Ilia Karatsoreos , Secretary 

I am an Associate Professor, and Behavioral Neuroscience Division Head at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. My research program focuses on the intersection of biological rhythms, stress, and immunology.

 Born and raised in Toronto, I received my B.Sc. from the University of Toronto in Martin Ralph’s lab. I completed an NSERC funded Ph.D. in Rae Silver’s lab at Columbia University, studying effects of gonadal hormones on SCN structure-function and behavior. My CIHR funded postdoc in the laboratory of Bruce McEwen at The Rockefeller University, explored links between stress and circadian rhythms. I have served the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms as Chair of Mentorship and Professional Development on the SRBR Board of Directors from 2016-2022, and am currently an elected Member-at-Large.

Patricia Lakin-Thomas, Treasurer

I am originally a Californian who earned my PhD in Biology at the University of California, San Diego. I worked in Stuart Brody's lab where I learned to love the fungus Neurospora crassa and its circadian rhythms of spore formation. I subsequently spent a number of years at the University of Cambridge (UK) as an independent research fellow and lecturer before moving to the Biology Dept at York University as an Associate Professor in 2002. My lab is still using Neurospora as a model system to study the molecular basis of circadian rhythmicity. We use genetics, biochemistry and cell biology to investigate rhythmicity that doesn't require the canonical transcription/translation feedback loop. Our work may point towards common mechanisms of rhythm regulation in all eukaryotes.

Rae Silver

Helene L and Mark N Kaplan Professor of Natural and Physical Sciences

Psychology Department, Barnard College

Psychology Department, Columbia University

Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical School

Florian Storch

Dr. Storch is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and a Researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. After completing his Ph.D. at the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry (Munich) in 1999, Dr. Storch pursued postdoctoral studies on the mammalian circadian timing system at Harvard Medical School’s Neurobiology Department before joining the faculty at McGill University in 2008. Dr. Storch’s lab focuses on rhythms and their role in physiology and pathophysiology using the rodents as a model organism. The lab is interested in the interaction of the circadian timing system with the reproductive axis and most recently in ultradian rhythms of behavioral arousal. Prompted by the findings in mice, Dr. Storch now explores in collaboration with the Douglas Bipolar Disorders Clinic possible links between rhythm dysregulation and psychopathology.

Phillip Karpowicz

I completed my PhD at the University of Toronto studying mouse neural stem cells in Derek van der Kooy’s lab (2003-2008). I then switched gears, and did my Post-Doc in Norbert Perrimon’s lab at Harvard Medical School where I studied Drosophila intestinal stem cells (2008-2014). There I discovered, in a genetic screen, that clock genes were necessary in Drosophila intestinal stem cells to properly regenerate the intestine. This was very surprising to me, since circadian rhythms weren’t really appreciated in stem cell biology at the time. My lab at the University of Windsor now studies circadian rhythms in the gastrointestinal tract of both Drosophila and mice, and sometimes using intestinal organoids.

Brianne Kent

Brianne Kent (PhD) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada Research Chair (II) in Translational Neuroscience and Dementia, and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. Dr. Kent’s research program examines the fundamental processes underlying cognition, circadian rhythms, and neurodegenerative disease in both rodent models and humans.

Zainab Taleb

I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. in the Karpowicz Lab at the University of Windsor. Since beginning my degree, I have gained a fascination with the rhythms which govern our health. My research investigates the effects of disrupting the circadian clock on the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Through my work, I aims to provide insight into the clock’s effect(s) on the inflammatory and regenerative abilities of the colon. In addition to my research, I continually strive to enhance science communication among my colleagues as well as the public through conferences and community events.