Meet Our Students
Click on our students’ names to learn more about them!
Class of 2024
+ Beatrice Nai-Jung Chen
Working as an animator for the past 6 years, I have been wondering if there is anything that I can bring to the table aside from just animating. While searching for the answer, I realized that my interest in animation show came from two aspects: amazing choreography design in movement and stories that bring knowledge or new perspective. With my nursing background, I decided to take a detour to the BMC program to work on the aspect of spreading knowledge through stories. I am still searching for my answer, but I am sure that the BMC program will be a great contribution to my later journey.
+ Josephine Choi
Instagram: @jo.choi_medart
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochoimedart/
Upon reflection, I realize that I’ve always sought a major like BMC. As a child who deeply loved both science and art, I grappled with the perceived necessity of choosing between the two throughout high school. Entering university, I believed they were mutually exclusive, and had to choose one and relinquish the other. While my undergraduate years allowed me to explore the intricacies of the human body, animals and plants, and all things biological, it was also a time of inner conflict as I couldn’t let go of my passion for art.
At the end of my sophomore year, I took a temporary leave from school to ponder this dilemma. Unable to find a compromise, I reluctantly concluded that art would remain a cherished hobby. However, during the last year of my study, I discovered the major of Biomedical Communication. The joy and relief I experienced upon realizing there was a profession seemingly tailor-made for my interdisciplinary interests remain vividly in my memory.
Now, through BMC, I am developing my skills to become a professional visual communicator of science. My interests lie in surgical illustrations, medical and biological visuals, and animations. I am also strongly attracted to patient education, aiming to make positive changes for those who need a better way to digest information about their health. Additionally, I am expanding my skillset to include interactive media.
My goal as a biomedical communicator is to create visuals that can convey science to everyone and anyone.
+ Emily Eybergen
My name is Emily Eybergen and I am in my first year of the BMC program. I am what most people would call a classic extrovert: I love talking and being in community with others. In high school I learned that one of the best ways to obtain and maintain someone’s attention is through story. So, here is a bit of mine!
Like most people in this program, I have a love for both art and science and didn’t want to choose between them for a career. In high-school I studied science to prepare for a future job and art because I enjoyed the creative challenge. Studying art and science in BMC has shown me how complementary these studies can be: not only am I stimulated by different subjects, understanding anatomy and creating art, but my work is very purposeful. I can create art to visualize details of biological processes that would otherwise be difficult to communicate. In this way, this program equips me to invest in my passion for communication and instruction.
My passion for teaching began when I worked as a lifeguard and instructor at my local pool. As an instructor I found that I had to use multiple teaching styles such as verbal, demonstration, and smaller activities to develop my students’ confidence in a new skill. This stretched my creativity and also helped me connect with other instructors to collaboratively develop new techniques if the basic activities weren’t working. In addition to this, I learned how useful art was in the workforce. My supervisor at the time was looking for ways to brighten up the dismal pool environment. So, she commissioned me to paint an aquatic mural at the pool entrance for the patrons. Since then art has been incorporated into almost every job that I’ve had. My desire for developing art skills and well as scientific concepts continued at Guelph University through my BSc in Human Kinetics with a focus in Studio Art.
In the future I want to use storytelling, visual representation, and co-collaboration to design creative and interactive learning environments. I am thankful for my experience in university learning about the human body, working at the pool developing a passion for teaching, and high school where I learned the importance of art as a communication tool. I look forward to furthering my education in the BMC program where I am encouraged to flourish in all of these areas.
+ Remi Gao
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/remigao/
Being a pursuer and student of visual arts since I was a child and growing up in a household of computer scientists, I always found myself applying two different ways of thinking to the world around me. In 2021, I obtained my H.B.Sc from the University of Toronto. Admist the pandemic, I embarked on a journey of soul-searching with the generous help of a mentor. Thanks to that process, I identified my dream path which has led me to the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications program.
Right now, I feel grateful to be working at the intersection of technology, art, and medicine at BMC. With support from the faculty and my peers, I am training to apply visualization, research, and communications skills to define real-world pain points and design beautiful and useful solutions. I am especially interested in UX design and 3D visualization, and I am open to learning more about XR.
+ Geneviève Groulx
I am a French-Canadian illustrator from Ottawa, Ontario. I studied Fine Arts and Biology at the University of Ottawa, completed the Concept Art Foundations program at Algonquin College, and earned my Bachelor’s of Design in Illustration from OCAD University.
