Jaskaran Grewal
Co-president/Co-founder

  Jaskaran found a passion for neuroscience in highschool through volunteering at clinical neuroscience labs at the UofC. Upon entering university in the Biological Sciences program, he continued to work in neuroscience labs, which allowed him to not only increase his knowledge of neuroscience, but also increase his interest in this field as well. What Jas loves about Synapse:YYC is that it allows high school students who may have an interest in neuroscience to come together and learn from passionate students and faculty. Synapse:YYC goes beyond the scope of the high school curriculum, but keeps it interesting and fun.

Natalya Patrick
Co-president/Co-founder

  Natalya is the co-president and co-founder of Synapse. She is in her second year of honours biochemistry at the University of Victoria. Natalya does drug-induced therapy research at the BC Cancer Agency. She is currently researching the central nervous system mechanisms in osteoarthritis at the University of Calgary.

Sophie Thornton
Social Media Director/Co-founder

  This event is important to Sophie because it creates an opportunity for students to learn and experience areas of neuroscience outside of the high school curriculum. She is passionate about science across many disciplines, but she finds neuroscience to be uniquely inspiring. Synapse:YYC is an opportunity that she wishes she had had in high school to meet likeminded students, engage with new material, and hear from some of the brightest minds in the field.

Tefani Perera
Events Director

  Tefani is currently in her third year of the Neuroscience program at the University of Calgary. She believes that there are many questions about the brain that have yet to be answered, which is what makes neuroscience such an interesting field of research. She is currently involved in clinical epilepsy research focused on improving pre-surgical localization of the seizure onset zone using different imaging modalities to promote better patient outcomes. Recently, Tefani also joined a neural plasticity laboratory in Calgary and will be looking at how certain pharmacological agents can prolong life in mouse models of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. She thinks that it is a really unique thing to see how wet-lab science can be translated into a clinical setting, which is why she has taken positions in both types of labs within the same area of study. She hopes to pursue graduate studies in neuroscience and medical school after her undergraduate education.

Dhyey Bhatt
Associate Events Director

  Dhyey is currently a second year Neuroscience student at the University of Calgary. He is also an undergraduate researcher at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and his research interests include adolescent stress and neurodevelopment in the context of opioid addiction. He plans on broadening his interests in early-life stress into the field of concussions. Dhyey joined the Synapse team to help provide an opportunity for high school students to explore and learn about neuroscience; an opportunity he believes he would have loved in high school.

Alexandra Holmes
Senior Director

  Alexandra is currently a third-year neuroscience undergraduate student at the University of Calgary. Her research experience has taken her from assessing peripheral nerve injury to looking at the central sensory circuitry of osteoarthritis-induced chronic pain. She believes that Synapse is a great opportunity to get exposure to the vast field of neuroscience!

Bilal Hafeez
Logistics Director

  Majoring in Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, with a minor in Nanosciences, Bilal believes that the field of Neurosciences isn’t just for the ‘brainy’, it’s for everyone who strives to understand how we as humans function and move forward in our lives. Bilal hates the cold and longs for hot summer days when he can swim and penny board (hopefully not at the same time). He is most famous for sneaking pizza into libraries where he spends most of his late nights procrastinating. Bilal hopes to help the Synapse team conduct an outstanding event, that will not only enrich young minds with powerful knowledge, but also inspire them to seize their goals!

Kiana Hampton
Finance Director

  Kiana is a third-year neuroscience student at the University of Calgary. Neuroscience has always been a great passion of hers, however, through lab experience she has become particularly interested in how environmental factors can modulate early neurodevelopment. Coming from a small town, she believes that Synapse is an opportunity she wishes she could have had in high school in order to explore newfound avenues in science and diversify her knowledge.