Speakers

Dr. Biernaskie completed his BSc in Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge. He earned a PhD in Neuroscience at Memorial University studying the effects of focused rehabilitative experience on brain plasticity following stroke. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto where he studied skin and neural stem cell biology. In 2009, he joined the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary, where is he currently a Professor in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. He is a member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), and he holds the Calgary Firefighters Burn Treatment Society Chair in Skin Regeneration and Wound Healing.  In 2019, Dr. Biernaskie was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Canada, College of Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Dr. John Gilleard is Professor of Parasitology at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. His research interests are in the field of anti-parasitic drug resistance and molecular diagnostics. His research group integrates parasitology, genetics and genomics to investigate the molecular basis, emergence and spread of anthelmintic drug resistance and to improve diagnostics. Dr. Gilleard’s research program uses the small ruminant parasite Haemonchus contortus as a model and studies both livestock and human gastrointestinal nematode parasites in the field. Dr. Gilleard has been at the University of Calgary since 2008 and has held positions of Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary (2012-2017, 2019, 2022-present) and President of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitology (2018). He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Dr. Ungrin is a deliberately interdisciplinary scientist, interested in both basic and applied biomedical research and funded by all three of Canada’s Tri-Agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). His training includes a BSc in Biochemistry (University of Waterloo / Université Joseph-Fourier, Grenoble), PhD in telomere biology (Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto), and a postdoc in stem cell bioengineering (Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto), with work experience at Atomic Energy of Canada and Merck-Frosst – initially as a co-op student and then after completing his BSc. His research program includes basic research in cell and molecular biology, as well as the development of technologies to support research and translation. He has a particular interest in rigour, reproducibility, and efficiency in research and its translation. His AggreWell platform for scalable organoid biomanufacturing has been commercialized via StemCell Technologies Inc. of Vancouver, and is in use on every continent except Antarctica as well as the ISS. His pseudoislet system is in the process of being translated to clinical applications by 3D bioprinting company Aspect Biosystems, and he was a member of the international Scientific Advisory Committee advising the development of the GCCP2.0 standard for cell and tissue culture.

Delores Peters manages the Animal Health Surveillance Unit for the Government of Alberta, overseeing animal health and food safety surveillance, as well as responding to reportable diseases at the provincial and federal levels. She holds a DVM (1984), MSc in animal biochemistry (1994), and a MVPHMgt (2007) specializing in Veterinary Public Health Management. Delores has a rich career history, from mixed animal private practice to field studies for animal health, and has been with the Government of Alberta in veterinary epidemiology and regulatory medicine since 2006.

Dr. Daniel Pang is an Associate Professor of veterinary anesthesiology at the University of Calgary. He received his veterinary degree in 2000 from the University of Bristol and completed a MSc and residency in veterinary anaesthetics at the Université de Montréal  after a year in small animal practice and an internship (University of Glasgow). He received his doctorate in neuroscience (molecular mechanisms of volatile anaesthetics) from Imperial College, London (2011). Dr. Pang is a Diplomate of the European and America Colleges of Veterinary Anaesthetics and Analgesia. Dr .Pang teaches anesthesia in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary. He has supervised numerous undergraduate and graduate students and his research interests include pain assessment perioperative safety and improving clinical practice. 

Bethany is a Counsellor (Instructor) with Student Wellness Services and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary. Originally from New Brunswick, Bethany has a BSc (Psychology) and a BSW from Dalhousie University, and a MSW from the University of Calgary. As a Registered Social Worker for over twenty years, Bethany has practiced in a variety of fields, and she is also a sessional instructor in social work at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University. Bethany is passionate about mental health and wellness for university students, staff, and faculty. Her interests include mindfulness, group therapy, insomnia, grief and loss, adult ADHD, and the development of personal/professional identities and communities of practice. Bethany’s position is the first time that a counsellor has been directly embedded in a specific Faculty at the University of Calgary, and it was created to address the specific wellness needs of Veterinary Medicine graduate and undergraduate students.