May 23, 2025, 6:00 to 7:00PM
Session organized by the CAN Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee
This session is supported by the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO – https://ibro.org/)
The event will begin with a 15-20 min presentation by a representative from Support Our Science, a grassroots organization that played a monumental role in last year’s achievement of increased trainee funding for federal fellowships. This will be followed by an introduction of the panelists (a mix of senior and junior faculty as well as a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow). We will then move onto a question/answer period.
Schedule
1. Welcome
2. Presentation by Shalini Iyer, graduate student, representative of Support our Science
3. Introduction of panelists
- Dr. Sam Weiss, Professor at UCalgary, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction
- Dr. Sarah MacFarlane, Professor at UCalgary,Director of the REALISE Career Development Program
- Dr. Maithe Arruda-Carvalho, Associate Professor at UofT, mid-career researcher
- Dr. Annemarie Dedek, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo, early-career researcher
- Dr. Haley Vecchiarelli, Postdoctoral fellow (Tremblay lab, UVic)
- CGSD-holding PhD student, Adiia Stone (Murray lab, UGuelph)
4. Q&A and open discussion
The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Paul Sheppard (postdoctoral fellow, UWestern) and Olivia Reshmi Ghosh-Swaby (PhD student, UWestern).
Speaker and panelist – Short Bios
Shalini Iyer is a PhD Candidate and NSERC doctoral award holder at the University of British Columbia in the Cembrowski Lab, where she investigates the developmental trajectories of distinct cell types in the brain and how they may be disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders. Beyond her research, Shalini has been a strong advocate for equity in academia. She served on the Executive Council of Support Our Science, a grassroots organization pushing for sustainable research funding, and is an active member of the CAN advocacy team. Her work has contributed to national efforts to increase graduate student and postdoctoral funding in Canada. In today’s presentation, she will speak to the impact of socioeconomic barriers in academia, highlight the advocacy efforts of Support Our Science, and reflect on the future of equitable academic environments and opportunities in Canada.
Dr. Samuel Weiss is Professor of Cell Biology & Anatomy at the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine. In 1985, Dr. Weiss co-discovered the metabotropic glutamate receptor – an important target for pharmaceutical development in the treatment of mental illness. In 1992, Dr. Weiss discovered neural stem cells in the brains of adult mammals, for which he received a Gairdner International Award in 2008. Dr. Weiss was subsequently elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2009) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2014). As an academic leader, Dr. Weiss founded and was inaugural Director of the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (2004-2017). From 2017-2025, Dr. Weiss was Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health – Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction.
Between 2021-2025, together with Drs. Jo Henderson, Steve Mathias and Kyleigh Schraeder, Dr. Weiss established Canada’s first community-based learning health system in mental health – focused on Integrated Youth Services. The pan-Canadian Integrated Youth Services Learning Health System is now an unprecedented collaboration between all of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, in partnership with Indigenous communities. In 2023, Dr. Weiss was inducted into Canada’s Medical Hall of Fame and appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.
Dr. Sarah McFarlane is a Full Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the University of Calgary. Her research program currently focuses on identifying the molecular mechanisms that control retinal establishment and maintenance of visual circuits in the embryo and adult in the healthy and damaged eye. In addition to having supervised over 70 trainees in vision research, Dr. McFarlane has shown considerable leadership in advancing the trainee experience, serving as the Graduate Program Co-Director for Neuroscience (University of Calgary) for 5 years (2007-2012), co-creator of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) Trainee Organization, creator and director of an innovative career development program at the HBI, Research, Education and Leadership in NeuroScience (REALISE) (2012-present), and as the HBI Education Director (2017-present). Dr. McFarlane advocates for, strives toward, and is committed to ensuring an equitable, diverse and inclusive community and environment for the >1000 trainees at the HBI. Dr. McFarlane has elevated the trainee experience, providing innovative opportunities for all HBI trainees to achieve career success, interact with their local community, and build networks and leadership skills. Specifically, under her leadership, two key trainee programs were created: 1) HBI Trainee Organization: The HBI provides support and funds to the trainee organization to enhance trainee interactions within the HBI and with the Calgary community. Funds are used to support an EDI sub-committee that holds monthly events that promote equity, diversity and inclusivity, and sharing the lived experiences of equity-deserving individuals. 2) REALISE: This exciting and innovative value-add career development program is supported by the HBI. Its goal is to provide enhanced training and skills development to HBI students and scholars. REALISE helps brain and mental health trainees develop the tools necessary to become the next generation of community, business and academic leaders. While REALISE benefits all trainees, EDI principles are embedded across all relevant modules, particularly within initiatives such as health and wellness modules.
Dr. Maithe Arruda-Carvalho did her BSc in biomedicine and her MSc in cellular neurobiology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She obtained her PhD from UofT at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, where she studied how neurons born in the adult brain contribute to memory formation and expression. During her Postdoc at Mount Sinai Hospital in NY, USA, she studied synaptic plasticity within selective brain microcircuits supporting emotional memory. Her research examines the relationship between the maturation of brain circuits, behaviour and stress in mice, and how these contribute to the onset of mental illness.
Dr. Annemarie Dedek completed her PhD in neuroscience at Carleton University. She then undertook a Mitacs-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Carleton University and The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, in collaboration with Eli Lilly, under the mentorship of Drs. Mike Hildebrand and Eve Tsai. Following this, she completed a second postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Christine Chambers at Dalhousie University. Annemarie is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. Her research integrates rodent and translational preclinical models to advance the understanding of pain physiology.
Dr. Haley Vecchiarelli is currently a postdoctoral fellow at UVic in Dr. Marie-Ève Tremblay’s laboratory. She grew up in what the NIH terms an “disadvantaged background” and was an international graduate student at the UofC and immigrant to Canada (newly received PR!). She currently chairs the International Cannabinoid Research Society EDI committee and is a member of the CAN EDI committee, and previously served as an inaugural member of the HBI EDI committee. In her graduate training, she was chair of the UofC’s graduate students’ association awards committee, which included evaluating graduate student bursary applications; and in graduate school and beyond, she’s ran scholarship workshops and cafes, helping demystify and provide peer support for the award application process. She also currently serves as the Chair of the Scientific Review Panel for Branch Out Neurological Foundation, working with the team to create a more equitable undergraduate and graduate grant review process.
Adiia Stone is a bi-racial, cis-gender woman and a second-year PhD student at the University of Guelph. Her research explores the behavioural and pharmacological foundations of substance use disorders, with a focus on reverse-translating patterns of opioid and polysubstance use in humans into preclinical rat models. Committed to inclusive mentorship, Adiia takes an adaptive approach to training new students—prioritizing individualized support and creating an environment where each mentee can thrive. She is passionate about increasing representation in neuroscience and strives to be a role model for the next generation of researchers from racialized and marginalized communities, helping to ensure that scientific spaces reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.