Profiling the Health Research Communication Award Recipients
Should you wish to contact the award recipients concerning this Health Research Communication Award and/or any related questions, feel free to e-mail them directly. (Email addresses are listed within each profile.)
2008 Health Research Communication Award Recipients
Heather K. Ambraska
Amelia B. Bellamy-Royds
Miriam L. Boon
Anna Fong
Jodie M. Martinson
Tess Peters
Kevin D. Sauvé
Meredith A. St John
Monica K. Tanaka
Gayathri Vaidyanathan
Jennifer A. Walter
Dennis Wei
Heather K. Ambraska
heather.ambraska@utoronto.ca
Heather Ambraska earned her undergraduate degree from McMaster University's Bachelor of Health Sciences program in 2007. The program exposed her to self-directed learning, a skill she continues to develop in her graduate studies. Her thesis focused on the reproductive outcomes of maternal exposure to nicotine, and she spent over two years in various research projects with the Reproductive Biology department.
Balancing her interests in science, research, and art, Heather now pursues a Master's of Biomedical Communications at the University of Toronto. The program combines the teaching of medicine, communication, science, and technology to produce educational visualizations.
Heather's graduate project focuses on the development of a 3D animation in Autodesk's Maya. It conveys concurrent events that ensure a naïve antigen-specific T-cell will locate a dendritic cell presenting foreign antigen in a lymph node during an infection. The animation is being produced in collaboration with the University of Toronto's Department of Immunology, and will be a teaching tool for undergraduate science Students.
Amelia Bellamy-Royds
abbr@interchange.ubc.ca
Amelia Bellamy-Royds earned her Bachelor of Science from Carleton University in bioinformatics. Although a very specialized subject, this program allowed her to pursue a variety of interests, including biology, biochemistry, statistics and computer programming.
Following graduation, Amelia had the opportunity to work for the Parliamentary Information and Research Service in Ottawa, where she prepared backgrounders and briefing notes on a broad spectrum of science and technology topics relevant to Parliamentarians -- environmental concerns, resource management, health research, transportation policy. This experience convinced her that she was most interested in science from a "big picture" perspective, connecting scientific information with its practical applications.
Amelia is currently pursuing a Master of Journalism degree at the University of British Columbia. Professionally, she intends to specialize in reporting on health and environment research and policy, and in particular, on the scientific basis for political decisions in these fields.
Miriam Boon
miriam@miriamboon.com
Miriam Boon earned her Bachelor of Science in Physics with Science Writing in 2002 from MIT. Since then, she has been published in Technology Review, Gizmodo, WIRED's Gadget Lab, Discover Magazine, The Toronto Star, and Xtra, among others.
Currently Miriam is completing her final year in the Master of Journalism program at Ryerson University, where she is specializing in long-form online journalism. Her major project will use a case study to explore how online information-seeking and the pseudo-public sphere of online patient communities can shape medical treatment and practice for better or for worse. The interactive project will aim to educate readers about evidence-based medicine while shedding light on this particular case study.
Miriam looks forward to many years of reporting on health, medicine, and science. She is also interested in applied research into how new media technology can help reporters do a better job.
Anna Fong
annafongca@gmail.com
Anna Fong is a Maritimer who hails from Nova Scotia. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Dalhousie University with a double major in Psychology and Biology.
She is currently in her final year of a Master of Journalism degree at the University of British Columbia and was awarded the Science Journalism Scholarship in her first year in the program.
Anna was a Research Assistant for Nexus Investigators with the School of Nursing working on a media discourse project about marijuana. She also assisted with the first "Future Directions in Science Journalism" conference held in Vancouver in 2007. She has interned with CTV Halifax and Global National in Vancouver and would like to continue her career in broadcast journalism with a focus on science stories.
Jodie Martinson
jodie.martinson@gmail.com
Jodie Martinson is a grateful recipient of the CIHR HRC Award. The award supports her in her pursuit of a Masters of Journalism degree at the UBC School of Journalism. She holds a BA in Environment and Development from the McGill School of Environment and studied film directing and producing at the Berkeley Digital Film Institute.
