Abstract: The Future of Science
by Jeremy Ullman
Abstract brings unprecedented accessibility to graduate research, shedding light on the wonderful work of Masters, PhDs and Postdocs.We thrive on feedback, so spread the love and send your thoughts and ideas to [email protected]!
Episodes
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Ep. 81 - Brachytherapy to Bijouterie ft. Nicole Kitner
Abstract is evolving before your very eyes! In this new iteration, we're highliting guests' trajectories out of grad school, discussing everything from how they got into research to what they're up to now. Discussion Points & Buzzwords Getting into academia for the wrong reasons Brachytherapy...
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Ep. 80 - Occupational Therapy ft. Daniel Smilovitch
Our guest this week, Daniel Smilovitch, completed his Master's in Occupational Therapy (OT) at McGill University and is finishing up his first year as a professional in the field. He weaves a compelling narrative, taknig us back to his humble beginnings in a barebones basement rat lab, through…
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Success & Failure ft. Jeremy Ullman
This is my second solo podcast, and features the full recording from a talk I gave at the "Seeking Success" event organized by the Center for Conscious Awareness. It's packed full of great quotes, as well as some of the main themes and takeaways from my non-linear academic and creative paths!...
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Ep. 79 - Evolutionary Biology ft. Éamon Callison
Éamon Callison, originally from Denver (elevation ~5280 ft), is finishing his PhD in Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Philosophy of Science at Washington University in St. Louis, followed by an MPhil in Human Evolutionary Studies…
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Ep. 78 - Nanoparticles & 3D Printing ft. Keroles Riad
Keroles Riad is a former Public Scholar at Concordia University where he received a Ph.D in the Individualized Program (INDI) developing new materials (ex. nanoparticles) for 3D printing. His research leverages novel techinques like Flame Spray Pyrolysis and Stereolithography, among more...
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Ep. 77 - Gynecology & The Heart ft. Ida Derish
Ida Derish is a PhD candidate in the department of Experimental Surgery at McGill University. She is currently spearheading efforts to study patient-specific differences in heart disease under the supervision of Dr. Renzo Cecere, a cardiac surgeon. She's been passionate about science…
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Ep. 76 - Space Sexology ft. Simon Dubé
Simon Dubé is a Public Scholar and PhD candidate in Psychology at Concordia University specializing in human sexuality, sex-tech, and Erobotics – the study of human-machine erotic interaction and co-evolution. His work also explores Space Sexology, and how we can integrate sex research into space...
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Ep. 75 - Beyond Grad School ft. Austin L'Ecuyer
From Academia to the Workforce. We discuss Austin L'Ecuyer's transition out of 7 years of engineering schooling and into the working world. You might remember Austin from his star performance on Ep. 21 where we discussed his own Master's research on Turbulence and Fluid Dynamics in great detail…
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Ep. 74 - Astrodynamics & The 3-Body Problem ft. Noah Sadaka
Noah Sadaka is a Master’s student at Purdue University studying Astrodynamics. He's working on how resonant orbits in the circular restricted three body problem, or CR3BP, can be used in spacecraft mission design. He says that part of what is so exciting about working in this field is that...
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Ep. 73 - Causality, Graph Theory & The Brain ft. Alex Markham
Alex Markham is completing their Postdoc in the Math of Data and AI group at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Their research focuses on developing new algorithms for learning causal models from data. Causal inference is especially appealing to more applied researchers, because it…
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Ep. 72 - Goal Orientation Theory ft. Brandon Klaitman
Brandon Klaitman, like me, is pursuing an M.A. in Teaching and Learning (MATL) at McGill University. He is on the Social Science path while I am in the Math stream. We got together for a special episode this week to discuss Goal Orientation Theory and how it relates to student success. Topics &...
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Ep. 71 - Game Theory & Multiagent Systems ft. Rahul Chandan
Rahul Chandan is a fifth-year PhD student and UC Regents' Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His research work uses game theory and optimization to study the coordination of multi-agent systems. His research...
