The 2023-2024 Innovation Postdoctoral Fellows

Dr. Stephanie Bishop (PhD, she/her) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary, working in Associate Professor Dr. Ian Lewis’ Translational Health in Infectious Disease lab. Her research interests include bacterial chemistry, chromatography and mass spectrometry, metabolomics data visualization, and using multi-disciplinary techniques to study complex model systems. She obtained a BSc. in Chemistry and Spanish from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) and her PhD studies in Analytical Chemistry at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (Kelowna, Canada) examined the effects of different environments on cyanobacterial growth and metabolism. Dr. Bishop is currently using her expertise in analytical chemistry and microbiology to investigate the role of metabolism in shaping human bacterial infections and recently received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Postdoctoral Fellowship for her research on the co-evolution of metabolism and antimicrobial resistance in the pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

During her time in the Lewis Research Group, Dr. Bishop has helped develop several products that streamline and simplify metabolomics workflows, including a chemical standard mix and metabolomics software tools. Additionally, she worked with biomedical engineer Dr. Mehdi Mohammadi to develop new devices that enable innovative microbiology experimentation including the Microbial Containment Device and Crosstalker Platform. These projects led her to become a co-founder of the start-up company Fluidome, along with Dr. Mohammadi. Fluidome’s mission is to make metabolomics research simpler and faster for all scientists, regardless of their level of metabolomics expertise and has gained significant traction in the Calgary innovation ecosystem over the past year. Dr. Bishop is also passionate about connecting students and early career researchers (ECRs)—especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences—to opportunities for career development and innovative research. She established the Alberta Precision Exchange (APEX) Access Program in 2022, which has connected students and ECRs with experts in biomedical and clinical research from a variety of backgrounds, including academia, public health, and industry.

Quote from Dr. Stephanie Bishop:

"I am honoured to receive a 2023 Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowship and I am grateful to all the amazing researchers I have worked with at the University of Calgary. Our multi-disciplinary approach to developing metabolomics-based products has the potential to enable exciting research in many fields, including microbiome research, infectious diseases, and precision medicine. This fellowship will allow me to continue developing and improving products and software tools that simplify complex metabolomics workflows and experimental techniques. I am excited to see new metabolomics discoveries and diagnostic technologies emerging from these collaborative and innovative experimental approaches."

Dr. Arthi Gopalakrishnan started her research career as senior research fellow at the International Advanced Research Center, Hyderabad in 2015, with a focus on photo-electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution technique. She received a PhD jointly from the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad and Swinburne University of Technology, Australia in 2021, with her research centered on biomass derived carbon-based electrodes for supercapacitor applications. In 2018 and 2020, Dr. Gopalakrishnan received a research excellence award and in 2022 was the recipient of a best thesis award by the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences, India. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at IIT Hyderabad, India until March 2022, and joined the University of Calgary in October 2022 as an Eyes High postdoctoral associate, where she works with a multi-disciplinary team to convert lab proof-of concept to the pilot scale technology called PEACH (Practical Electrochemical Air Capture and Hydrogen). Her current research interest is based on ocean-based large-scale carbon-dioxide removal using an electro-geochemical approach. Dr. Gopalakrishnan has also authored 38 publications, with 24 as a first author.

Quote from Dr. Arthi Gopalakrishnan:

"This fellowship will be used to advance a large-scale CO2 removal technology, PEACH (Practical Electrochemical Air Capture with Hydrogen), in collaboration with Chemistry, Geoscience, Engineering and Law researchers at the University of Calgary. PEACH uses a unique electro-geochemical approach to generate alkalinity in natural waters and capture CO2. The Parex Innovation fellowship will accelerate the translation of the PEACH technology from the bench to pilot scale and facilitate my development as an entrepreneur and innovator in the burgeoning climate change solutions field."

Dr. Comaduran Marquez is interested in developing engineering solutions to improve the quality of life of individuals with motor disabilities, especially children. In 2010, during his undergraduate degree his team was awarded with the second place for the Engineering World Health competition for developing a low-cost electrocardiograph to be implemented in indigenous communities in the Mexican Sierra Tarahumara. Since this project, improving the quality of life of individuals has been a priority. To further improve his engineering skills, Dr. Comaduran Marquez did a master’s in science (MSc) and philosophy doctorate (PhD) at the University of Calgary. His MSc was focused on developing an instrument to measure electrical muscle activity in athletes. Such a device was targeted to help understand muscle desynchronization that might occur after a traumatic event. Further, in his PhD, he extended the device to measure electrical brain activity. This new implementation is targeted to better understand how the brain works during epilepsy.

While doing his graduate degrees, Dr. Comaduran Marquez also founded a non-for-profit organization in his home state, Chihuahua, Mexico. This non-for-profit organization is an extension of the motion analysis lab at ITESM, Chihuahua. The non-for-profit seeks to provide state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation to low-income individuals. Low costs are achieved through strategic collaborations in the public and private sectors, as well as a rehabilitation scheme that utilizes robots to provide physical therapy. The use of the robots allows for a single therapist to treat up to 6 patients simultaneously, thus reducing the cost of therapy.

Now, as part of the BCI4Kids team at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Dr. Comaduran Marquez is working on developing new technologies and methodologies that allow children with complex motor needs to interact with the world around them. His main project aims to develop a brain-controlled Boccia ramp to improve inclusion of children with severe motor disabilities in paralympic sports. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the only implementation of a brain-controlled device for sports applications. The second project aims to improve brain-computer interfaces by removing artifact signals (e.g., eye blinks and muscle activity) from the EEG signal.

Quote from Dr. Comaduran Marquez:

"The Parex Innovation Fellowship will allow me to continue the development of the brain-controlled Boccia ramp. Such a device will allow us to better understand how children with complex motor needs use brain-controlled devices. At the same time, this device will allow these children to improve their quality of life by enabling them to play a sport for the first time in their lives."