Alyssa Anand is a driven scholar entering her fourth year of study in Cellular, Physiological, and Pharmacological Sciences at USask. Alyssa's passion for neuroscience and research is deeply rooted in her desire to address prevalent issues like multiple sclerosis (MS) in Saskatchewan. Her academic journey is marked by a relentless pursuit of knowledge and self-improvement, fuelled by the support of her peers and mentors in the laboratory. Beyond her academic pursuits, Alyssa finds joy in various activities such as soccer and swimming. She harbours a deep affection for animals, particularly dogs, and has channeled this passion into action by founding an Animal Protection Club at the University of Saskatchewan. Through this initiative, Alyssa has spearheaded fundraising efforts benefiting animal shelter organizations like the Regina Humane Society and Saskatoon SPCA. Moreover, as a volunteer for the Canadian Blood Services and as a Student Ambassador at the University of Saskatchewan, she enjoys giving back to her larger community and has learned how to be a positive addition to the university environment and beyond.
Annika grew up in Regina and completed her first year of studies at the University of Regina as a pre-med student. She has since transferred to the University of Saskatchewan in order to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences. She is specifically interested in Neuroscience and hopes to apply to the College of Medicine upon completion of her degree. She was first introduced to MS in high school, as a former teacher of hers had MS and often talked openly about living with this neurodegenerative disease. Her interest in MS research has only peaked since looking into the prevalence of MS within Saskatchewan. Outside of school, you will probably find Annika watching a Toronto Raptors game (she even has a tattoo dedicated to the Raptors), playing with her kitten Herbert, or reading a new book.
Bhadrapriya was born in a small town in Kerala, the southernmost region of India. Her family later migrated to Bangalore, a city in India. As a child, she was always interested in biology and hence completed a triple major Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology from CHRIST University, Bangalore in 2020. During her Bachelor’s, she attended a seminar at the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore where her interest in neurosciences peaked. She got accepted into CHRIST University, India for a Master’s in Biotechnology in 2020. Under the guidance of Dr. Suma, she published 2 book chapters and a review paper during the pandemic. She received a meritorious scholarship for her grades during her Master’s. She then completed her Master’s thesis at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, India in neurosciences and secured a distinction in her final exams. She joined as a Ph.D. student at Dr. Krishnan’s lab, CMSNRC in October 2022. Outside of the lab, she is a dancer and loves reading, hiking, binge-watching TV shows, and café-hopping.
Catherine grew up on a farm near Assiniboia in southern Saskatchewan, spending most of her time outdoors where she developed a love of nature. In high school, her favourite subject was biology—especially molecular biology—so after high school she decided to attend university and study biochemistry. Upon completion of her BSc at the University of Saskatchewan, she pursued graduate studies at the Saskatoon Cancer Centre where she studied potential treatments for chronic myelogenous leukemia. After completing her MSc, she worked as a research technician in several laboratories and assisted with research projects spanning an array of disciplines, from infectious disease and immunology to neuroscience. In 2018, Catherine joined the lab of Dr. Michael Levin at the Cameco MS Neuroscience Research Centre where she assisted with research designed to help uncover the underlying mechanisms of neurodegeneration in MS. In 2021, Catherine was promoted to an administrative position within the Office of the Saskatchewan MS Clinical Research Chair as the Research Executive Assistant to Dr. Michael Levin. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, yoga and travelling.
Connor is a bioinformatician from right here in Saskatoon. He completed a bachelor’s degree with honours in biochemistry from the University in Saskatchewan in 2019. During the course of his undergraduate degree, he began learning computer programming and, as part of his undergraduate honours project, created software for the parsing of manually annotated karyotypes into copy number variation data. This work led to a first-author article in Cancer Research. Following this, Connor committed to pursuing bioinformatics with a master’s degree in computer science supervised by Drs. Scott Napper and Anthony Kusalik; his thesis on the analysis of data from global kinase-mediated cell signalling experiments was successfully defended in 2022. For the year 2023, Connor used his bioinformatics expertise to research cancer with Dr. Franco Vizeacoumar, focusing on next-generation sequencing data analysis and machine learning. Connor is also an avid powerlifter, a trivia expert, and a musician, playing saxophone, piano, and accordion with the Footnotes Jazz Collective, the Saskatoon Concert Band, and the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra, among other groups.
