Background: Edris Madadian is an AMTD Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo. He has been a researcher and consultant in the energy and environmental engineering sector for over a decade. He obtained his PhD degree in Bioresource Engineering from McGill University with an emphasis on optimization of advanced biofuels production. He is also the former recipient of Isaak Wilton Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship by Dalhousie University. His multi- and interdisciplinary research expertise include renewable energy systems, sustainable engineering, and controlled environment systems for a wide range of applications involving agricultural, oil and gas, and automotive industries. His focus within this field is process development and optimization as well as technoeconomic analysis of the projects. He is the former president of Dalhousie Postdoctoral Society 2019-2020 and served as member of advisory committee for BioFuelNet Canada from 2015-2017. Agenda: Dr. Madadian’s primary plan is to build stronger connections with the postdoctoral associations and unions across Canada. He is mainly focused on understanding the issues of postdocs (locally and internationally) through implementing surveys, and to take action to solve those problems by organizing and leading advocacy committees. As Chair, he contributes to the efficient operation of CAPS/ACSP. E-mail: chair@caps-acsp.ca Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edris-madadian-875ab916a/?originalSubdomain=ca Twitter: @EdMadadian

Background: Christine Gibb is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and Planning and the Asian Institute at the University of Toronto. She is currently researching how gendered religious practices, institutions and norms determine access to disaster assistance in Southeast Asia. Her research interests include environmental migration, global environmental change, feminist geography, post-disaster reconstruction, and accompanied research methodologies. She has an interdisciplinary background, which includes studies in geography (Ph.D. from the Université de Montréal), capacity development and extension, and international development (M.Sc. from the University of Guelph), and biology (B.Sc.H. from Queen’s University).Outside academia, she has worked as a consultant for several United Nations agencies and NGOs on environment, development, and youth education issues. Agenda: As an off-campus based postdoc, Dr Gibb understands the importance of establishing and nurturing often remote affiliations and collaborations. As Chair, she is focused on continuing to strengthen both the support offered to Canadian postdocs by CAPS/ACSP, and its advocacy work. Her work plan for 2020 includes reaching out to Canadian postdocs and postdoctoral associations and unions, and disseminating the results of the 2020 membership survey on postdoc challenges and career trajectories. Email: pastchair@caps-acsp.ca

Background: Dr. Muni is currently a post-doctoral associate at Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His main focus is on building blockchain based solutions for Internet of Things (IoT) particularly for smart homes or smart communities (for e.g., smart health care). The primary goal of his work is to enable access control and management in the communities using smart contracts (combining edge-computing). He is an active member of Postdoc Representative Committee at the University of Calgary representing faculties of computer science, math and stats. Agenda: As the Vice-Chair of Operations, his plays an active role in CAPS being responsible for coordinating all CAPS/ACSP meetings and the keeping of official CAPS/ACSP records. This position requires attending all meetings, take meeting minutes and place all relevant notes within, such as completed and planned actions by the exec, online and within meeting votes; receive and note (in the minutes) all regrets from members; distribute meeting minutes from previous meeting. Maintaining accurate logs of CAPS activities is necessary for the smooth running of the organization and pass on this knowledge to future CAPS execs. This will ensure that CAPS continue to work towards changing the lives of Canadian postdocs for the better. Email: operations@caps-acsp.ca

Background: Dr. Willemieke Kouwenhoven, born in Gouda the city of cheese, did her PhD in the lab of Prof. Marten Smidt at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Here she investigated the molecular programming of embryonic dopamine neurons. In the end of 2016, she started her post-doctoral career in the laboratory of Prof. Louis-Eric Trudeau at the University of Montreal (UdeM), to deepen her understanding of the physiology of DA neurons and of in vivo mouse models of Parkinson’s Disease. In November of 2020 she joined the brand-new lab of dr. Janelle Drouin-Ouellet at University of Montreal to use human stem cell biology and direct fibroblast reprogramming to develop better in vitro models of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. Dr. Willemieke Kouwenhoven has had a long track record in student and post-doc representation and advocacy. During her grad studies she was an elected representative in the student council at the University of Amsterdam and she became the elected post-doc representative at the research employee’s union in 2017 at the UdeM. In that role she participated in the negotiations between the union and UdeM to improve the collective agreement for post-docs, focusing specifically on the instalment of medical insurance. Agenda: Dr. Willemieke Kouwenhoven will be representing the francophone post-doc community and will be focussing on creating resources for PDA’s that are establishing or aiming to improve their collective agreement.

