Career Day

Career Day 2023

**CAREER DAY 2023 IS NOW FULL! To be added to the waitlist contact reseduc@bcchr.ca**

Wednesday, June 7 | 1:30 - 5:00 pm | Virtual OR In-Person (BC Children's Hospital)
Registration | Event Poster
Presented by the UBC Faculty of Medicine Postdoc Professional Development Team
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You're invited to join us for Career Day 2023! This annual event provides research trainees in the Faculty of Medicine with the opportunity to connect and network with professionals working in a variety of different careers.

Career Day 2023 is presented in partnership with BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, UBC Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Providence Health Care Research Institute, Centre for Blood Research, and Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (St Paul’s Hospital).

Schedule

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

1:30 - 2:30 pm | Panel #1 - Navigating an Academic Career

Jacqui Brinkman, Director, Graduate Student Professional Development, UBC
Jacquelyn Brinkman is the Director of Graduate Student Professional Development in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, University of British Columbia. Her current work focuses on improving the graduate student experience through offering professional development programs, orientation, and the Three Minute Thesis. She also leads the organizing committee for the national career symposium for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Jacqui completed her BSc (Biology) at the University of Victoria and her MSc (Biology) from McGill University. Jacqui’s past experience includes managing postdoctoral and undergraduate student educational programs within the UBC Faculty of Medicine. Prior to joining UBC, she worked as a lab-based researcher both within academia and the biotechnology industry. 
 

Dr. Stephanie Erdle, Investigator & Allergist, BC Children's Hospital; Clinical Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, UBC
Dr. Stephanie Erdle is a Pediatric Allergist with the Department of Pediatrics at BC Children’s Hospital and an Investigator with BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. She received her MD at the University of British Columbia and completed her pediatric residency at the Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto. Stephanie also completed her fellowship training in allergy and clinical immunology at the University of British Columbia. Her primary areas of clinical and research interest are in food allergy, oral immunotherapy, eosinophilic esophagitis, food protein induced enterocolitis syndrome and allergic contact dermatitis | BCCHR Profile

Dr. Catrina Loucks, Investigator, BC Children's Hospital, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics & Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutic
Dr. Catrina Loucks is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia. Additionally, she is an Investigator at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. She has experience uncovering genetic causes for rare disorders from her MSc work at the University of Calgary, under the supervision of Drs. Micheil Innes and Jillian Parboosingh. She then sought to explore functional impacts of uncovered genetic mutations by pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Dr. Michel Leroux at Simon Fraser University, using the simple roundworm, C. elegans, as a model. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, Catrina worked with Dr. Bruce Carleton and the Canadian Pharmacogenomics Network for Drug Safety to understand how genetic variation contributes to variable responses to medication. Currently, she is working to improve pain management in children by identifying genetic factors that can help predict an individual’s need for, and subsequent response to, specific analgesics. Additionally, she is working to translate genetic discoveries into improvements in clinical care. Together, her work will allow for more individualized risk-benefit decisions for pain management in children, while also contributing to the discovery of novel components of pain response pathways that could pave the way for improved pain management strategies with increased safety and effectiveness |  BCCHR Profile

Dr. Jasmin Ma, Assistant Professor of Teaching, School of Kinesiology; Clinician Investigator, Arthritis Research Canada; Investigator, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD)
Dr. Jasmin Ma is an assistant professor of teaching in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, a Clinician Investigator with Arthritis Research Canada, Investigator with the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, and a kinesiologist. She teaches and provides training in the areas of exercise prescription, physical activity behaviour change, and disability. Her research and educational leadership activities include three areas of focus: 1) implementing experiential learning opportunities in community-based exercise settings, 2) co-developing knowledge translation tools for clinicians to promote and prescribe physical activity for people with chronic disease and disability, and 3) advancing the methodology of physical activity counselling and tailoring, particularly for people with arthritis and spinal cord injury | Website

Dr. Vidhu Sharma, Core Technologies Manager, UBC/BCCHR
Dr. Vidhu Sharma provides central administrative oversight for business operations for BCCHR Core Technology Platforms, helping researchers catalyze discoveries by facilitating access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and technical expertise. 

Dr. Sharma completed her PhD in Allergy and Immunology characterizing cross-reactive respiratory allergens. After completing her postdoctoral research at UBC and receiving an NSERC Industrial fellowship, she served as Senior Scientist and Director of the Cell Biology Department at a private biotech company in Vancouver for 5 years before joining BCCHR. Dr. Sharma serves as Vice-President and Western Canada Representative on the Executive Board of Canadian Network of Scientific Platforms, where she actively engages with platform scientists, funding partners, and policymakers across Canada, bringing synergies and awareness about unique challenges in shared research facilities. Dr. Sharma is a passionate advocate of equitable access of opportunities and volunteers at several non-profits to help new immigrants, mentoring for STEM activities and learn about indigenous worldviews when possible.

Moderator by Dr. Keegan Korthauer, Investigator, BC Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Statistics. 

2:45 - 3:45 pm | Workshop - Navigating the Job Search

Navigating the Job Search
Many graduate students, researchers, and trainees feel unsure how to describe their skills and competencies to non-academic employers. This workshop will address questions about: 

• Highlighting accomplishments, transferable skills, and appeal to non-academic employers
• Strategies for looking for work and approaches to access the hidden job market.
• Informational interviews, and how they can help with the job search
• Finding and understanding job postings

There will be opportunities for Q & A.

