity figure skating team, which helped her develop valuable soft skills alongside the STEM knowledge she

Anguli Bharmota (she/her/hers) Station #3: Inside the Lab: A Day in the Life of a Researcher

Brussoni Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences, UBC Research Area: Children’s mental and physical health Fun Fact: Anguli lived on the island in Victoria her whole life and studied at the University of Victoria before starting her Master’s at UBC.

Dr. Liza Boyar (she/her/hers)

Station #11: Inside the Lab: A Day in the Life of a Researcher Masse Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Research Area: Public health and nutrition programs/policies Fun Fact: Liza is a registered dietitian.

Laura Chan (she/her/hers)

Station #11: Inside the Lab: A Day in the Life of a Researcher Leavitt Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Research Area: Rare genetic disorders Fun Fact: Working in a cardiovascular disease lab during her undergraduate studies sparked Laura’s passion for research and ultimately led her to pursue graduate studies in rare neurological disorders.

Julia Chen (she/her/hers)

Station #15: Thriving in University Jessri Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Food, Nutrition and Health, UBC Research Area: Nutritional epidemiology Fun Fact: Although Julia earned her undergraduate degree and became a registered dietitian from UBC, and is now in her fourth year of a PhD while raising a young child, her journey took 10 years of undergraduate studies to find her path and achieve her goals.

Hannah Cohen (she/her/hers) Station #2: Finding Your Path in STEM

Elliott Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Research Area: Healthcare implementation science Fun Fact: Hannah moved across the country to pursue her master’s degree in Vancouver, even though she’d never even been to Vancouver before.

Dr. Jessica Dawson (she/her/hers) Station #2: Finding Your Path in STEM

Hayden Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Research Area: Huntington disease and human genetics Fun Fact: Jessica is originally from South Africa, where 90% of the researchers in her former Human Genetics Department were women.

Colleen Farrell (she/her/hers) Station #8: Imposter Syndrome in STEM

Karakochuk Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Land and Food Systems, UBC Research Area: Human nutrition Fun Fact: Colleen is a Registered Dietitian who returned to university to pursue research in maternal health after working in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Dr. Emma Finlayson-Trick (she/her/hers)

Station #10: Finding Your Path in STEM Goldfarb Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Clinical Resident, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC Research Area: Microbiology and infectious diseases Fun Fact: For one of her first research projects, Emma turned science into art by using genes from blueberries to make bacteria blue.

Makayla Freeman (they/them/theirs) Station #9: Breaking Barriers – Challenging Stereotypes in STEM

Tomfohr-Madsen Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, UBC Research Area: Perinatal mental health Fun Fact: Makayla studied abroad during their undergraduate degree at a university in northern Sweden.

Jessica Friesen (she/her/hers) Station #10: Finding Your Path in STEM

Bettinger Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences, UBC Research Area: Vaccine hesitancy Fun Fact: Jessica’s journey through university has been anything but linear. She reached where she is today by overcoming obstacles and exploring different paths until she found where she was meant to be. Jessica also completed her Bachelor of Health Science degree in both French and English.

Maria Garcia Rivas (she/her/hers) Station #6: Thriving in University

Reid & Lange Research Teams, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Experimental Medicine, UBC Research Area: Pediatric leukemia Fun Fact: Maria went to Ghana to collaborate with local professionals in understanding and developing technologies tailored for rural and underserved communities.

Maira Jimenez (she/her/hers)

Station #1: Breaking Barriers – Challenging Stereotypes in STEM Vallance Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Experimental Medicine, UBC Research Area: Gut health Fun Fact: Maira is honoured to be part of the Falling Walls Female Science Talents program in Germany. Proof that dreams really do come true.

Alison Luo (she/her/hers) Station #6: Thriving in University

Yong Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences, UBC Research Area: Endometriosis Fun Fact: Alison’s journey into STEM began in biomedical engineering, but after interning at a women’s health startup, she was inspired to pursue women’s health sciences.

Maggie (Wei Jen) Ma (she/her/hers) Station #14: Thriving in University

Sly Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Research Area: Inflammatory bowel disease and drug delivery Fun Fact: A co-op placement in a lab during her undergraduate studies inspired Maggie to pursue a career in research.

At BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Women’s Health Research Institute and BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services Research Institute, we are proud to support the next generation of health scientists.

At this unique event, you will have the opportunity to connect with inspiring leaders and mentors who are making groundbreaking discoveries and innovations in research.

Hannah Nelson (she/her/hers)

Station #4: Representation Matters – Women and Minorities in STEM Goldfarb Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Department of Medicine, UBC Research Area: Infectious disease diagnostics Fun Fact: Before joining clinical research at BC Children’s Hospital, Hannah spent several years conducting kinesiology research at the UBC Environmental Physiology Lab.

Lulu Pei (she/her/hers)

Station #5: The Impact of Global Health Studies Karakochuk Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Food, Nutrition and Health, UBC Research Area: Perinatal nutrition Fun Fact: Lulu’s academic journey has followed a fairly “traditional” path, completing all her studies at the same institution along the standard timeline. Now, she’s slowing down to explore new career opportunities and discover her passions and interests. It’s not a race – it’s never too late to start something new!