Background: Christopher Nzediegwu specializes in soil and water remediation and renewable energy from biomass. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta where he develops, characterizes, and tests carbon-based materials such as biochars and hydrochars for the remediation of soil and oil sands process-affected water. He obtained his bachelor and master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri (Nigeria) and holds a PhD in Bioresource Engineering, McGill (2018). Christopher collaborates with researchers at McGill and the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel) to remediate soils contaminated by indiscriminate burning of electronic waste. Agenda: To bridge communication gaps between existing CAPS members through effective and timely communication using various media platforms. To reach out to potential CAPS members in most Canadian Universities with the hope of seeing a CAPS where at least one postdoc from every Canadian University is represented. Email: communications@caps-acsp.ca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-nzediegwu-22190aa4 Twitter: @nzediegwu23

Background: Parsa (Mohammad) Kamely is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta. He has a multidisciplinary approach to poultry nutrition and health which includes, metabolic disorders (PhD from the Tarbiat Modares University in Iran), intestinal health and inflammation (Research Assistant at the University of KU Leuven in Belgium), and nutritional immunology (PDF at the University of Alberta). Dr. Kamely is currently researching how dietary protein and amino acids level can influence bird’s immune response to viral and bacterial vaccines. He also enjoys leadership and volunteer activity such as directing a student charity group, a fantastic team with around 30 active enthusiastic volunteers that organized charity events. He also serves as a regional ambassador of the Poultry Science Association in the Middle East & India region that advanced the educational and academic/industrial knowledge of poultry science student in the region, as well as establishing poultry science scientific association at Tarbiat Modares University that involved organizing workshops and journal clubs. Agenda: As the Vice-Chair Finance, Dr. Kamely will manage to carefully utilize the funds and resources available as well as increasing the revenue for our association. Parsa aims to increase funding by collaborating with private sectors as well as providing financial supports to postdoctoral scholars in Canada as an insurance package. Email: international@caps-acsp.ca

Background: Dhruv Lavania obtained his Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from the University of Delhi (New Delhi, India) for his work on the transcriptional regulation of high temperature stress response in rice. He is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta). Dr. Lavania is currently researching how membrane intrinsic proteins control the transport of a variety of solutes across membranes in plants and animals. His research interests include the genetic and molecular regulation of plant development, abiotic stress response, and cell-cell communication. Dr. Lavania is committed to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in research and teaching. Agenda: As Vice-Chair Membership, Dr. Lavania will be responsible for helping expand and strengthen the CAPS postdoc network by approving and processing new Active, Adjunct, or Alumni members of CAPS-ACSP. He will also be approving new Contributing members of CAPS-ACSP under the Contributing Members & Affiliates Plan developed to provide some unencumbered revenue for CAPS. Email: membership@caps-acsp.ca LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dhruv-lavania Loop Profile: https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1173227/overview ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2814-712X Web of Science Researcher ID: D-7467-2018