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Ep. 70 - Neuroscience of Mental Disorders ft. Neurolingo
Welcome to our 2nd ever panel discussion, this time discussing the intersection of Neuroscience and Mental Health! Our guests this week, Liam O’Leary, Tommy Markopoulos, Claudia Belliveau and Candice Canonne, are Neuroscience researchers studying brain anatomy, mental disorders and treatments for...
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Ep. 69 - Why You Should Sleep ft. Jonathan Charest
Jonathan Charest is currently working on validating a sleep questionnaire for student-athletes as part of his postdoctoral research at the University of Calgary. Concurrently, he works with different sports teams and athletes to help them with their travel and jet lag for the upcoming Olympic…
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Ep. 68 - Stem Cells & The Pancreas ft. Jonathan Brassard
Jonathan Brassard obtained his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at Université Laval followed by a Master's in Bioengineering in Switzerland. Two years ago, he joined Prof. Corinne Hoesli at Mcgill University in Biological and Biomedical Engineering to work on combining stem cell biology...
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Ep. 67 - Ophthalmology & The Eye ft. Tina Felfeli
Tina Felfeli is a resident physician in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences at University of Toronto. Currently, she's completing a PhD degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto (UofT) as a part of the Integrated Physician-Scientist program. She is a Vanier...
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Ep. 66 - Quantum Computation ft. Alba Cervera-Lierta
Alba Cervera-Lierta is a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto (Matterlab group). She earned her PhD in quantum computation and quantum information at the Universitat de Barcelona and is currently working on near-term quantum algorithms and high-dimensional quantum physics. Besides...
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Gratitude & The Good Life ft. Jeremy Ullman
Tune in for a peek behind the curtain and into my personal gratitude journal (and a little solo podcasting to change things up). /// Interested in a free core workout, every weekday @ 8:30am EST? Here's the Core Collective Zoom Link:...
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Ep. 65 - Sleep: When Less is More ft. Jesse Cook
Jesse Cook is a 5th year Clinical Psychology PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His primary research program focuses on advancing the classification, assessment, and treatment of unexplained excessive daytime sleepiness, which is classified as either Idiopathic Hypersomnia or...
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Ep. 64 - The Future of Mentorship ft. Lauren Ortosky & Payton Small
Lauren Ortosky is a PhD candidate in Social Psychology with diverse research interests exploring the interaction of personal and social identity in critical domains. Her primary research examines the passive influence of living in a nationalist country on the beliefs and behaviors of those who…
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THE MECHATRONICS TRILOGY ft. Mitchell Kurnell, Ali Safaei & Eitan Bulka
THE MECHATRONICS TRILOGY = Ep. 45 - Nuclear Physics & Cubesats ft. Mitchell Kurnell + Ep. 39 - Autonomous Mobile Robots ft. Ali Safaei + Ep. 11 - Drones & Aerospace Mechatronics ft. Eitan Bulka /// Topics & Concepts: Nuclear Safety Fission vs. Fusion LIBS: Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy...
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Ep. 63 - Loyalty, Passion & Identity ft. Zachariah Berry
Zachariah Berry is a curious, developing, committed, and highly motivated 4th year PhD student at Cornell University studying Organizational Behavior. His research is broadly on morality and identity, and he's hoping to answer some big questions related to loyalty and passion for work. [On the...
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Ep. 62 - Death by Deferral ft. Tanya Singh
Tanya Singh is a PhD candidate in Marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. She studies the psychological and behavioral consequences of putting off decisions. She's also interested in difficult trade-offs (ex. quality vs. quantity) and how consumers respond to...
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Ep. 61 - The Prolific Pelvis ft. Mariel Young
Mariel Young just graduated from Harvard University with a PhD in Human Evolutionary Biology! She completed her bachelor's degree at the University of Arkansas, followed by an MPhil in human evolutionary studies from Cambridge University. Her dissertation work focused on the evolutionary and...
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Ep. 60 - Peanuts & Allergenicity ft. Casey Cohen
Casey Cohen is pursuing a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University. His research focuses on peanut allergy; he's evaluating different processing methods and their effects on allergenicity. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop a ‘modified peanut’ that can be used as a safer and...
