Carlson is an eager year 10 student who has a strong interest in gene manipulation and cloning. He likes to experience new things and has recently completed a biotech laboratory program at a local hospital and this has sparked his interest in biotechnology. In his spare time he likes to play sports, computer games, the piano and violin and to visit new places

Hannah is year 10 student who is very interested in epigenetics and the ethical implications within genetics. She enjoys learning about how genetics can affect psyche and lifestyle and in her spare time enjoys drawing, dancing and finding random useless trivia.

Heidi is an engaged year 11 student who one day would like to become a doctor and is interested in learning how biotechnology applies to medicine. In her spare time she likes to read and work on her projects from school, but also enjoys shopping and hanging out with friends.

Linda is a year 11 student who is interested in biotechnology because it is an area that she thinks should have more awareness and more research into the field could have significant impacts to the future of medicine. She has found learning about the human body interesting and in her free time enjoys reading books, listening to music and is a self-confessed ‘shop-a-holic’.

James is a passionate year 10 student who has been involved in many extracurricular science projects both at Scitech and local universities as he enjoys all aspects of science. He is particularly interested in agriculture and aquaculture and find alternative fuels and farming methods. In his spare time, he enjoys drama and literature.

Kristian is a year 11 student who has a keen interest in cloning and gene manipulation. He has been involved in various programs for gifted and talented students and has an interest in computer programming, game development and robotics. He also enjoys reading and building models.

Shiya is a very curious year 12 student who enjoys learning new things. She is particularly interested in biomedicine and science area’s that have a social impact. Outside of the sciences, she enjoys languages and can speak Mandarin, French and Japanese and can play the piano, flute and bagpipes. In her spare time she practices wushu.

Christian is eighteen and he loves working in the laboratory. He would like to work for a chemical industry. In his free time, he goes out with his girlfriend or plays videogames. He is keen on American TV series.

Cristina is seventeen. She has been fascinated by chemistry since she was a child. She has worked as an unpaid trainee for several pharmaceutical and chemical industries and she has also worked for the Università dell’ Insubria in Como. She loves reading and swimming. Her favourite writers are Glenn Cooper and Dan Brown. She has acquired a taste for yoga.

Francesca is deeply interested in everything related to chemistry and its applications. She has taken part in chemistry and mathematics olympics and has recently completed an internship in an international chemical company which produces liquid detergents. She is a girl who always wants to experience and learn new things.

Alessandra has always been fascinated by science and chemistry in particular. In 2015 she participated to the CusMiBio competition and also had the chance to attend a stage in a research laboratory where they worked after different healing cures for cancer. She also loves languages and she practice swimming and karate.

Anna Giulia loves all the different aspects of science: she has always been fascinated by the complexity of nature.She fell in love with this subject when her parents gave her as a present her first microscope and she started exploring the wide world of cells and microorganisms. She’s always wondered how we can improve ourselves and she thinks that biotechnologies are one of our most important resources that will allow us to solve the huge problems that are affecting the world nowadays.She’s interested in the influence that biotechnological discoveries can have on the development of medicine and on the improvement of our health. She took part of scientific stages held by important researchers, focusing on Molecular Biology and clinical neuroimmunology. She had also the chance to participate to a national science competition of chemistry and biology.In her free time she loves playing piano, hanging out with friends and boxing.

Federico loves science and considers biotechnologies the next step for a better future. He started his experience in the labs when he was a child, thanks to his mother, and since then he never stopped wondering how all things work and how one man can change the world. He participated to a nationwide scientific competition and attended different stages with well-known researchers, focusing on neuroimmunology. In his free time, he enjoys reading, cooking, hanging out with his friends and fencing.

Michelle started to be interested in biotechnologies since her third year of high school, when they studied lab techniques. In 2015 she had the opportunity to attend a stage, that lasted one week, in a laboratory where researchers studied viral vectors to cure genetic diseases. She also has a passion for cooking.

Age: 17. He’s currently a first year student in Health Sciences at Marianopolis College. He participated in the INRS bioscience apprentice program in 2014. He is particularly interested in the field of genetics. He wants to explore the role of genes in animal morphology and other topics such as the regeneration of tissues, gene therapies, etc.

