Alexa Di Pede is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at McGill University in the Cuello Laboratory, where she studies Alzheimer’s disease at its earliest stages - long before symptoms are present. Her research focuses on nerve growth factor (NGF), a critical biological support system that helps sustain vulnerable brain circuits involved in memory and cognition. By measuring NGF-pathway biomarkers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid, she aims to advance preclinical detection and improve prediction of future decline. In her talk, Alexa brings together two worlds, the molecular and the human, to explore a simple idea: care is not only emotional. It is both biological and foundational to how brains and communities stay connected over time.

Jessica Huang is an undergraduate student at McGill University studying Pharmacology and Philosophy. She currently works in health policy, law, and bioethics research at the Centre of Genomics and Policy, and has previously worked in Patient Experience at global biopharmaceutical firm AbbVie and in extracellular matrix research in McGill's Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. She has helped curate architectural exhibitions at McGill Rare Books & Special Collections and has served as Editor-in-Chief for multiple art magazine publications. In 2023, she received a Leader in Science Award from the McGill Science Undergraduate Society. Her varied collection of experiences has shaped her conviction that the most meaningful questions we face require drawing from multiple disciplines. She is fascinated by how integrating different ways of knowing can sharpen our pursuit of truth. Driven by this, she aims to explore polymathic thinking and why interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge matter in our increasingly fragmented world.

Michael Saunders is a fourth-year Science and Business student at the University of Waterloo whose interests sit at the intersection of climate resilience, innovation, and Caribbean identity. Raised in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Michael brings a lived awareness of how climate change and historical inequities shape the future of small island communities. His academic path blends biology, economics, and finance, and he has gained experience across private banking, investment management, and tax and legal advisory. Michael is also actively involved in entrepreneurial and research initiatives, ranging from tech innovation to sustainable development. Across these experiences, he is driven by a central question: how can historically overlooked regions transform vulnerability into opportunity and leadership?

Carla is a 19-year-old Honours student at McGill University whose work sits at the intersection of queer theory, disability studies, and contemporary literature. She is currently completing a thesis that reinterprets love and religion in the poetry of Leonard Cohen through a queer theoretical lens, challenging conventional narratives around intimacy and the sacred. She is the recipient of the Dow-Hickson Scholarship, awarded in recognition of her academic excellence and research promise. Her wider research examines how literature constructs disability, and she is particularly interested in how reading practices can unsettle inherited assumptions and open up more ethically grounded ways of understanding marginalized identities. Her work invites audiences to reconsider the narratives they take for granted and to imagine literary futures that offer fuller, more capacious space for marginalized lives.

Jessica C. Ojiaku is a trusted advisor in the Canadian Data Privacy Office, bringing five years of experience in information security and a multidisciplinary background that spans Cell and Molecular Biology, Economics, Health Informatics, and Information Security. This unique blend of expertise allows her to approach Data Privacy challenges with a rare depth of insight and innovation.  Her professional journey includes roles in Public Health, Clinical Research, Digital Health, Academia, Health Privacy Consulting, and Healthcare Cybersecurity—each shaping her holistic understanding of how technology intersects with human well-being. Currently, Jessica focuses on advancing privacy practices that safeguard sensitive information in an increasingly digital world. Beyond her professional work, Jessica is a proud aunt to four children, a role that fuels her passion for protecting children’s privacy online. She advocates for creating safer digital spaces for the next generation, combining technical knowledge with a deeply personal commitment to ethics and care.

Rotshennón:ni Two-Axe is Turtle Clan from the Kanien'kehà:ka community of Kahnawà:ke. Growing up learning his language and culture, and continues to deepen that relationship through community, service, and study. He is a second-year medical student at McGill University and a practicing paramedic with the Kahnawà:ke Fire Brigade, having completed the Kahnawà:ke Paramedic Program. Through his work in emergency care and his studies in medicine, Rotshennón:ni is learning to navigate two systems of care—community-rooted Onkwehón:we understandings of health and Western medical practice, as well as the responsibilities that come with moving between them. Over the past year, he has also been on a language-learning journey through Skátne Ionkwaweientehtaonhátie’s intermediate Kanien’kéha course. Motivated to become a well-rounded physician, Rotshennón:ni hopes to one day offer care in Kanien’kéha. He is passionate about encouraging Onkwehón:we youth to pursue careers in healthcare and to continue carrying forward their language.

Gabriel Blanco is a PhD student in Neuroscience at McGill University, specializing in language processing in the brain. Fueled by a passion for learning new languages, his research integrates data from linguistics, neuroscience and genetics to investigate language development in children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. His work has been recognized in Canada and internationally winning various awards, including the Joan and Warren Chippindale Award from the Montreal Neurological Institute and a fellowship with the Canadian Neurodevelopmental Research Training Platform. Gabriel's mission is to improve clinical practices for children with language disorders and uncover the mysteries of human language evolution.

Madison is a master's student in epidemiology at McGill University and a McCall MacBain Scholar. Her research explores cardiovascular outcomes in type 1 diabetes. She holds a degree in biomedical toxicology from the University of Guelph, where she also competed as a cheerleader. Before entering academia, Madison trained for more than a decade as an elite gymnast, an experience that shaped her lasting commitment to athlete wellbeing. She has since been involved in athlete advocacy initiatives and co-founded a student-led club focused on eating disorder awareness and education at her undergraduate institution. Her longstanding commitment to community service is reflected in her years as an adult literacy tutor and her volunteer roles supporting care teams in physiotherapy and mental health settings.