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Ep. 59 - Superhydrophobia ft. Breno Sequeira
Breno Sequeira is a Master's candidate in Chemical Engineering at McGill University. He is working as a researcher in the biomimetics surface engineering lab. His current research aims to manufacture nonstick and superhydrophobic food and waste plastic containers. I was blown away by the…
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Ep. 58 - Compulsive Exercise & Eating Disorders ft. Laura Hallward
Laura Hallward is a PhD candidate in Kinesiology specializing in Exercise and Health Psychology at McGill University. Her research focuses on better understanding lived experiences with compulsive exercise in individuals with eating disorders. She speaks directly with people with these…
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Ep. 57 - Black Holes & Neutron Stars ft. Abbie Stevens, PhD
Abbie Stevens is an energetic, friendly and curious postdoctoral fellow in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. She studies black holes and neutron stars by looking at X-ray light coming from stars they're gobbling up! Tune in for answers to...
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Ep. 56 - Moral Injury & Ethics ft. Joe Inhaber
Joe Inhaber is pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa. His research is focused on the phenomenon of Moral Injury, and he's seeking better understanding of the kinds of things capable of violating a person’s sense of proper ethical conduct. He's the third of three...
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Ep. 55 - Biomaterials & Beyond ft. Bishakh Rout
Bishakh Rout is a self-professed highly motivated PhD researcher in Chemical Engineering at McGill University. He is studying the surface modification of biomaterials and the application of hydragels in contact lens technology! Get ready for a fast-paced 25-minute interview -- the shortest…
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Ep. 54 - Exoplanets & Telescopes ft. Lisa Dang
Lisa Dang is an enthusiastic, outgoing and optimistic PhD student in Astrophysics at McGill University. During her graduate degree, she also held a research position at the NASA Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Right now, she’s studying the diversity of exoplanets and...
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Ep. 53 - Decision-Making & Metacognition ft. Alexa Ruel
Our guest this week, Alexa Ruel, is completing her PhD in Psychology at Concordia University. Her research is focused on decision-making, making decisions about decisions and how that process changes across the lifespan. ALSO, for the first time ever we're joined by a high school student! Allegra...
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Re-Release - Jean Westenberg on The Opioid Crisis
As year 1 of Abstract comes to a close we're getting ready for another 52 episodes of goodness over the next 52 weeks! In honor of esteemed guest Jean Westenberg delivering the goods on what became the most streamed episode of the entire year, I'm re-releasing his 40 minutes of heaven, without...
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Ep. 52 - Amphibian Ecology ft. Nathalie Jreidini
Our guest this week, Nathalie Jreidini, is completing her PhD in Biology at McGill University. She has worked on diverse projects in Ecology throughout her graduate studies. She's now researching the causes of wild animal movements, and more specifically habitat dispersal! Join us for the final...
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Ep. 51 - Archaeology & Civilization ft. Avery Warkentin
Our guest this week, Avery Warkentin, is completing her Master's in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford. She's passionate about historical education, archaeological conservation and environmental sustainability. Her current research is focused on the artistic and archaeological...
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Ep. 50 - Geometry, Topology & Group Theory ft. Sam Fisher
Our guest this week, Sam Fisher, just completed his Master's in Mathematics at McGill University and is now embarking on a transatlantic PhD in Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He treats us to a journey through the conceptual underpinnings of his research in the field of Geometric Group...
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Ep. 49 - Linguistics & The Neurobiology of Language ft. Yev Diachek
Our guest this week, Yev Diachek, is a PhD student studying Psychology at Vanderbilt University. After completing her undergraduate degree, Yev became interested in Psycholinguistics and the Neurobiology of Language so she took up multiple volunteer positions at Harvard and MIT. After completing...
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Ep. 48 - Aging ft. The Brains Behind the WEP
Abstract just took things to a whole new level with our first ever PANEL DISCUSSION: Our guests this week are none other than The Brains Behind the Wisdom Exchange Project: Alicia Duval, Danielle D'Amico, Emma Conway, Lauren Bechard, and Monica Vaillancourt. Buckle up for this episode where a…
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Ep. 47 - Spaceflight Dynamics ft. Shaziana Kaderali
Our guest this week, Shaziana Kaderali, is a Master's candidate at McGill University in Aerospace Engineering. Her research is focused on Space Situational Awareness and Spaceflight Dynamics. She helps satellite operators avoid collisions, among much else! She's a jack of all trades and a master…
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Ep. 46 - Cosmic Strings & The Early Universe ft. Bryce Cyr
Our guest this week, Bryce Cyr, is completing his PhD in Cosmology at McGill University. He's studying the theoretical structures known as cosmic strings (unrelated to string theory, but we discuss that too). They might shed light on the nature of the early universe and the origin of dark matter!...