My studies at OCAD U culminated with a creative research thesis exploring medical facts and social misconceptions of people with Trisomy 21 — people like my little brother. In the process, I developed a fascination for graphic medicine and pathographies — both of which are valuable, empowering narrative tools that can facilitate exchanges between patients, healthcare professionals, and the general population. Presently, my main research interests include health and wellness education for people with special needs, the visual representations of mental illness, and the biological impacts of climate change on human and animal physiology.
To unwind and find inspiration, I like to swim, climb, read fiction, and venture into the great outdoors.
+ Sophia Huebel
Instagram: huebel_illustration
Art and science can at times seem at odds with each other; one focused on the interpretation and expression of emotion, the other on the rigidity of proven mechanics. However, for me they serve a common purpose in shaping my identity. Art has taught me the value of creative thinking, while science has trained me to critically analyze the world around me. Growing up I had always felt out of place; too free-spirited to be a scientist yet too analytical to be an artist. Exploring artistry through the lens of science allows me to quell both sides of my personality; one that seeks spontaneity and the other that welcomes fixed methodology. I appreciate the objectivity that medical illustration requires; there is a right way and a wrong way to accurately depict a heart, after all. This career allows me to utilize my artistic skill while still contributing to the scientific community.
I am currently an MScBMC student in the class of 2T4. I completed my BFA in Medical Illustration with a minor in Biology from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University. I’m originally from Michigan and am now residing in Mississauga with my cat Minnie.
My passion is using illustration to show the beautiful complexity of the human body and the natural world. I believe that knowledge is power, and art has the ability to connect and inform people around the world. My technical skills include digital painting, 3D modeling, animation, and more.
In my free time I enjoy playing video games, relaxing with a good movie and some popcorn, and birdwatching.
+ Andrew Janeczek
https://www.andrewjaneczek.com
In high school, visual art was my passion – I had a natural affinity and talent for it. At the University of Toronto, I chose to study my other love, life sciences, majoring in immunology and biochemistry. Years later, when I found the MScBMC program, I was elated at the idea of a career path that combined my love of art and science. I recall using biological drawings, sketches, and visual aids in my upper year studies and can say categorically that it coincided with a deeper appreciation and understanding of these intense subjects. I want to work directly with immunology researchers as a medical illustrator, to bring their discoveries to life in animations and artworks. I would be the visual bridge between scientists and wider audiences, making microscopic concepts easy to grasp. I hope to one day inspire new students to pursue the field of immunology in the same way it captivated me.
+ Tunyalux Langsub
https://www.tunyaluxlangsub.ca
In 2019, I began an elective placement in Thailand to consolidate my goal of becoming a doctor, but returned with an unexpected interest in communicating science through art. While there, I noticed an opportunity to increase public knowledge of medical strokes and created an infographic to educate the community about the risk factors and signs of stroke so individuals could promptly receive treatment. This experience taught me how valuable graphics can be in healthcare education, and I became inspired by the power of art to improve patient outcomes, support public health initiatives, and make science accessible to wide audiences.
Upon returning to Canada to continue my HBSc degree in Biology and Medical Science at Western University, I had a newfound eagerness to translate complicated scientific ideas into beautiful and engaging graphics. I have since been involved in creating educational infographics and scientific figures for publication for several professors and researchers at Western. These experiences were invaluable in allowing me to gain relevant scientific communication experience that has reinforced my passion for the field.
I aspire to have a career where I can work directly with researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, and other medical illustrators. My goal is to create 2D illustrations, 2D/3D animations, and digital interactive experiences to tackle problems surrounding scientific education, environmental conservation, and scientific research communication. I want to create human-focused designs that serve and represent the populations they are designed for. Finally, I want to foster a supportive environment for other medical illustrators so that the field can grow and thrive while upholding high professional standards and integrity.
As advancements in technology and science exponentially increase the information available to humankind, the value of medical illustrators to distill and translate this information cannot be understated. It is an honor and privilege to be able to develop my skills and expand my knowledge of science communication in the BMC program. I feel incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful group of classmates to become friends with, and a great network of professors and mentors to support this journey.