Presented by Dr. Danielle Barkley. Danielle is a Career Educator who works with the UBC Career Centre to support graduate students with careers and professional development. She completed her PhD at McGill University and has previous experience as a university instructor and writing consultant. Danielle is an ICF accredited coach and is currently completing a certificate in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion with UBC’s Extended Learning Program.

4:00 - 5:00 pm | Panel #2 - Careers Beyond Academia

Dr. Edie Dullaghan, Learner Engagement Director, adMare Academy, adMare BioInnovations
As Learner Engagement Director, Dr. Edie Dullaghan oversees adMare’s experiential learning programs, supporting trainees to place them at the center of their learning journey. In addition to designing and implementing recruitment strategies for adMare Academy Programs, Edie helps manage various stakeholder relations to ensure the programs are meeting both learner and industry needs. She is also an ambassador for the adMare Academy, appearing at career fairs, networking, and institutional events.

Previously, Edie worked at CDRD – The Centre for Drug Research and Development as the Director of Target Validation, where she spent over ten years advancing made-in-Canada innovations while also mentoring the next generation of drug developers. Prior to joining CDRD, Edie served as the Pathogenomics Project Leader for Inimex Pharmaceuticals Inc., developing robust animal models of human infections with a focus towards host defense peptides and small molecules. Over the course of her career, she has managed several large-scale R&D programs, including leading a global collaboration with CDRD, LifeArc and The Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (DSTL) in the United Kingdom, using a novel approach in drug target discovery that capitalizes on areas of commonality across pathogens.

Edie obtained her PhD in the U.K. at the National Institute for Medical Research, studying the molecular genetics of the SOS response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of TB.


Dr. Shauna Crowley, Research Scientist, AbCellera
Shauna is a Research Scientist at AbCellera, an antibody discovery and development engine that works with partners to develop antibody-based medicines to prevent and treat disease. She joined AbCellera in April 2021 as a member of the Cell Screening team, leveraging her skills in bacterial pathogenesis to contribute to AbCellera’s COVID-19 response. Currently, she leads antibody discovery and characterization efforts of novel neutralizing antibodies as future therapeutics against infectious disease. Shauna completed her PhD at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute in the lab of Dr. Bruce Vallance, where she studied the role of the inflammatory caspases in the mucosal restriction of Salmonella.
 

Dr. Clayon Hamilton, Knowledge Exchange Lead, BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services
Clayon is a health services researcher by training and takes an evidence-informed and partnership approach to health system leadership. Equipped with a PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from Western University, he then completed postdoctoral training in health services and knowledge translation at the University of British Columbia. He supported evaluation at the BC Ministry of Health as a CIHR-MSFHR Health System Impact Fellow, and then held leadership roles in a provincial non-profit and two BC health authorities. Currently, he also holds adjunct faculty appointments at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches in research course for medical students, and Simon Fraser University, where he teaches a certificate course on evaluating engagement. Clayon is passionate about and embraces the principles of meaningful engagement of health system partners, including patients, in his work. He has received several highly competitive awards and grants and co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed articles. When not working, he enjoys going for runs with his family.
 

Dr. Bernard Kan, Medical Science Liason, AstraZeneca
Dr. Bernard (Bernie) Kan completed his PhD in the lab of Dr. Pascal Lavoie at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute from 2012-2018, where he studied the immune system of infants born prematurely. Following this, he spent 2 years at STEMCELL Technologies in Vancouver, where he worked as an Inside Sales Representative, and then as a Field Sales Representative. In 2020, he joined Novartis as an MSL for their solid tumor portfolio, and more recently he has joined AstraZeneca as an MSL specializing in breast cancer.


Dr. Anne Meyer-Miner, Scientific Recruited, STEMCELL Technologies
Anne is a Scientific Recruiter at STEMCELL Technologies. Originally from New Mexico, Anne recently graduated with her PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto in 2021. She worked in a developmental biology lab at the Hospital for Sickkids using zebrafish to study scoliosis. During her graduate degree, she was an executive lead for the Life Sciences Career Development Society and currently is an active member of the Graduate Career Consortium. This extracurricular work began her interest in developing employer partnerships and helping scientists find meaningful jobs in industry. As a Scientific Recruiter specializing in Research & Development, Anne gets to combine her scientific background with her graduate career development interests while matching talented people with meaningful roles at STEMCELL.
 

Eva Yap, Outreach Programs Coordinator, SFU
Eva Yap is a STEM educator and an educational researcher. She currently oversees the operations, curriculum development, and assessment of computer science and engineering based youth programs at SFU’s Faculty of Applied Sciences. Eva is also a PhD student at SFU's Educational Technology & Learning Design program and a course instructor of the Low-code App Development Microcredential at BCIT. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, and playing board games.


Moderated by Dr. Tibor van Rooij, Director, Research Informatics, BC Children’s Hospital; Adjunct Professor, Department of Computer Science, UBC.

5:00 pm | Reception

Join us for light refreshments and the opportunity to network with panelists and other participants. 

Registration

Registration for Career Day 2023 is now full. To be added to the waitlist contact reseduc@bcchr.ca. 

Interested in attending in-person? Finding BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. 

Questions? Contact reseduc@bcchr.ca.