Julie Brand

Zookeeper, Toronto Zoo

Julie Brand is a zookeeper at the Toronto Zoo and works primarily at the Americas Pavilion. Having a passion for animals since childhood, it is her co-op placement at the Toronto Zoo that really opened her eyes to the world of zookeeping. Apart from taking care of the animals, Julie is also involved in collecting data, training the animals, helping veterinarians, and monitoring the health of the animals. A big part of her work is conservation projects that has also allowed her to travel to different parts of the world. As a zookeeper, Julie enjoys educating the public about those animals that are found in the wild that they might not necessarily have had the oppourtunity to encounter.

Christina Guzzo

Assistant Professor of Virology, Department of Biological Sciences, UTSC

Christina Guzzo is an Assistant Professor of Virology at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Christina completed her undergraduate degree (BScH) at Queen’s University in Life Sciences. During her undergraduate years she traveled 3 consecutive summers to Kenya to implement HIV/AIDS education programs with at-risk youth, sparking her passion for HIV/AIDS. She went on to complete a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at Queen’s University, focused on the human immune system and how HIV affects immune functions. From 2012-2017 she trained as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, USA, where her research focused more on the HIV virus directly, investigating new ways to target the virus and inhibit infection. In July 2017 she joined the University of Toronto Scarborough as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, where she is currently operating a research laboratory focused on HIV/AIDS and human immunology, as well as teaching virology to undergraduate students.

Myrna Simpson

Canada Research Chair in Integrative Molecular Biogeochemistry

Associate Director of the Environmental NMR Centre, Department of Physical and environmental sciences, UTSC

Myrna Simpson is a Canadian research chemist who is the Canada Research Chair in Integrative Molecular Biogeochemistry at the University of Toronto. She is also Director of the Environmental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Centre. Her research consider the molecular level mechanisms that underpin environmental processes, and the development of advanced analytical tools to better understand environmental health.

Ruby Sullan

Assistan Professor, Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences, UTSC

Ruby is a biophysical chemist who studies why and how bacteria stick to surfaces and why nasty things can happen when bacteria organized into elaborate structures as in biofilms. Biofilms cover medical instruments in hospitals, putting patients at risk of infection. They also coat human teeth and cause decay. Beyond the medical and dental setting, biofilms even eat away at metals and plastics. Ruby’s lab uses a microscope that is very sensitive to really small forces,” — forces in the range of piconewton (trillionths of a newton) to nanonewton (billionths of a newton); one newton is roughly the weight of a small apple. As such, this microscope can measure bacteria-surface interaction at the single-molecule and single-cell levels. Being able to tackle microbial biofilms, one molecule and one cell at a time, can reveal mechanistic insights on what makes bacteria stick to various surfaces. Once we know how bacteria does it at the molecular level, then we can devise ways to interfere with it. This can provide design principles for ‘anti-fouling’ coatings that could be used for medical implants, dentistry, as well as in other industries. Outside research and teaching, Ruby enjoys the multi-cultural and festive environment of Toronto.

Eliana Gonzales-Vigil

Assistant Professor, Department of Biological sciences, UTSC

Dr. Eliana Gonzales Vigil is the Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at University of Toronto Scarborough. Her research involves understanding how plants synthesize metabolites that can cure our illnesses and flavour our foods. By integrating different synthetic fields in her research, such as molecular biology and genomics, Dr. Gonazel-Vigil attempts to understand the role of specialized metabolities for plants and how new traits are acquired through evolution.