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Kian Yousefi Kousha
Kian is receiving a master’s degree in neuroscience from McMaster’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. His research focused on a clinical trial exploring the effects of treating postpartum depression on infant brain development, supported by the prestigious CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship. Before his graduate studies, Kian conducted research at McMaster’s LIVELab and the Department of Pediatric Neurology. He also co-led the McMaster Synthetic Biology Research Team, earning a silver medal at iGEM, the world’s largest synthetic biology competition. Kian’s contributions go beyond academics. As the 2022 Albert Lager Prize recipient, he has significantly impacted the McMaster community. He hosts and produces SciSection on 93.3FM radio station, simplifying science for lay audiences and interviewing experts from across the world. Additionally, he co-led the McMaster SickKids Club in writing a children’s book, with proceeds donated to SickKids hospital. Kian is also a long-term celebrated volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross. |
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Dr. John Ioannidis, D.Sc.
Dr. John Ionnidis is the world’s leading authority on the credibility of medical research and a leading figure in the field of evidence-based medicine. He is a professor of medicine and of epidemiology and population health in the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the former director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center and is co-director of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS). His 2005 paper titled “Why most published research findings are false” helped launch the field of meta-science, revealing how often researchers can develop the wrong conclusions. The paper now ranks as the most-accessed publication in the history of the Public Library of Science. The author of more than 1,200 scholarly papers, Dr. Ionnidis is among the top ten most-cited scientists globally. He is a compelling advocate for sound research principles, having delivered more than 700 talks and lectures worldwide. Particularly in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was a strong evidence-based voice in the media, appearing on national broadcasts and writing for publications including The Washington Post, The Guardian and Maclean’s. Dr. Ionnidis was previously chair of the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology at the University of Ioannina Medical School and director of the Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Modeling at Tufts University. He has served on the executive board of the Human Genome Epidemiology Network and as senior advisor on knowledge integration for the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Ionnidis has been president of both the Association of American Physicians and the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the Association of American Physicians and several other professional academies while also receiving the inaugural Harwood Prize for Intellectual Courage from the American Institute for Economic Research. His list of honours includes the Albert Stuyvenberg Medal from the European Society of Clinical Investigation, the European Award for Excellence in Clinical Science and the Chanchlani Award for Epidemiology. |
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Dr. Lin Li
Dr. Lin Li is a Registered Nurse interested in improving health services and systems for children, youth, and families. She completed a PhD in Nursing at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Strachan. Her doctoral work, funded by the SickKids Foundation and CIHR, explored family experiences with the transition to adult care for youth with medical complexity. Lin is also a founding member of the national Transition Hub and co-chair of a subcommittee focused on facilitating access to information on services to support youth transitions to adult care across Canada. Currently, Lin is a CIHR Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Under the supervision of Drs. Kristin Cleverley and Yona Lunsky, she aims to understand care experiences, and health and social outcomes, of neurodiverse youth who are aging out of child and adolescent mental health services. |
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Dr. Deborah Sloboda
Dr. Deborah Sloboda is a Professor and the Associate Chair of Research in the Dept of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University. She currently holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Early Origins of Health and Disease and has published >145 papers and book chapters on the early life origins of health and disease. Dr. Sloboda investigates how early life factors impact maternal, fetal and placental development in a way that leads to an increased risk of disease; the Developmental (or Early) Origins of Health and Disease. She investigates parental dietary impacts on pregnancy adaptations, including the microbiome and placental vasculogenesis and offspring reproductive and metabolic function. In community-based studies, she engages with expectant mothers and services that support pregnant people and leads an arts-based knowledge translation/science communication program (The Art of Creation) in partnership with the Art Gallery of Hamilton to translate early origins science to the public to advocate for improved preconception health. Dr. Sloboda previously held a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Programming from 2012-2022. In 2015, she was awarded the International Society of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Award for outstanding research in the field of early origins science, in 2017 won the Hamilton YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Science, Trade and Technology, and was one of the founding co-Presidents of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Society of Canada. She was the Secretary of the International Society for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease for 10 years. |