She recently completed an hour-long documentary film entitled "To The Tar Sands", that is part of this year's Calgary International Film Festival. Jodie's journalism focus is on the links between the health of ourselves, our communities, and our ecosystems . She was part of a research team at McGill University that helped to establish a culturally-appropriate protected area in Northern Quebec in partnership with the Cree Nation of Wemindji.
She is primarily interested in using the mediums of video and radio documentary to work to improve the health of our planet, our communities, and ourselves.
Kevin Sauvé
sauvekevin@gmail.com
Kevin earned his Bachelor of Science (honours) at the University of Guelph in Neurobiology. Kevin's undergraduate thesis focused on the molecular mechanisms of memory and learning. Part of his undergraduate career was spent studying abroad in India where he developed an interest in health writing.
He is currently completing his Master's degree in journalism at the University of British Columbia, specializing in the communication of health and science research, with an emphasis on mental health. He is interested in multiplatform journalism and hopes to one day produce a long-form documentary on the scientific and cultural perspectives of the mind, the brain, and of mental health.
Meredith St John
stjohn.meredith@gmail.com
Meredith St John is presently a graduate student at Concordia University's Department of Journalism. Stemming from her undergraduate experience as an honours nutrition student at Acadia University, she has a variety of research interests surrounding public health, including childhood obesity, health policy and Aboriginal health issues. Meredith uses mainstream media platforms to disseminate the results of science literature. She hopes to make a meaningful contribution to the growing field of science journalism in Canada.
Monica Tanaka
monicaktanaka@hotmail.com
I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Biology from McGill University. I'm currently in my first-year of a Master of Journalism at the University of British Columbia.
I came to UBC to pursue science journalism because of my interest in communicating complex issues in health policy and scientific innovation. I'm thrilled to be working with the School of Journalism's Science Journalism Research group in exploring the role media plays in communicating controversial science. As a recipient of UBC's Graduate Science Journalism Award, my aim is to use my knowledge of science and my communication skills to create a link between the health of communities and individuals and research in health science.
I have written stories for the McGill Dialy, the Charlatan, the Ubyssey and the Thunderbird. I also write for the Science Journalism Perspectives blog.
Gayathri Vaidyanathan
vaidyg@gmail.com
Gayathri received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (Honours Molecular Biology specialization) in 2007 from McMaster University, Hamilton and a post-graduate diploma in Journalism in 2008 from the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Journalism at Columbia University.
Gayathri hopes to do long form feature writing, with a focus on health and science issues affecting immigrants. She has chosen to specialize in magazine writing at Columbia.
Jennifer Walter
jennifer.walter@ryerson.ca
Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies at McGill University in 2005, and is currently in her final year of the Master of Journalism program at Ryerson University. She has focused her journalism studies on new media, and hopes to use these skills to produce multi-media features that examine current health issues.
Her interest in health reporting started when she was asked to write about guinea worm disease while completing an internship in rural Ghana. Over the course of her internship, she travelled to communities across the north to learn about guinea worm, how it impacted communities, and the push by local health professionals and international donors to eradicate the water-borne disease.
Since then, she has completed an internship at CBCNews.ca and hopes to continue producing stories on innovations in health research and the social determinants of health.
Dennis Wei
dennis.wei.24@gmail.com
I obtained my B.Sc.(Hons.) in Life Sciences at Queen's University for my undergraduate studies, after which, I came to the Biomedical Communications (BMC) program at University of Toronto to pursue a career as a Biomedical Communicator.
At BMC, I am learning cutting-edge visualization technology in 3D animation and rendering, and as well as 2D interactive programming using Adobe Flash and ActionScript 3.0. My goal to combine all the knowledge and skills I have learned in the areas of cinematography, web-design, programming, and animation to create new and innovative 3D simulation of complex medical science topics.
2007 Health Research Communication Award Recipients
Annapurni (Purni) Narayanan
Purni earned her Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Animal Biology in 2001 and her Master of Science in Physiology and Cell Biology in 2006 from the University of Alberta. Currently, she is completing the final year of her Master of Journalism at Carleton University. She has chosen to specialize in television and online journalism.
