Write it Right: Advancing your Approaches to Scientific Communication

Start Date: April – July 2025 (Please see more details below!)

Stem Cell Network is excited to partner with Project MaVen to host a four-part virtual training series: Write it Right: Advancing your Approaches to Scientific Communication. This training series is designed to help equip trainees/highly qualified personnel (HQP) with advanced approaches and practical skills for scientific writing within their academic career and beyond. Each of the four sessions focuses on a different aspect of scientific writing.

See more details about speakers and learning objectives below.

Throughout this series, participants will have the opportunity to interact with experts from different sectors, including academia, industry, and publishing.

• Sessions 1 & 3 will be webinars featuring panel discussions, where participants can engage with the panelists during a Q&A period.
• Sessions 2 & 4 will be interactive, featuring breakout opportunities where participants can apply their knowledge and receive real-time expert feedback. Spaces are limited for these interactive sessions and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-considered basis.

Who Should Attend?

Attendees should be research trainees/highly qualified personnel (HQP) (i.e., graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, or research assistants, associates or technicians) currently working in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine in a Canadian lab who are interested in gaining practical knowledge on how to approach scientific writing in various contexts.

Session 3 speakers:

David Kent, Ph.D., Professor, Deputy Head (Research), Department of Biology, Centre for Blood Research, University of York

David obtained his PhD in Genetics at the University of British Columbia, Canada. His postdoctoral research was at the University of Cambridge where he primarily studied malignant blood stem cell biology and established his research group in 2015. In 2019, the lab relocated to the University of York and the York Biomedical Research Institute.  The lab has taken novel approaches in single cell biology which quantify and track normal and malignant blood stem cells in humans, link single stem cell function to single cell gene expression, and expand blood stem cells outside the body for therapeutic purposes. David has a keen interest in improving the way that we communicate science and educate and train scientists, including launching The Black Hole and writing for the Signals blog on regenerative medicine and he is currently a Co-Investigator on a Wellcome-funded Valuing Voices project to improve research culture.

Danielle Spice, Ph.D., Lead Scientist I, Apiary Therapeutics

Dr. Danielle Spice earned her Ph.D. from Western University, where she explored the role of Hedgehog signaling in early neural specification. Dr. Spice changed fields in her post-doc at SickKids Hospital, researching the role of metabolism in kidney development and mitochondrial disorders in childhood kidney disease. Following her post-doc, Danielle moved from academia to industry, working as a Research and Development Scientist at PanCELLa, a biotech company focused on creating gene edited induced pluripotent stem cells for safer delivery of cell therapies. Currently, Dr. Spice is a Lead Scientist at Apiary Therapeutics, an early-stage biotech company focused on gene editing and cell differentiation approaches to develop novel cell therapies.

Joanna Valsamis, MHSc, CHE, Director, Knowledge Mobilization, Stem Cell Network

Joanna Valsamis is a health executive with broad experience in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, health research, health advocacy, knowledge translation, and building partnerships that span Industry, academia, government, non-profit, research institutes, and the healthcare sector. Joanna’s expertise is rooted in an extensive academic background and enriched by over 15 years working and volunteering in the health charitable sector, forming successful collaborations with diverse stakeholders, implementing effective business solutions, developing business plans and impact reports to attract capital, and strategically investing in programs and priority areas to improve community health. Joanna completed a Master of Science in Health Administration at the University of Toronto and concurrently earned her Certified Health Executive designation. Joanna holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Nutraceutical Science from the University of Guelph, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto.

Betty Zou, Ph.D., Senior Communications Officer, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Betty received her Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Toronto. She has over 10 years of experience working in research and science communication at Sunnybrook Research Institute, the Canadian Cancer Society and U of T. She specializes in translating complex research topics into clear, compelling and engaging content for diverse audiences and channels, and providing strategic communications support for leaders.

Session 4 speaker:

Janet Rossant, CC, PhD, FRA, FRSC, President of the Gairdner Foundation, Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Hospital for Sick Children, Editor-in-chief of Stem Cell Reports.

Janet Rossant, CC, PhD, FRS, FRSC is President of the Gairdner Foundation and Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and editor-in-chief of Stem Cell Reports. She is an internationally recognized developmental and stem cell biologist, exploring the biology of the early embryo and its stem cells and their applications to understanding and treating human disease. She has also been actively involved in ethics and public policy discussions around stem cell research and genetic modifications.