Growing up in rural northern British Columbia where he grew up hunting and fishing, Connor was always interested in how biological systems worked. This led him to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). During his undergraduate studies, he was involved in a variety of research projects ranging from phylogenetics of rainbow trout to primary human mesenchymal stem cell extracellular vesicle characterization. After graduating, he pursued a Master of Science in Biochemistry at UNBC where his thesis focused on characterizing oligodendrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles over cell differentiation. During his master’s degree, he gained a deeper fascination of multiple sclerosis and became interested in understanding the mechanisms that lead to neurodegeneration. This led him to the Levin Lab to pursue a PhD in studying MS neuropathology and the underlying mechanisms that lead to neurodegeneration. In his spare time, Connor enjoys listening to music, hanging out with his cat Momo, and is excited to explore a new city and province.
Fariba was born and raised in Karaj, which is situated near the capital city of Iran. Her interest in biology began in high school, leading her to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology, which she completed in 2011. Subsequently, she pursued a Master’s degree in Genetics, focusing on investigating the impact of miRNA on the expression of the CD1 gene in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. The findings of her research were published in the Journal of Chemical Biology and Drug Design. After graduation, she worked in a molecular diagnostics laboratory for three years, conducting various tests to identify molecular causes of cancer and bacterial and viral diseases. Later, she worked on an industrial biopharmaceutical project as a research assistant and also worked as an R&D manager for a startup manufacturing powder media for insect and mammalian cell lines before leaving her home country. She has always been enthusiastic about exploring new academic and scientific opportunities and counts herself lucky to have found the Levin Lab's website. She became interested in this particular field after reading their articles and researching MS. As a result, she decided to start her Master's degree in September 2023 in Dr. Levin's research lab. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and listening to podcasts and music.
Grayson is an undergraduate student who will be entering his fourth year of Biomedical Neuroscience this fall. He grew up in Prince Albert, where he graduated from high school before moving to Saskatoon to attend the University of Saskatchewan in 2022. His interest in the human brain from an early age has grown into a passion and has led him into a Neuroscience major, allowing him to focus on nervous system processes and pursue an Honours degree under Dr. Levin. While he has intended to pursue medicine since he was in high school, his newfound interest in research has opened his eyes to the possibility to continue his studies in the form of a PhD, MD, or both. During the school year, Grayson mentors students in the College of Arts and Sciences and teaches Structured Study Sessions for students in physics. Outside of his academics, Grayson likes to spend time reading, cooking, and playing Rec sports on campus. He is also an avid outdoorsman and enjoys both camping and outdoor sports, mainly biking, canoeing, and skiing. This summer will be his first in Saskatoon, so he is looking forward to exploring the city on two wheels.
Hannah was born in Pennsylvania where she completed her Bachelor of Science in psychobiology at Lebanon Valley College. During her undergraduate career, Hannah performed research in biochemistry and neural addiction labs, the latter of which sparked an interest in neuroscience research leading her to apply to neuroscience PhD programs. Upon being accepted to the University of Tennessee, Hannah rotated through several neurodegenerative disease research labs before having the opportunity to work with Dr. Michael Levin. She quickly took an interest in MS research and started her PhD thesis research in March 2015 in the Levin Lab. After a move to Saskatoon mid-degree, she completed her PhD in June 2019 with the support of the Dr. Walter and Mary Hader MS Research Scholarship at the University of Saskatchewan. Her thesis research on dysfunctional RNA binding proteins in MS and its models culminated in being awarded the John N. Whitaker Award for Best Overall Research at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of MS Centers. Hannah now works as a Research Associate in the lab and whole-heartedly enjoys designing research projects and mentoring students. Outside of the lab, she likes staying active, cooking, traveling, and the beautiful Saskatchewan summers.
Jay was born in the city of Dasmarinas, Philippines, where he grew up in a typical extended Filipino family. From an early age, he's always had a penchant for studying the mechanics of the natural world. His passion for learning eventually led him to take Biochemistry for his undergraduate degree in 2020. During his Bachelor's, he also represented his institution in nationwide chemistry competitions serving as a team captain. His bachelor's studies deepened his fascination with the medical and physiological implications of various biochemical processes in the body. This passion led him to focus his thesis on designing compounds that takes advantage of HIV processes to inhibit HIV entry into cells. He attended numerous research conferences, participated in research colloquiums, presented his thesis in institutional and international conventions, and his findings have been submitted to the Scientific Reports journal for publication. Graduating as Valedictorian with Summa Cum Laude honours, he saw further education in research as the natural next step. In September 2024, he was lucky enough to join Dr. Levin's lab as an M.Sc. student and be given an opportunity to work with a talented group of scientists. Outside of his academic pursuits, Jay enjoys playing Badminton, watching movies and series, singing karaoke, traveling, and occasionally engaging in painting and art projects. He is particularly excited about experiencing winter sports in Saskatoon, looking forward to new and thrilling adventures.