+ Brendan Lazar
Instagram: brendan_lazar
Youtube: Brendan Lazar
Throughout my life, I always loved art and science. I first experimented in communicating visually for a High School project where I created a dramatic timelapse YouTube video for an addiction charity, effectively conveying addiction and winning best in class. Being a visual learner, I believe that art can be incredibly powerful when used to inform and motivate others in a way most mediums cannot.
Starting a BSc in 2016 with the goal to get into medical school, I began to prioritize my academics while my art took on a different form. I have a hard time focusing due to my ADHD, especially on subjects that are memorization-heavy such as anatomy. I used my love to draw as a solution to this by drawing diagrams in my notes wherever I could. When I began to learn more complex topics, I started to use my visual thinking to simplify ideas. During my research project on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and hypoxia, I had a difficult time grasping the pathways that were engaged when an individual became hypoxic. My supervisor explained the pathways of RSA and the autonomic nervous system for me on a whiteboard, and I was instantly inspired to visualize it. Using my sketchbook and limited software, I created simplified drawings of the various organs involved and the connecting nerves. In conferences, I manipulated the figure visually to isolate parts of it to line up with the narrative of the research and using it to summarize everything at the end. Little did I know, I was already partaking in the form of science communication I am now learning through the BMC program.
In my last semester, I took a children’s literature class where I was incredibly inspired by the idea of using picture books to solve issues pertaining to science achievement gaps in children. In the term project, I reasoned that the rich illustrations and scientific accuracy of the books could serve as a fantastic way to introduce science to very young children in a fun way. It was then that I discovered this program and knew I had found my passion.
+ Jayne Leggatt
Much like many of my peers at BMC, my passions for art and science have always coexisted, sometimes in agreeance, but often in opposition. Under the impression that I had to pick one or the other, I pursued my interest in medical science and completed a BSc degree at Queen’s University with a major in Life Sciences and a specialization in neuroscience. I have always had a strong interest in the human body, fascinated by the integration of infinite complex processes that somehow result in a functional being, and while I loved the content I was being taught, I often missed being in art class!
Through my degree, I kept up with my art in a didactic sense, sketching tissues, bones, and organ systems in anatomy labs, and chemical and biological pathways in my notebooks. I did all of this in a way that was conducive to my learning and my understanding. It was only in upper years that I realized I could extend this ability to help other people understand or conceptualize scientific content. In a cellular and molecular neuroscience course, I was tasked with creating a learning module to explain to my peers how the immune system was involved in the gut-brain axis and the implications of dysbiosis on brain function. Naturally, I decided that visuals would be the easiest way to accomplish this and set out to create a set of illustrations that were cohesive and comprehensive – the positive feedback I received regarding everyone’s ability to grasp the content was overwhelming. Similarly, in my neuroscience thesis project, where my research topic was complicated and the background information extensive, I had to somehow condense my entire years’ worth of reading and researching into a 15-minute poster presentation. This research project certainly allowed me to develop my scientific literacy and analytical skills, but it also further emphasized the impact effective visuals can have on an audience’s experience and accordingly the importance of visualization in scientific research and communication.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend the MScBMC program, to develop my interests and grow in technical and artistic ability. As I continue to explore the field of biomedical communication, I am realizing what a truly diverse and exciting field it is to be a part of!
+ Samantha Li
For me, my longstanding passion for education serves as the impetus for pursuing an MScBMC degree. Throughout my high school and undergraduate career, I had always gravitated towards diverse teaching opportunities: coaching sports teams, science peer tutoring, and part-time teaching assistantships, to name a few. I felt (and still feel) rewarded by the process of helping someone overcome their learning struggles, be it understanding a complex concept, or becoming proficient in a skill.
Teaching others soon became a major aspect of my career goals. Equipped with my fascination with the molecular world, I double majored in biochemistry and business at McMaster University, thinking I would leave my undergrad pursuing academia or various training roles in the pharmaceutical industry. My artistic side and career interests became mutually exclusive realms – I thought I would pursue science education, in some shape or form, while keeping in touch with art through my hobbies.
I had never imagined that my art skills would play a direct role in my future career. That said, on a whim in my third year of undergrad, I took a biomedical graphics elective that challenged this paradigm. The course, taught by two BMC alumni, exposed me to the world of biomedical communications, merging my interests in science, art, and education. They showed me that I could leverage my artistic skills, creating visual tools for facilitating someone’s scientific understanding. Simultaneously, as I settled into “pandemic learning”, I realized that these visual tools could take the shape of interactive visual media, especially for overcoming barriers in remote science education settings.
