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 1 speakers:

Vina Goghari, Ph.D., C.Psych., Professor, Psychological Clinical Science, Psychology, and Psychiatry, Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation, School of Graduate Studies, Associate Editor, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Associate Editor, Clinical Psychological Science

Vina Goghari is a clinical psychologist and has published in training and education in both undergraduate and graduate studies. She was awarded two prestigious national awards in 2021, the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology and the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Program Award for Excellence in Professional Training – Academic. She is the former Editor of Canadian Psychology, the flagship journal of the Canadian Psychological Association, and an Associate Editor of Clinical Psychological Science and Schizophrenia Bulletin. She is currently the Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation, with the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto.

Micheal Obakhavbaye, Ph.D. Student, Educational Technology and Learning Design, Simon Fraser University (SFU)

Micheal Obakhavbaye is pursuing his PhD in Educational Technology and Learning Design at Simon Fraser University,  with a research interest in STEM education, critical digital/data literacy, and AI in education. He is a graduate writing facilitator and a graduate student representative on the University Board on Student Discipline (UBSD) at Simon Fraser University. He is also an Associate Editor of the SFU Educational Review-Journal, a student-led journal of the faculty of education at Simon Fraser University. He has over a decade of combined teaching, leadership and research expertise, most notably working to democratize digital skills and STEM learning for students in deprived communities by teaching and providing the resources they require to further their learning. Micheal has been supporting graduate students for over 2 years in their writing, and facilitating workshops on the ethical use of AI in academic writing and how students can comply with academic integrity requirements.

Dan Stuckey, Senior Publishing Ethics Expert in Elsevier’s Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics Centre of Expertise, Elsevier

Dan leads an investigative team and is involved in efforts to ensure responsible GenAI use across Elsevier. Before joining the ethics team, Dan was Deputy Editor of The Lancet’s eBioMedicine, managing the publication of high-quality translational research. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Imperial College London. Dan holds a PhD in Molecular Embryology from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London.

Meghan Wright, Ph.D., Project Manager, McEwen Stem Cell Institute, University Health Network (UHN)

Meghan holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto, where her research focused on biomaterials for tissue engineering. She has experience in strategy consulting for the health research and innovation ecosystem as a former consultant and project manager at Shift Health. In her current role as Project Manager for Project MaVen–a multi-institutional initiative led by Dr. Michael Laflamme (UHN) focused on cardiac tissue regeneration–she oversees project operations and finance, and helps facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration. As moderator of Write it Right: Generative AI in Scientific Writing, Meghan will bring her expertise in research strategy and scientific communication to foster an engaging and critical discussion for trainees and HQPs in regenerative medicine interested in applying GenAI tools in their written communication.

Session 2 speakers:

Janet Rothberg, Ph.D., Senior Director, Process and Analytical Development, CCRM

Janet is the Senior Director of Process and Analytical Development at CCRM.  She has spent the last 10 years in the field of iPSC therapies, focusing on reprogramming, gene editing, differentiation, and scale up.  She and her team work to develop processes for clients that are scalable and manufacture-ready to help move safe and effective stem-cell derived therapies closer to the clinic.