2024 Executive Council
Chair
Henny is a postdoctoral fellow at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto, studying regulation of primary ciliogenesis and resorption. She is the former Chair, Secretary and Finance Lead of the Postdoctoral Advisory Committee at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and former VC Operations for CAPS/ACPP (2023).
As Chair, Henny guides the work of the executive council and it’s working committees, and represents CAPS to our partner organizations. Her goal is to improve the Canadian Postdoc experience.
Past Chair
Padmapriya (Priya) Muralidharan, Ph.D. (she/her)
Vice-Chair Surveys and Data
Emma Bell, Ph.D.
Vice-Chair Communications
Catherine is a postdoctoral associate in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary, studying how cannabis use alters appetite and metabolism. She is the former CAPS-ACPP Website Management and Executive of The Postdoctoral Fellows Association of The University of Calgary.
As VC Communications, Catherine will support postdocs through regularly sharing opportunities and news. Catherine also sits on the CAPS-ACPP ‘Advocacy’ and ‘Surveys & Data’ sub-committees and hopes to be a voice for all Canadian postdocs.
Vice-Chair Communications, French
Dr. Marine Hemmerle is a postdoctoral fellow at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto. She is a molecular and cellular biologist interested in the development of new microscopy tools for the characterization of proteins’ subcellular localization in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. She is the former Event lead of the Postdoctoral Advisory Committee at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.
As VC Communications (French), Marine is responsible for sharing postdoc-related information with Canadian francophone postdoc associations.
Vice-Chair External
Vice-Chair Finance
Vice-Chair Membership
Michael Salsaa is a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University. He is a biochemical and molecular biologist interested in studying the effect of protein palmitoylation on mitochondrial function in cancer cells. Michael obtained his PhD at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and his BSc at Bethlehem University in Palestine.
Michael is an executive member of the Dalhousie postdoctoral society, the postdoctoral representative at the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute training committee, and has been a CAPS executive member as a member at large (2021-2023) and currently serving as VC Membership (2024).
Vice-Chair Operations
Vice-Chair Career Development
Dr. Rym is a postdoctoral fellow at UQTR, specializing in Accounting. With a Ph.D. from The Higher Institute of Accounting and Business Administration in Tunisia, she brings a wealth of academic expertise to the field. Having taught for over 5 years, she has a background in both research and education.
As a Vice-Chair of Career Development for CAPS/ACPP, Rym is responsible for providing and maintaining career development support and services for members of CAPS/ACPP.
Vice-Chair International
Jonathan is a Mitacs Postdoctoral Fellow who is associated with Lakehead University in Ontario and is working as a Visiting Scientist at FPInnovations in Montreal. He has a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Lakehead University and is currently researching the development of lignin-based polyurethane materials using various lignin sources.
As the Vice-Chair International he is responsible for providing and maintaining support and services for members of CAPS/ACPP who are non-Canadian citizens working as postdocs in Canada and Canadian citizens or permanent residents working as postdocs abroad.
Advisor
Edris Madadian, Ph.D.
Edris Madadian is a former AMTD Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellow (University of Waterloo) and a Killam Postdoctoral Scholar (Dalhousie University). He served CAPS/ACPP as Chair from 2021-2023 and built strong relationship with the postdoctoral association across Canada as well international counterpart. His area of expertise is primarily in the design of renewable energy systems and sustainable engineering for a wide range of applications including agricultural, oil and gas, and automotive industries.
As Advisor Edris is focused on continuing to strengthen both the support offered to Canadian postdocs by CAPS/ACPP, and its advocacy work.
Advisor
Advisor
Member-At-Large
Vijay Kumar Pediredla, Ph.D.
Dr. Vijay Kumar Pediredla is a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of British Columbia (UBC), working on data analysis and control of the industrial automation and pulping process.
His work is focused on integrating machine learning methods and advanced control algorithms for pulp and paper industrial systems. His research interests include modeling, control system design, robotics, teleoperated systems, and haptic device design. Aside from his research activities, he plays an active role in the UBC Postdoctoral Association (PDA). He currently serves as the Vice President External of PDA, where he helps postdoctoral researchers organize events focused on career development. He also works to connect postdocs with valuable support resources through collaborations and various channels.
Member-At-Large
Anoosha Attaran, Ph.D.
Western University
Member-At-Large
Xiao Yang Fang, Ph.D.
University of Calgary
Yangyang is a postdoctoral researcher in the department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. She completed her graduate studies in social and cultural psychology (LSE ’10), art therapy (Fulbright, NYU ’13), and community rehabilitation and disability studies (UofC ’20). She is currently working on a community-based mental health support called the “Radical Mental Health Doula” and serves as the VP External on the Postdoctoral Fellows Association of the University of Calgary (PDAC). She speaks Mandarin, Dutch, and Italian and is a proud mom to two young boys.
Member-At-Large
Marcelo Muñoz, Ph.D.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
- Full name of nominee
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- Institutional affiliation of nominee
- Desired/selected position
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