My career goals quickly shifted to the world of biomedical communications: the common way forward for my artistic side, passion for science, and roots as an educator. It became clear that the BMC program would be the cornerstone to these career goals, and it feels surreal to finally be here! As part of BMC’s Class of 2024, I am incredibly thrilled to continue honing my technical design skills and creative thinking, surrounded by like-minded and hardworking individuals.
+ Natalie Lucas
My fascination with the human body began at age five when I was given a children’s atlas of anatomy and physiology. Although I could not yet comprehend the material, I spent many nights flipping through it pondering how the myriad structures could possibly fit inside me. When I began to make art at age 12, I used an oversized anatomy book as a lap-desk for my sketchbook. Art made me see the familiar diagrams in a new light; I realized the complex machinery of the body required equally sophisticated techniques to represent it.
Attending the national AMI Conference in 2018 introduced me to a perfect synthesis of my passions: medical illustration, a profession of perpetual learning and creation. While I pursued my Bachelor’s in neuroscience at The Ohio State University, I aspired to incorporate science and art into every aspect of my degree. I worked with Dr. Cynthia Wagner’s at the University of Maryland: Baltimore County’s SCIART program for art conservation in the summer of 2019. My research investigated novel methods of DNA extraction from animal parchments to determine the provenance of medieval manuscripts. Throughout 2021, I produced illustrations under Dr. Elizabeth Kirby at Ohio State for an open-access neuroscience textbook project funded by the NSF.
Presently, I am thrilled and honored to be a part of the MScBMC program. Looking ahead in my prospective career as a medical illustrator, I would like to explore my passions for neurology, patient education, and interactive learning through narrative. Under BMC’s tutelage, I plan to expand my skill set in 3D modeling and animation as well as hone traditional illustration techniques. One day, I hope to create accurate, compelling, and informative visualizations that garner the same sense of wonder my childhood atlases instilled in me.
+ Vadym Lytvynov
https://www.vadymlytvynov.site
My father is an architect. From early childhood, we went to sketching trips, visited museums, and discussed works of art. Later, as I grew up, I became a part of a biology interest group and started applying my own drawing skills to create posters and flyers for scientific conferences.
As a continuation of the above, I went to V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University to get an MD with the thought of science and teaching being my future. During training, I challenged myself all the time to analyze hundreds of pages of data and turn it into a one-page scheme. These schemes helped me and my peers a lot to understand and memorize complex concepts.
Over the past few years, I've gained experience in both medicine and graphic design, which has allowed me to look at my destiny from different perspectives. And that very destiny led me to the University of Toronto, which I am eternally happy about. The University of Toronto has a fantastic MScBMC Program which I think is the best fit in the world for those interested in visual media in science and medicine.
+ Anne McGrath
Reflecting on my childhood interests, I was clearly drawn to scientific and medical illustration before I had any idea this profession existed. A Spiderwick Chronicles field guide, the Beatrix Potter collection, and an atlas of animals all come to mind. I always wanted to know more about the natural world - I was enamored with how someone could capture it so beautifully.
My fascination with biodiversity led me to study Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at McGill University, where I specialized in Animal Health and Disease. While I decided veterinary school was not for me, I absolutely loved my classes, and a canine anatomy course made a lasting impression. I still keep the course textbook close by! It was integral to my understanding of the course material - the visuals provided even more information than the text did. Around this time I was beginning to spend more time on my art, and these images were something to aspire to.
Today I feel so lucky to have found this program - it’s surreal I’ve found and can immerse myself in my passion! I hope to one day contribute the beautiful and informative visuals that originally inspired me so long ago. Science is truly beautiful, and I’m so excited to be part of it!
+ Juno Shemano
I knew in high school that I was not interested in pursuing a purely creative field, such as fine arts, or a purely scientific field, like physics or chem, either. My parents, being an optical physicist and a mathematician, always nurtured my love for art, but also taught me to greatly value the fields in stem. I was unsure of what I wanted to pursue until I found out about the field of medical illustration.
When I found out about medical illustration in my junior year of high school, I looked up all the programs out there; I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of a graduate program. I attended Rochester Institute of Technology and earned a BFA in Studio Arts and a Cellular and Molecular Biology Minor. This interdisciplinary course of study allowed me to develop my visual language and communication skills, while simultaneously completing an in-depth investigation of the scientific field.