Age: 15. She attended science camps at INRS Armand-Frappier on health and toxicology and biotechnology. She has conducted a research project on the effects of olive oil on Alzheimer. She also did an internship at a Children’s Hospital in Montreal, the Ste-Justine Hospital. She has an interest in all aspects of molecular biology, genetic engineering and so-called red biotechnology. She is in an enriched class at College Français and she received a prize for the best grades of her level. She participated to Opti-Math, a competition in Mathematics, and arrived third in her whole school.

Age: 16. She is in secondary 4 at the International Baccalaureate Program of the Magdeleine School. During the INRS program, she did experiments using different biotechnological methods such as a Western blot (transfer protein), a test of cell viability (Resazurin ) and even chemiluminescence. She used both dietetic and biotechnology to analyze the effect of turmeric on the Alzheimer’s disease.

Age: 19. She was the Fall 2014 and Fall 2015 Honor Roll Recipients at John Abbott College. She is leading a research project on preparation and formulation of microcapsules using interfacial cross-linking technique, in the context of designing drug therapies for health issues to improve patient outcome. She would like to do a research on the effect of avocados on cancer cells. One of her past research projects was about the protective effect of curcumin against oxidative stress. Also, she is member of squash club, contributor to her cègep’s newspaper Bandersnatch. She’s been involved in Science Fair competitions for 4 years throughout high school. Her research interest: Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals. Also interested in studying about diabetes, cancer and apoptosis, Alzheimer and nanodrugs development.

Age: 16. He is graduating from High School at Regina Assumpta School of Montreal in a few weeks. He is very interested in nutrition and how biotechnology can help prevent chronic diseases. He attended the Institute Armand-Frappier and the INRS as an apprentice last summer where he presented his work Effect of epicatechin compounds on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease in front of a large audience. He loves music: he plays guitar and violin. He plays baseball and is a member of his school’s “genie en herbe” team.

Age: 18. Jayson is currently enrolled in Natural Sciences at Collège de Maisonneuve (equivalent of Junior High Shool). He is passionate about science and loves engineering research. He is the founder of the non-profit scientific organization Scientific BOOM, a web magazine, made for students, by students. Two years ago he had the opportunity to have an internship at the computer science department in McGill. Since then, his passion for computer science is growing everyday. Since his internship at the CHUM he started to get interest in the Biomedical engineering field research. That’s why, for the WBT, he would like to design a smart and affordable epinephrine injector.

Age: 17. She did an internship at the INRS Institute Armand-Frappier last year. Entomology is her greatest passion, but she is also fascinated by biology. She has participated at various science camps. She loves to identify insects and birds by using scientific books. Right now, she is in secondary 5 and also taking distance courses.

Age: 19 She is studying PhD Undergraduate Pharmacy ( Pharm. D.) at the University of Montreal . She has volunteered on projects for the McGill University Health Centre. She has animated activities for children for the General Hospital of Montreal. She has been a tutor in biology, physics and French to students. She has animated activities for children. Her involvement in those activities got her the Medal of the Lieutenant Governor's Youth with distinctions. In her highschool's years, she has been involved for a collaboration and for a research assistance on the development of an infection of the parasite Leishmania leading to visceral leishmaniasis at the INRS Institut Armand-Frappier Center. Her academic profil and her active participation got her to be a recipient of the price honor with a school mention. She is passionate of cardiovascular and neurological sciences. Specifically, she is interested in the use of biotechnology in the treatment of human diseases (cardiothoracic and neurological) and the prevention of transplant rejection by substituting different hormones and biological proteins.

Age: 18. She’s attending 2nd year of College in Natural Sciences at Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne. During her enrollment in the INRS Apprentice Program, she worked on the development of T cells in the thymus. Following the internship, she started a personal project on hygiene and the controversial hypotheses that it affects immunology. Right now she is working on an integration project on the inhibition of E. coli O157 H7 by some bacteria present in probiotic yogurts. She is also a writer for science magazine Le Boom scientifique.

Age: 17. She is attending 1st year of cegep at Marianopolis. She’s very interested in genetics and technology and particularly on new technologies to sequence genes and create genetic mutations. She worked on an immunology project at the INRS (Institut national de la recherche scientifique), one of Canada’s top research universities. The Institute is dedicated to fundamental and applied research, graduate studies, and the training of researchers. She recently participated in the program Gene Researcher for a Week (GRFAW) allowing her to do a practice in McGill’s Laboratory of Cancer Research. She would like to develop a project on cancer / genetics involving CRISPR and cas.9.