Elakkiya Prabaharan (she/her/hers) Station #4: Representation Matters – Women and Minorities in STEM Beristain Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UBC Research Area: Placenta biology Fun Fact: Before beginning her graduate studies, Elakkiya worked for two years as a professional medical editor.

Dr. Thais Rangel Bousquet Carrilho (she/her/hers)

Station #13: The Impact of Global Health Studies Hutcheon Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UBC Research Area: Perinatal and nutritional epidemiology Fun Fact: Thais is a member of a World Health Organization Steering Committee and is leading the data analysis to develop global pregnancy weight gain charts.

Elly Shin (she/her/hers)

Station #12: Representation Matters – Women and Minorities in STEM Carleton Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Medical Genetics, UBC Research Area: Pharmacogenomics Fun Fact: Elly started her research journey in Ontario.

Laura Simonson (she/her/hers) Station #15: Thriving in University

Loucks Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Genome Science and Technology Program, UBC Research Area: Pharmacogenomics Fun Fact: Laura began as a rotation student, gaining experience in several different labs before joining her current one.

Mattison Stojcic (she/her/hers) Station #14: Thriving in University

Turvey Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Department of Experimental Medicine, UBC Research Area: Rare disease Fun Fact: Before discovering her passion for rare disease research, Mattison planned to pursue forensics – and now she gets to use those same problem-solving skills to uncover genetic mysteries.

Dr. Tasha Wainstein (she/her/hers) Station #8: Imposter Syndrome in STEM

Selby Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, UBC Research Area: Genetic counselling Fun Fact: Tasha’s professional career journey spans two continents: Africa and North America.

Dr. Emily Wiesenthal (she/her/hers) Station #9: Breaking Barriers – Challenging Stereotypes in STEM

Clinical Resident, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UBC Research Area: Obstetrics and women’s health Fun Fact: Emily earned a degree in the humanities and still ended up in medicine! She never imagined she would become a surgeon when she began her career.

Mathilde Wilhelmy (she/her/hers)

Station #12: Representation Matters – Women and Minorities in STEM Lunken Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Master’s Student, Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences, UBC Research Area: Microbiome and nutrition Fun Fact: Mathilde was working as a dietitian when she decided to go back to school to specialize in the gut microbiome, even though she had no prior lab experience.

Enav Zusman (she/her/hers)

Station #16: Imposter Syndrome in STEM Oberlander Research Team, BC Children’s Hospital Doctoral Student, Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences, UBC Research Area: Epidemiology Fun Fact: Enav is a first generation academic!

Education and Training What do all those acronyms and academic titles mean? Our Women in Science+ faculty represents a variety of educational backgrounds. While everyone has a unique career path, training could look something like this:

Type of Training

Anticipated Degree/Title

Undergraduate Student

BSc (Science)

Medical Student

Master’s Student

Doctoral Student

Postdoctoral Fellow

Clinical Resident

Definition Individual enrolled in an undergraduate program at a college or university to study a subject of their choice.

Average Time to Complete 4-5 years

Individual enrolled in a medical school program with the goal of becoming a licensed physician.

4 years

MSc (Science)

Individual enrolled in a graduate program providing advanced training and specialization in a particular field or discipline.

2-3 years

PhD

Doctoral Student: Individual pursuing a doctoral degree program. Doctoral students are engaged in advanced research, coursework, and often have teaching responsibilities related to their field of study.

4-6 years

PDF

I​ndividual who has completed a doctoral degree and is seeking further training in a particular area of research.

1-3 years

N/A (MD Completed)

Individual who has completed medical school and is undergoing specialized training in a particular field of medicine (ex. family medicine, pediatrics, surgery, etc.).

After residency, some doctors do additional subspeciality training called a fellowship.

2-7 years depending on speciality

MD

Outreach Opportunities Looking for additional opportunities to get involved in research and health sciences?

Check out the resources below to see the different types of outreach programs available for high school students.

Program Name

Mini Med School Vancouver

Mini Med School Self-Directed

Discovery Days in Health Sciences

External Opportunities

Audience

Description

Grades 11-12

This popular lecture series uses big ideas, big discoveries and big names to engage high school students in learning and discussion about health research topics. Each course curriculum is designed to give a general understanding of a specific field by exploring the latest basic science research, clinical applications and social and ethical implications.

Grades 8-12

High school students throughout BC & Yukon can experience past Mini Med School recordings online at any time and from anywhere. Participants in our self-directed program are also eligible to receive an electronic certificate of participation by submitting a program form.

Grades 10-12

Discovery Days in Health Sciences is a oneday event that gives high school students the opportunity to explore a variety of career options in medicine and the health sciences. Organized by The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, the day comprises a dynamic keynote lecture, hands-on workshops, and a career panel discussion.

Varied

Students interested in learning more about research may want to explore other programs offered virtually or in-person in BC. Please note BC Children’s Hospital is not affiliated with these external programs. For any questions, please contact the program organizers directly.