Background: Qutuba Karwi is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta (Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Edmonton, Alberta), where he is employing different experimental approaches to delineate the metabolic perturbations that occur in heart failure. Dr. Karwi is qualified in Pharmacy (BS.c.H. in Pharmacy) from the University of Baghdad (Baghdad, Iraq) then he undertook research training in Pharmacology (MS.c. in Pharmacology) at the University of Petra (Amman, Jordan) in collaboration with the Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company (JPM). After that, Dr. Karwi undertook his doctoral studies (Ph.D. in Pharmacology) at Cardiff University (Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences), where he also served as a representative of postgraduate students on the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Board for three years. He also gained excellent experience in liaising with national and international organizations during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The main goal of Dr. Karwi during his postdoctoral training is to understand the metabolic remodeling in the failing heart as a therapeutic target to improve cardiac function in patients with heart failure. Agenda: Developing and maintaining external affiliations and collaborations with external organizations is crucial to support all CAPS/ACSP activities and to achieve the goals of the CASP/ACSP. Therefore, my goal is to ensure that the needs and concerns of our PDFs across Canada are addressed efficiently and effectively through building a strong relationship with external organizations and affiliations to support our PDFs at the national and international levels. I will utilize all of my national and international experience to serve the community of the CAPS/ACSP by building strong and sustainable relationships with external institutes and organizations to support all our PDFs across Canada. Email: external@caps-acsp.ca Twitter: @QKarwi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qutuba-g-karwi-8a851b21/

Background: Parsa (Mohammad) Kamely is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science at the University of Alberta. He has a multidisciplinary approach to poultry nutrition and health which includes, metabolic disorders (PhD from the Tarbiat Modares University in Iran), intestinal health and inflammation (Research Assistant at the University of KU Leuven in Belgium), and nutritional immunology (PDF at the University of Alberta). Dr. Kamely is currently researching how dietary protein and amino acids level can influence bird’s immune response to viral and bacterial vaccines. He also enjoys leadership and volunteer activity such as directing a student charity group, a fantastic team with around 30 active enthusiastic volunteers that organized charity events. He also serves as regional ambassador of Poultry Science Association in the Middle East & India region that advanced the educational and academic/industrial knowledge of poultry science student in the region, as well as establishing poultry science scientific association at Tarbiat Modares University that involved organizing workshops and journal clubs. Agenda: As the Vice-Chair International, Dr. Kamely will be responsible for providing and maintaining support and services to non-Canadian Postdocs living in Canada, and Canadian working as postdocs abroad. Parsa aims to develop partnerships with other PDFs associations globally in order to enhance CAPS’ opportunities to be involved in activities and events around the globe. He also will try to understand international postdocs concerns and address them to the authorities. Email: international@caps-acsp.ca

Background: Jennifer Major is currently a CIHR postdoctoral fellow conducting research on the epigenetic regulation of heart failure at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus (Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology). The goal of her research is to identify new druggable targets and pathways for heart failure and fibrosis which currently have no cures and have poor clinical outcomes. Prior to this she completed her BSc (Biology), MSc (Cellular and Molecular Medicine) and PhD (Cellular and Molecular Medicine) at the University of Ottawa. Jenn is highly involved in postdoc community building and advocacy in Colorado as the President of her local Postdoctoral Association. She is also largely interested and involved in working with international scholars to improve cultural exchange and networking between domestic and international postdocs. Agenda: Jennifer is very interested in postdoctoral training beyond the bench. During our PhDs we have all learned project management, budgeting, communication, etc. but we often have a hard time translating our CV’s into resumes. Further, we often are so focused on our research that we forget about the “soft skills”, certifications, and other professional development activities that we may need to develop to be successful in our future career paths. During her time as the VP of communications for CAPs Jennifer hopes to help postdocs identify the skills that they already have (and how to makrket them) and how to cultivate new skills that will better prepare them for the job market. Email: careerdev@caps-acsp.ca

Background: Dr. Sarah Grasedieck is a postdoctoral fellow at the Epigenomics Lab headed by Dr. Martin Hirst (Michael Smith Laboratories, UBC Vancouver campus). Her research is focused on finding new treatment approaches for acute myeloid leukemia patients and involves the manipulation of DNA methylation and gene expression as well as the reactivation of normal cell maturation, which is invariably blocked in this disease. She completed her doctoral training in Germany at Ulm University Hospital. Agenda: In both my functions as VP External of the UBC Post-Doctoral Association and as At-Large Member of CAPS/ACSP, I advocate on behalf of postdoc's rights who often fall through the cracks in University policies and regulations, e.g. concerning eligibility for funding, subsidized living- or daycare space. I am a proactive person who likes to network and organize knowledge translation events and I thrive on connecting people, on developing new concepts and ideas and on getting things done. Email: survey@caps-acsp.ca Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Grasedieck

