Laura Best is currently a PhD student with Dr. Isabelle Boileau at CAMH. Her work uses neuroimaging to investigate the involvement of the endogenous cannabinoid system in alcohol use disorder. Laura loves to spend time outside in the park, trail-running with her rescue dog or teaching yoga.
Nadia Boachie is an MSc IMS student studying the effects of cannabis on the brain under the supervision of Dr. Isabelle Boileau. Her research uses neuroimaging techniques to assess changes in the brain of chronic cannabis users after approximately 1-week cessation. In her free time Nadia is passionate about cooking, baking, and painting.
Stacey Butler is a 2nd year PhD student at IMS, working in the respiratory medicine field. In this issue, Stacey writes about how her supervisor, Dr. Andrea Gershon, applied her Respirology background to study COVID-19. In her spare time, Stacey enjoys reading books, creating art, and playing music.
Dorsa Derakhshan is a MSc candidate at IMS investigating cognitive effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment resistant depression under the supervision of Dr. Peter Giacobbe. She enjoys photography, painting and working on creative projects in her leisure time.
Shahrzad Firouzian is a recent MSc graduate from Dr. Karen Davis’s lab. Her research focused on psychophysical measures of pain inhibition. Specifically, she looked at the complex interplay of personal and stimulus attributes with pain inhibition. She also witnessed an armed bank robbery! Instagram: @shahrzad.firo
Elizabeth Karvasarski is a 1st year MSc IMS student studying pulmonary hypertension at Mount Sinai Catheterization Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. Susanna Mak. Her research involves exploring whether the temporality of pulmonary vascular loading differ with exercise in pre-capillary vs. post-capillary pulmonary hypertension. Outside of research, Elizabeth practices martial arts and is a 4th degree black belt.
Jason Lo Hog Tian is a PhD student at IMS investigating how stigma impacts the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV under the supervision of Dr. Sean Rourke. He is committed to developing his scientific communication skills and increasing science knowledge through writing for the magazine. Twitter: @JasonLoTweets
Natalie Simonian is a masters student at IMS working in the lab of Dr. Harry Janssen exploring the risk and predictors of liver transplant readmissions. In her free time she likes to spend time with family and friends, write poetry, and travel (when it’s not a global pandemic that is). Instagram: @_nataliesim
Stephanie Tran is a 3rd year PhD student with Dr. Robert Chen at Krembil. Her research involves non-invasive brain stimulation in people with Parkinson’s disease. She enjoys hiking, trying new recipes and catching flights. To get through this pandemic, Stephanie regularly connects with her family and friends.
Stacy Wu is a 2nd year MSc student at IMS investigating antipsychotic-induced cerebral insulin resistance utilizing 2DG autoradiography in a preclinical model under the supervision of Drs. Mahavir Agarwal and Margaret Hahn. Outside the lab, she enjoys weightlifting, running, and trying new restaurants in the city.
IMS Magazine 
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