In my years at RIT, and in my time at BMC I’ve come to understand that the fields of art and science are not separate disciplines, but rather, they are intertwined. Both fields attempt to explain and describe the world, while fostering creativity, problem solving, and the encouragement of communication.
At BMC, I’m excited to learn more about the various paths that scientific visualization can take me, and I’m grateful to be a part of such a thoughtful, hardworking, and talented community.
+ Naomi Wee
Science is often intricate and complex, which is why I was always so fascinated by the illustrations in textbooks that explain difficult concepts and structures. As a result, I usually replicated these diagrams in my lecture notes; soon, drafting images became my favourite learning tool. My keen interest in the artistry and creativity of science led me to the Master’s of Science in Biomedical Communications at UofT even before I completed high school. To qualify and train for this ultimate goal, I pursued a Bachelor of Science in Biology and I took a wide range of art courses every year throughout my undergraduate studies.
My interest in Science and Biomedical Communications also shaped my student research jobs where I created scientific illustrations for a dissertation in the microbial genetics research field. This provided me with valuable insight on what types of skills might be useful when collaborating with a research expert. Since the topics delved into molecular research, there were often no known visualizations of the components we wanted to illustrate. It challenged me to think critically about how I transform data and information into comprehensive and compelling figures. During this exploration, it became incredibly clear to me that visual inspection is a vital part of advancing research as it presents new insights and questions.
The transformation of information, from raw data to quantifying the relationships between the data to then reconstructing the data into an intuitive figure, demonstrates the ways in which science is conceptualized and shared. My career goal is to work closely with molecular medicine researchers and to visualize scientific discoveries that can help advance research as well as educate people, whether it be a medical audience or the general public.
Class of 2025
+ Nicole Arizala
Website: nicolearizala
Instagram: @soft.courage
In hindsight, my origins as a medical illustrator began long before I knew this field existed. Growing up, I was a curious and multi-passionate child who enjoyed the sciences and the arts in its many forms - from science fairs and sports, to art and music classes.
After years of extensive formal training in fine arts at Cardinal Carter Academy for the arts, I found myself wanting to create a different type of impact in my professional career than what I saw reflected in the artistic careers I explored. My love for the human body both as an art and a science paired with my desire to create meaningful differences in others’ quality of life led me to complete my BASc of Kinesiology and Diploma of Fitness and Health Promotion at the University of Guelph Humber.
During my undergraduate studies I developed a new passion for health promotion and health literacy. At the same time, I freelanced as a graphic designer and portrait illustrator to fulfill my creative desires. However, it wasn’t until I stumbled across the MScBMC program that I realized it was possible to combine my love for art, science, and education. In the present, all my previous experiences have come full circle as I stand at the intersection of medicine, art & technology, and health promotion.
It is a great privilege and honour to work and learn alongside such an incredible group of mentors and classmates at BMC. I look forward to refining my skills in 2D and 3D visual communication to design beautiful and useful educational resources for healthcare practitioners, educators, patients, and researchers.
+ Michelle Chen
+ Naomi Marie Clay Rodríguez
Instagram: @visualsbynao
I have always used art as a form of communication. From drawing thoughts I didn't know how to verbalize as a child, to sketching laboratory procedures, instead of writing them down as an adult. Art for me is a language. And yet, I would have never imagined that it would be a critical part of my future career.
During my time as an undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico, in Ponce, I had the opportunity of shadowing an orthopedic surgeon. As part of my experience, I was able to go into the O.R. to view a total knee replacement and was absolutely amazed. After having that incredible experience, I knew I desired a career in the medical field and my fascination with the human body grew even more.
Upon graduating with my BA in Psychology and Mental Health from UPR, instead of staying on track for medical school, I found myself searching for a career where I could still incorporate my passion for art within the medical field. Eventually, I discovered medical illustration and I knew: this was what I wanted to do. I was intrigued by the way visual storytelling makes an impact in learning complex and in some cases, unseeable processes in medical sciences. Visual communication plays a key-role in learning scientific concepts, and I loved the idea of creating visual tools, in order to help future students in the scientific community, with my artwork.
Soon after, I made the decision to leave my small island, Puerto Rico, and begin my journey on my way to be a medical Illustrator, as part of the Class of 2025 of the BMC program. I feel very lucky and excited to become part of a field where my interest in psychology, education, art and science converge as one.