Background: Muhammad Zohaib Anwar is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of British Columbia (UBC), in Vancouver, Canada. Before joining UBC, he obtained his PhD degree from Aarhus University, Denmark as a Marie-Curie PhD Fellow. His work is primarily in the areas of Bioinformatics, Microbial Genomics, Public Health and Environmental Microbiology. Dr. Anwar is also involved in Canadian COVID Genomics Network (CanCOGeN) - Canada’s Genomic response to COVID-19. As a volunteer, Zohaib is also involved with Carpentries as instructor for data-management and software development and lesson maintainer for Genomics. He is now serving as Vice-Chair Website Management at Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars. Agenda: As VC Website, Zohaib aims to keep the CAPS website up to date and more interactive for Canadian Postdocs. Website will serve as the most reliable representation of CAPS for communications, events and advertising job opportunities. Email: zohaib_anwar@ymail.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mzohaibanwar/

Background : Krishnamoorthy Hegde is a postdoctoral researcher at Institut national de la recherche scientifique (Centre Eau Terre Environnement; INRS-ETE), Québec, Canada. He holds Ph.D. in biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. He has a demonstrated history of working in industry and academia in the field of environmental engineering, biotechnology, oil and renewable energy for 8 years. He worked as a lead researcher for nearly 4 years’ in different industrial sectors in the field of sustainable biocatalyst development for bioremediation and effluent waste treatment for petrochemical wastes, technology transfer and field trials of the ‘in-house’ techniques developed at laboratory scale in petroleum refineries, metabolic pathway engineering for production of therapeutic recombinant proteins. His research contribution is credited with more than 20 peer reviewed research and review articles, 3 patents (published/filed), 2 edited books and more than 15 book chapters. He also received several prestigious fellowships and awards, such as FRQNT Postdoctoral Fellowship, TWAS-CONACYT Postdoctoral Fellowship, and TUM Post-Doc Mobility Fellowship. His research interest lies in the development of advanced biosensors for environmental applications, treatment of emerging contaminants in wastewater and drinking water, bioremediation of petroleum crude wastes, green synthesis of functionalized polymers, metabolic engineering of microorganisms for conversion of biomass residues and industrial waste into biofuels and value-added products. In addition to research activities, he is also involved in co-teaching of courses to postgraduates, co-supervising PhD students and short-term trainees at INRS-ETE. Apart from research, Dr. Hegde is keenly interested hosting/participating in social and scientific events and networking. Agenda: As an At-Large Member, Dr. Hegde wants to make CAPS platform more vibrant by sharing academic and non-academic career opportunities with postdoctoral researchers across Canada. He also wants to strengthen career opportunities for Canadian postdoctoral researchers through various professional networking activities, such as scientific events, events on career development and industry-academia symposiums. Email: hegde@ete.inrs.ca Twitter: @Hegde217 LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/krishnamoorthy-hegde-46a49419

Background: Jannik Ehrich is a postdoctoral fellow in the Physics department at Simon Fraser University. His research focusses on the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of small-scale systems and its relation to information theory. He has a PhD from the University of Oldenburg in Germany. Agenda: As the current vice-president of external communications at the SFU Postdoctoral Association, Jannik is the link between CAPS and SFU. Having recently graduated and moved to Canada as a newcomer during the COVID pandemic, he is well aware of the challenges many postdocs face during these uncertain times. He hopes to contribute to shaping the academic landscape to improve the experience of postdoctoral researchers across Canada.