Born and raised in Saskatoon, Maya is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Saskatchewan in Biomedical Neuroscience. This is her first summer in the lab, and she intends to complete her Honours thesis under Dr. Verge next year. She is especially interested in studying nerve repair and techniques for functional neural recovery. When not in the lab, she enjoys music (especially live), spending time in the sun, thrifting, and reading.
Growing up in rural Saskatchewan, Miranda was always fascinated by neuroscience but only discovered her interest in research when she came to the University of Saskatchewan. There, she started her research career in neurodegenerative disease by studying stroke and imaging brain tissue with the synchrotron at the Canadian Light Source. Her undergraduate research projects sparked her passion for neuropathology and led her to complete her Bachelor of Science in Anatomy and Cell Biology with high honours. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant for a clinical trial at the School of Rehabilitation focused on physiotherapy for people living with MS. This opportunity introduced her to MS research and led her to the Levin Lab, where she started graduate research studying MS neuropathology and the mechanisms of neurodegeneration. After her first year, she decided to expand her research project and transferred from the M.Sc. to the Ph.D. program. In her spare time, Miranda enjoys painting, dancing, and exploring something new.
Nataliya was born in Ukraine and immigrated with her parents at a young age to Ontario, Canada. Just prior to high school, her family made a second big move across the country to Saskatoon. After being taught by an encouraging science teacher in high school, Nataliya developed an interest in biomedical science. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Physiology and Pharmacology. Because of her fascination with neuroscience, she also received a minor in Psychology at that time. With the hope of continuing her studies in the field of neuroscience, Nataliya joined the Verge lab shortly after graduation. In 2020, she received her Master of Science degree in Anatomy and Cell Biology. Nataliya is now a PhD student in the Verge lab continuing her Master’s work to further investigate the effects of a novel non-invasive treatment called acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) in a mouse model of MS. In her free time, she loves camping, winter sports, baking and working on music projects with her siblings!
Nickson grew up in Kannur – a town popularly known as ‘The Land of Looms and Lore’, in the northern part of Kerala, India. He completed his Bachelor’s in Zoology from Sree Narayana College and his Master’s in Zoology from St. Berchmans College; both in Kerala. He is an avid reader of scientific non-fiction books and a relentless follower of crazy ideas in science. That’s how he developed a passion for neuroscience. He joined CMSNRC as a Ph.D. student in the Krishnan lab in May 2023 where he works on breast cancer nerve-tumor interface and its effects on brain metastatic recurrence of breast cancer. Brain metastatic recurrence of breast cancer is a late event and is fatal. He is trying to understand the nerve-tumor interface to explore the prognostic and therapeutic potential of the nerve-dependence of breast cancer to fight the deadly brain metastasis. Apart from academics, he is an admirer of Haruki Murakami’s works and loves reading novels. He is a proponent of scientific temper, and he loves beaches and biryani.
Born and raised in Saskatoon, SK, Patricia found she was a “science person” relatively early on, but got hooked on molecular biology itself during her undergraduate NSERC summer scholarships at the University of Saskatchewan. She went on to get her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the U of S with Dr. Joyce Wilson, studying the molecular biology of Hepatitis C virus. There, she started with an NSERC Master’s scholarship, followed by a PhD scholarship from the CanHepC research network. On the side, she gave tours to people of all ages and educations at the Canadian Light Source, Canada’s only synchrotron. Patricia furthered her virus adventures in the lab of Dr. Benhur Lee at Mount Sinai in New York City for her CIHR-funded postdoctoral fellowship, studying “all things Paramyxovirus” – a family of viruses that includes the all-too-familiar measles and mumps viruses, as well as their more lethal cousins, Nipah and Hendra viruses. Through all of Patricia's research training, she was fascinated by the intricate details of how our cells run, and all the mechanisms our cells employ to keep things from going off the rails. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is highly prevalent here in Saskatchewan and is a quintessential example of intricate and complex processes that have derailed. When she returned to Saskatoon, Patricia saw the opportunity to turn her expertise to the biology of this disease and joined the Levin Lab at the CMSNRC. Currently, she is examining how a protein found in neurons goes awry during progressive stages of MS. In addition, since virus infection is considered a likely trigger for MS onset, she is also exploring how viruses are involved in MS.