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Audio Course Trailer: The Secret Life of Words ft. Jeremy Ullman
Few things in life are more sacred than knowledge-sharing. Humans have evolved complex language, giving us the unique ability to propagate records of our discoveries, insights, and achievements. As an aspiring educator, my goal is to disseminate a combination of my personal experience, previous...
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Ep. 45 - Nuclear Reactors & CubeSats ft. Mitchell Kurnell
Our guest this week, Mitchell Kurnell, just started his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in the Aerospace Mechatronics lab (yeah you know the one, he's worked alongisde Eitan Bulka (Ep.11) and Ali Safaei (Ep.39)). Our discussion is split between his master's research on nuclear physics, and his PhD...
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Ep. 44 - Exploring Epilepsy ft. Nafisa Husein
Our guest this week, Nafisa Husein, recently graduated with a Master’s in Public Health and Epidemiology at the University of Montreal. Her thesis focused on the association between epilepsy and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the elderly. She's starting her PhD in Epidemiology this September…
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Ep. 43 - Degrowth & Our Finite Planet ft. Alex Pettem
Our guest this week, Alex Pettem, is completing a Master's of Political Science at the University of Montreal. His research focus is on Degrowth, and he's got his finger on the pulse of the Montreal chapter of the movement. Strap in for a super unique and insightful episode with my good friend…
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Ep. 42 - Counteracting CRISPR ft. Ada McVean
Our guest this week, Ada McVean, is pursuing a Master's of Chemistry at McGill University in the Damha Lab (alongside our good friend James Thorpe from Ep. 30!). Her current research is focused on creating small modified nucleic acid-based inhibitors (or SNuBs) of Cas9 using click chemistry, to...
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Ep. 41 - The Future of Lithium-ion Batteries ft. Jeremy Dawkins
Our guest this week, Jeremy Dawkins, is completing his PhD in Chemistry at McGill University. His thesis is based on improving the ubiquitous Li-ion batteries, which are a key solution to the current climate crisis. Specifically, Jeremy is developing a methodology that would allow scientists to...
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Ep. 40 - Diabetes & Dietetics ft. Meryem Talbo
Our guest this week, Meryem Talbo, is a 2nd year PhD candidate in Dietetics at McGill University's School of Human Nutrition. Her research focus was on Type I diabetes, and how to best use technology as a tool to prevent and reduce both the fear and frequency of hypoglycemia. Questions Answered...
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Ep. 39 - Autonomous Mobile Robots & The Localization Problem ft. Ali Safaei
Our guest this week, Ali Safaei, is an Engineering postdoctoral fellow in the Aerospace Mechatronics Lab (Yes, the same lab that Eitan Bulka, Ep. 11, just graduated from!) at McGill University and HumanITAS Solutions. Ali is a force to be reckoned with: he's got a PhD and 23 scientific…
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Ep. 38 - The Future of MRI ft. Matthew McCready
Our guest this week, Matthew McCready, is a Master's student in Physics at Western University. He's developing, testing and implementing a revolutionary new dreMR coil, affectionately called "dreamer", for existing MRI machines that will usher in a new generation of neuroimaging! Questions…
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Ep. 37 - Opioid Addiction, Crisis, Prevention & Treatment ft. Jean Westenberg
Our guest this week, Jean Westenberg, is pursuing a Master's degree in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Michael Krauss in his addiction and concurrent disorders lab, focusing on improving health outcomes in...
About this show
Abstract brings unprecedented accessibility to graduate research, shedding light on the wonderful work of Masters, PhDs and Postdocs.We thrive on feedback, so spread the love and send your thoughts and ideas to [email protected]!
Hosted by
Jeremy Ullman
Categories