Background: Dr. Michèle Hébert is an Eyes High postdoctoral scholar at the School of Public Policy and Faculty of Social (with Drs. Jennifer Zwicker and David Nicholas, mentors, University of Calgary). Michèle’s research focuses on informing interprofessional practice implementation, and health, social and education policy for improved impact in help-seeking families with a twofold focus: (1) Promotion of occupational justice of children/youth with neurodisabilities and/or medical complexity and families who are engaged in help-seeking for their child/family, and (2) Prevention/reduction of pain/suffering, risk of illness, isolation, mental health concerns or suicide. Michèle comes with over 25 years as a paediatric clinician, a decade as Board chair in national/provincial organizations, and with a doctorate in Rehabilitation Science from McGill University. Agenda: In both functions as Vice President External of the Post Doctoral Association of the University of Calgary (PDAC), and At-Large Member of CAPS/ACSP, Michèle promotes positive postdoctoral experiences: postdoctoral equity, a working union, increased funding opportunities, productive partnerships to bridge gaps for a united and strong postdoctoral voice. Forward Together. Email: VP.External@PDAC.ca or Michele.Hebert@UCalgary.ca LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michelelhebert

Backgrund: Dr. Muñoz is a game designer and interface technologist specialized in the use of physiological signals to optimize the user experience while using interactive systems. John is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo carrying out research in the fields of assistive technology, human-robot interaction, and virtual reality. John has co-designed multiple games that can be used in healthcare scenarios such as exercise promotion in older adults, self-regulation training in children with special needs, and cognitive training in neurorehabilitation therapies. John has created multiple software tools and design frameworks that allows the integration of playful activities and physiological signals in interactive systems such as social robots and virtual simulations. Dr. Muñoz was selected as the representative of postdoctoral fellows at the University of Waterloo in 2021 and he aims to develop an agenda that explores the role of postdoctoral fellows in the Canadian industry and foster the connection between researchers and companies. He is also interested in creating better documentation for hiring international postdoctoral fellows and facilitate the immigration process

Background: Emma Griffiths is currently a research associate at Simon Fraser University (Faculty of Health Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia), where she works with different Canadian and international health and regulatory agencies to develop frameworks (ontologies) for sharing and integrating whole genome sequencing and contextual data (clinical, epidemiological, laboratory). She currently leads data harmonization efforts for CanCOGeN, Canada's national SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance effort. Dr. Griffiths completed her PhD in Bacterial Phylogeny (McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont), and combines this expertise with postdoctoral experience in public health genomics and antimicrobial resistance analyses (Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, and McMaster University) in her current research in data standards and genomic epidemiology. Dr. Griffiths has a keen interest in postdoc issues, having co-founded the Simon Fraser University Postdoc Association (SFU PDA) in 2014, and participating in the CAPS/ACSP executive as VC Communications (2016-2018), Chair (2019), and Past Chair (2020). Agenda: As a CAPS/ACSP advisor, Dr. Griffiths plans to help support the current executive with longer-term strategic planning, and documentation to preserve institutional memory across executives. Email: ega12@sfu.ca Twitter: @griffiemma LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-griffiths-a0a3383/

Background: Noushin Nabavi received her B.Sc. in Cell and Molecular Biology (2005) and her Ph.D. in Cell and Systems Biology (2011) from the University of Toronto where she deciphered the molecular mechanisms involved in mesenchymal stem cell differentiation to the bone. Following 6 years of postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California and British Columbia, she joined the BC Government in 2018. In her role at the BC Ministry of Health, Dr. Nabavi works with health system data to enable evidence-informed decision making. Dr. Nabavi was the Vice-Chair of Career Development (2018-2019) and Surveys and Data (2019-2020) at CAPS/ACSP and is an active participating member in various committees such as International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICORSA). She will be serving CAPS/ACSP as an advisor for the 2020-2021 calendar year and support various working groups in line with priorities. Webpage: https://noushinn.github.io Twitter: https://twitter.com/nabavinoushin Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/noushin-nabavi-56b27b13