+ Ashton Goebel
Instagram: @ashton.arts.sometimes
I grew up running around in a high school, between my dad's classroom and my mom's nurse clinic. I was constantly surrounded by people who supported my love of learning and creativity, and I was always encouraged to use my artistic skills to help myself and others learn.
I graduated from Texas Tech University in May 2023 with my BSc. in Biochemistry and a minor in Studio Art. During my undergraduate career, I worked as a Learning Assistant for a general chemistry course. Through this experience, I honed my skills as a communicator and fell in love with science pedagogy. It wasn't until the spring of my junior year that I heard about medical illustration as a career, and I immediately knew that it was what I was meant to do!
I'm so grateful to be a part of the BMC program, and I hope to use my art to show the world the beauty of science!
+ Emily Huang
Instagram: @emilyhuangart
Email: huanguemily@gmail.com
Having known about the existence of the medical illustration field very early on in my teens has definitely influenced my educational path. During my co-op positions, I sought out creative opportunities in healthcare research groups within epidemiology and gerontology. This led me to work on logo and branding designs, as well as the creation of an illustration for a paper on palliative and end-of-life care. Although I was mainly involved in data extraction and screening articles for systematic reviews, I found that the combination of creative and logical tasks meshed seamlessly together. It was also through these experiences that I saw the value of using visuals in academia to communicate new findings and noticed how information is modified for different audiences.
While completing my HBSc in Biomedical Science at the University of Ottawa, I took a few English electives that allowed me to explore the intersection of written word and art. I became inspired by how authors skillfully approached and navigated through sensitive and complex topics to be able to effectively educate readers. Over this past year, I have rediscovered my passion for comic making and it has changed how I integrate text into my own art.
I am currently interested in storytelling through graphic medicine and 2D illustration/animation to create informative and engaging educational resources for patients, students, researchers, and wider audiences.
I am extremely thrilled to be furthering my education and building upon my existing skill set at BMC alongside my peers with the support of the professors and faculty.
+ Yu-Wen Jan
Instagram: @dinosaur.visuals
Email: donna091786@gmail.com
For the past few years, I've been working as a research assistant at the Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology in Taiwan. Applying professional technologies to tackle scientific challenges has always excited me a lot, and it has also given me great motivation to improve my professional skills and learn more knowledge.
However, as I was contemplating my next career path, I realized rather than narrowing my focus to a specific area of study, what truly ignites my passion is bridging knowledge gaps in research by applying visual tools. This discovery led me to understand that I do not want to confine myself solely to the role of a plant biologist. Instead, I aspire to become a specialist who can apply my love of art in my favorite scientific fields.
Therefore, the moment I stumbled upon the MScBMC program; all my uncertainties seemed to be answered. Now, I am here, ready to embark on this new journey, and cannot wait to become a professional science visual communicator in my next phase of life.
+ Shubhreet Johal
Instagram: @esskjai
Email: esskayjai.visuals@gmail.com
“Baking is a science, cooking is an art. Everything is exact, nothing approximate.”
This is what my 12th grade history teacher told me when I burnt my 3rd batch of cookies in the teacher's lounge. Beyond its culinary truth (and momentary helpfulness), I was left puzzled. Science was inexact to me— drug trials using varying dosages, evolution's archeological extrapolations, quantum physics… Meanwhile, the visual arts felt precise in technical skills, highly realistic depictions, and multiple mediums to master. Both disciplines have concrete principles and grey areas of their own.
But what struck most is that the art-science relationship is deeply entangled, and what we cannot imagine from written descriptions of science, we can bring to life through art. When I discovered MScBMC in my late undergraduate years, I was ecstatic to find a pathway in science communication through visual means.
As a recent graduate of McMaster’s Bachelors of Health Sciences (BHSc) Honours program, I strive for knowledge translation that caters to diverse ranges of stakeholders. Whether it is a child, parent, educator, researcher, or clinician, every individual plays a role in development. Children and adults alike are privy only to the information made digestible for them. As a student myself, dense but crucial research articles seem impossible to decipher through walls of jargon and lack of visuals.
These reflections fostered my research interests in the role of patient-knowledge in prevalent pathologies, biological and psychiatric, of marginalized and low socioeconomic status populations in Canada. I delved into these topics as a research assistant to Dr. Andrea Gonzalez of the Strong Families Lab (Offord Center for Child Studies; McMaster Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience & Behaviour). My projects ranged from designing & completing a scoping review, province-level survey data analyses, to developing visually-accessible diagrams to convey findings on racialized families’ mental health service access in Ontario.