It is Purni's dream to be a science journalist. She wants to share the amazing and beautiful world of science with the public. She especially enjoys reporting on the areas of health, medicine, the environment and basic scientific research. Her work has appeared in the Toronto Star and in the Canadian Geographic Magazine.
Erin K. Digitale
Erin holds a Bachelor of Science. in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in Nutrition from the University of California, Davies. Her dissertation research examined the links between obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Erin's extensive communication experience includes internships positions in science writing at The Oregonian newspaper (Portland, OR) and the UC Davies News Service. She has written recently for the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
During the 2007-08 school year, Erin will be completing a graduate certificate in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She plans to pursue a career in print journalism covering all aspects of science and health. She is especially interested in writing about the health effects of diet and exercise, health care policy, and the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.
Leslie C. Predy
Leslie obtained a Bachelor of Science with specialization in Physiology and Developmental Biology in 2005 from the University of Alberta, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Biomedical Communications from the University of Toronto.
As a biomedical communicator, her focus is on creating three-dimensional simulations for medical education. Her goal is to use the interactive aspects of video gaming to increase the didactic value of learning tools.
2006 Health Research Communication Award Recipients
- Andréa L. Ventimiglia
- Desmond M. Balance
- Amélie Daoust-Boisvert
- Allison J. Geddes
- Andrea M. Anderson
Desmond M. Ballance
Desmond graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture in 2001 and a Masters of Science in 2004, from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba.
During this time, she began to realize that although she enjoyed the sciences, she needed to incorporate her creativity and artistic talents into her career. The Biomedical Communications (BMC) graduate program at the University of Toronto offered the perfect solution and enabled her to develop her visual communication skills through the use of traditional illustrations and new media technology. She has had numerous opportunities to freelance as a medical illustrator and is hoping to continue the development of her Masters Research Project, an interactive meal-planning teaching tool, intended fro teenaged girls with eating disorders.
Desmond recently graduated from BMC and is currently working in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, assisting in the development of e-learning tools, aimed at undergraduate and post-graduate medical students and working medical professionals.
Amélie Daoust-Boisvert
Amélie Daoust-Boisvert has been a free-lance journalist since January 2007, and has been active in science reporting and popularization since 2003.
Her articles have appeared in publications such as Agence Science Presse, Découvrir magazine and the student newspaper Impact Campus. Her experience encompasses radio, television and the written word. Ms. Daoust-Boisvert holds a Bachelor’s degree in biology from UQAM and is completing her Master’s degree in public communication (majoring in science journalism) at Laval University.
In 2006, she received a CIHR Health Research Communication Award and has just recently won the AJIQ-Le Devoir award for 2008. Ms. Daoust-Boisvert’s coverage of current events in science will be published in Le Devoir in summer 2008.
Allison J. Geddes
Allison Geddes has a Bachelor of Science with honours in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph and a Master of Science in Anatomy from Dalhousie University. She recently completed a one-year program in Journalism at the University of King's College.
Allison will use her journalism training to improve communication between scientists, the public and health care professionals. She hopes to combine journalism with medicine to ensure that public has access to accurate information about healthcare topics.
Allison has gained experience in health and science reporting during an internship with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation National Health Desk in Halifax. She plans to continue to establish her career in radio and online news as a science and health reporter.
Andrea M. Anderson
Andrea is equal parts Saskatchewan farm girl and New York City science journalist. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Regina and a Master of Science in cell biology from the University of Alberta. She began dabbling in journalism while living in Edmonton, AB. After a stint working in a lab at the National Research Council's Plant Biotechnology Institute in Saskatoon, SK, she began pursuing a full-time career in science journalism.
In 2006, Andrea enrolled in New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program, working towards a Master of Arts degree in journalism. In summer 2007, she interned at Audubon magazine, a nature and environmental publication. She will be interning at Discover magazine while completing her final semester at NYU in Fall 2007.
