Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology and Chair in Translational Childhood Medicine, University of Sydney Professor Natasha Nassar is a perinatal and paediatric epidemiologist, Financial Markets Foundation for Children Chair in Translational Childhood Medicine and NHMRC Leadership Fellow at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics and Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney. She is also the Charles Perkins Centre Populations Domain Leader with a key role in facilitating population-based research investigating cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and other related conditions across a wide range of disciplines.
PhD Student in Public Administration and Part-Time Sessional Instructor, Dalhousie University Hold two masters degrees (Economics & Public Administration). Previously worked for the Conference Board of Canada (2019 - 2023), BC Pension Corporation (2017 - 2019), BC Ministry of Finance (2016 - 2017), Alberta Treasury Board and Finance (2014 - 2016), and the Fraser Institute (2009 - 2013).
UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, University of Oxford Dr Neil Hart is an atmospheric science researcher with particular interest in problems where smaller-scale weather dynamics are inextricably linked with the continental-scale climate processes that give rise to variability and change. His work aims to improve our understanding of the seasonal climate of extreme weather events and to contribute to better understanding of the predictability, both potential and practical, of such events. This work has included contributions to key drivers of the southern African hydroclimate, analysis of South American climate and extremes, and extreme wind risk over the North Atlantic and Europe.
Postdoctoral Fellow, CHEO Research Institute, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa Dr. Nicholas (Corey) Kuzik is a post-doctoral fellow with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity (HALO) group under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tremblay. The goal of his research is to improve childhood development through 24-hour movement behaviours. This requires reaching a better understanding of movement behaviours through studying: measurement, analysis, associations with developmental outcomes, and associations with correlates/determinants. Dr. Kuzik completed his MSc and PhD on the topic of movement behaviours in early years children (0-5 years) under the supervision of Dr. Valerie Carson at the University of Alberta.
Assistant Professor of Biology, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology, Penn State Dr. Crowley is the Director of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute at University Park, the Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology & Neural Engineering and an Assistant Professor of Biology, Biomedical Engineering, and Pharmacology at Penn State. Crowley’s research centers around understanding neuropeptides as unique signaling molecules in the brain, with an emphasis on the interactions between neuropeptides and neurotransmitters. Crowley is the recipient of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Editors Early Career Award (2022), a Young Investigator Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institutes of Health (2023), and The Whitaker Center’s Women of Impact: Woman to Watch Award (2023). Dr. Crowley joined the Department of Biology as an assistant professor in 2020. She is a Washington, DC native, forever east-coaster, and second-generation Penn Stater.
Professor of Reading and Children’s Development, The Open University Natalia Kucirkova researches innovative ways of supporting children’s reading engagement with digital books and the role of personalisation in early years. Her research takes place collaboratively across academia, commercial and third sectors. She developed an award-winning app ‘Our Story’ for children's story-making and has widely published on early literacy and children’s use of technology. Natalia is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Governor for Swallowfield Lower School, Chair of the judging panel for the UKLA Children's Digital Book Awards, Co-Chair of the WG3 COST Action and Advisory Board Member for Save The Children. She has been commended for her engagement with teachers and parents at a national and international level. Previous roles include: - Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies & Early Years, Manchester Metropolitan University - Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, Open University -Visiting academic at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA - Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate, Booktrust and Open University, UK -Visiting Pre-doctoral Fellow, Department of Education, Harvard University, USA