Andrea enjoys tackling and writing about all kinds of science-related topics. Her writing has appeared in Audubon magazine (and on the publication's website). She has also freelanced for Nature Medicine and contributed to the NYU online publication Scienceline. She is a member of the Canadian Science Writers' Association, the National Association of Science Writers, and the Association of Health Care Journalists.
2005 Health Research Communication Award Recipients
- Marie-Hélène Croisetière
- Jeffrey Roy Helm
- Bruno Lamolet
- Bethany A. Lindsay
- Chryssa McAlister
- Lori Waters
Marie-Hélène Croisetière
Marie-Hélène holds a Diploma of Collegial Studies in literature from Cégep de Saint-Laurent as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in biology from UQAM (in 2001 and 2003, respectively).
Ms. Croisetière is interested in three areas of specialization in particular: prevention; links between environment and health; and new medications. In 2005, she completed an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada internship in communicating science to the public, and is a former Editor in Chief of the environmental webzine Franc Vert. Marie-Hélène is keenly interested in the media. In 2006, she will undertake further studies in journalism at Université de Montréal.
Jeffrey Roy Helm
Jeffrey obtained his Baccalaureate of Science in Biology in 1998 from Washington State University where he was a three time Howard Hughes undergraduate research fellowship award recipient. He then went on to get his Masters of Science in Neuroscience in 2001 from the University of British Columbia. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Journalism from UBC.
Jeffrey has held research positions at the Michael Hayden Laboratory, (Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, UBC), the J McLarnon Laboratory (UBC), and a number of other laboratories during his previous career in science.
Jeffrey plans to facilitate the public dialogue on biological technology issues by critically evaluating and translating the social impact and scientific merit of biological research. Currently his interests are in print journalism and he plans to write for magazines and eventually startup a publication that will focus on science and social issues.
Bruno Lamolet
Bruno earned his Bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1995 and his doctorate in molecular biology in 2004, both from Université de Montréal. He is headed for a career as journalist and science communicator, focusing on biology and medicine. During his studies towards a certificate in journalism, Bruno hopes to acquire the communication tools that are specific to the written and electronic media. He also wants to establish relations with key players in the field of science popularization. Bruno plans to write for the agency Science-Presse starting in 2006.
In addition to his doctoral studies, carried out in the molecular genetics laboratory at the IRCM (Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal), Bruno acquired research experience during internships in the oncology laboratory at Centre de recherches Guy Bernier and in the virology research centre at Institut Armand-Frappier.
Bethany A. Lindsay
Bethany obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors in 2004 from Queen's University. She will proceed in the coming year with a Master of Journalism at the University of British Columbia.
Last summer, she completed an internship with CBC Newsworld, and aims to establish a career in television news as a science and health reporter within the next five years. With her strong background in Biology, she hopes to create news segments about human health that are both informative and entertaining.
Bethany has gained experience writing scientific and government documents while working as a research assistant specializing in evolutionary genetics at Queen's University, and writing the natural history segment for UBC campus radio news, among a few others.
Chryssa McAlister
Chryssa has a Bachelor of Science with honours in Biochemistry and Music, which she obtained in 2001, and is currently in her third year of medical school at Dalhousie University. She has deferred her 2005-2006 school year in order to pursue a one-year degree in journalism.
Chryssa's career path involves both some aspects of medicine and journalism. She hopes to one day become a qualified physician combining medicine with health reporting to communicate and connect with the Canadian public on important health issues.
She has gained professional writing and medical experience by working with, among many others, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio and television in Halifax, and by working as a research assistant at the IWK Hospital.
Lori Waters
Lori obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual) in 1990 from the University of Victoria, a Master of Fine Arts (Sculpture) from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana, studied life sciences and kinesiology through BC Open University and Simon Fraser University, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Biomedical Communications from the University of Toronto.
As a biomedical communicator, her focus is on the creation of animated visualizations to facilitate the understanding of HIV mechanisms, primarily for a scientific audience working towards a cure. Her goal is to create didactic work that can be repurposed to assist patients in understanding scientific information. She has particular interest in providing increased levels of health-related information in the developing world.