In my BMC journey, I hope grow my visual-science toolbox alongside my talented peers, and the passionate faculty. Excited for what's to come!
+ Lauren Jones
Instagram: @lauren.sciart
Throughout my life, I have found a connection between my interest in the sciences and my passion for visual arts. Although my post-secondary focus was primarily science studies, I continued to incorporate visual arts in my everyday life, such as creating local murals and taking art classes during my undergrad for self enjoyment instead of credits. My visual arts courses helped me with presenting my research and tackling projects in creative ways, while my science knowledge enhanced my appreciation of nature and the human body.
A significant impact in my life has been my father’s diagnosis of nasopharynx cancer. While I accompanied him to his numerous medical appointments, I learned about the team of individuals involved in his treatment and recovery. This gave me a new perspective and motivated me to pursue a career in the health care field. After university, I worked as a researcher at an infectious disease clinic assisting the vulnerable and home insecure. Through my experience working at inner city pop-up clinics, I gained new insight into the multifaceted challenges they faced and learned how valuable communication and education is for our vulnerable communities. These life experiences have helped me understand how important communication is in the field of health sciences so that all patients, including the vulnerable, can understand and make the most informed decisions possible.
Through the MScBMC program, my goal is to improve my skills to help bridge the gap between the scientific community and the public in a way that is inclusive and accessible, especially during a time rampant with misinformation.
Outside of work and school, you can find me reading with hot chocolate and a blanket, petting cats and dogs with runny eyes due to allergies, and perhaps hiking a west coast mountain if it’s not too cold out.
+ Jeah Kim
Instagram: @fabulaurora
Email: fabulaurora420@gmail.com
Join me on this exciting journey as I endeavor to bridge the realms of art and science!
Throughout my previous educational journey, I have always been satisfied with reimagining information delivery. From crafting supplementary lecture materials to devising creative solutions for friends grappling with math and science, helping others grasp complex concepts has been my source of fulfillment. I also liked discovering fascinating research and organizing it to inform others during my undergraduate where I developed a more profound interest in biology. Whenever presenting experiments dealing with the enigmatic realms of microorganisms and genes, I consistently incorporated visual explanations to enhance clarity and captivation.
My professional experience at a pharmaceutical company further intensified my passion for translating dense text into informative charts, graphs, and engaging films, rekindling my artistic aspirations. Just before enrolling in the program, I also actively participated in the Korean Association of Medical Visualization Artists (KAMVA) and worked as a researcher in a medical center for a year. These experiences, from creating bio-themed icons to collaborating with surgeons, broadened my horizons. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that stepping out of my comfort zone is the key to honing the core competencies of communication and creativity that this career demands. For this reason, my decision to pursue the MScBMC program was evident, and I expect to connect with various people from all over the world and get inspiration from collaborative endeavors.
Looking ahead, my future career goal is to inspire others and improve medical service with my creative ideas. The most attractive point of being a biomedical communicator is that my artwork can draw people’s attention to valuable discoveries and inspire others. Moreover, I am intrigued by human-computer interactive methods and their application in advanced medical services, including patient education and digital therapeutics.
+ Emily Yuan Min Mao
Instagram: @e_mao_art
Email: maoynmin@gmail.com
My initial interest in the BMC program came from a very simplistic thought- essentially, that it would be incredibly fun to draw and learn new art media for two years and be able to leverage my undergraduate degree in life sciences at the same time. Like many of my peers, I have had a lifelong love of art and science, but lacked an outlet that would allow me to combine the two, and had more or less resigned myself to only pursuing art as a hobby. At the same time, my ideas about future career trajectories in a purely scientific field were fairly nebulous. The catalyst that truly inspired me to apply for the BMC program was meeting the faculty and other prospective applicants-many of whom are now my peers- at the annual open house. I was able to get a first look at current areas of interest and the different paths I could pursue in this field, which was eye-opening and exciting in a way that I had never really felt about the hypothetical, purely scientific profession I had previously been imagining. It was also very fulfilling to be around so many like-minded and hardworking individuals, and I remember thinking that it would be a privilege and a joy to be able to learn among them. My interests in the medical illustration field are quite expansive, though I am particularly interested in patient/ community outreach, and I am very excited to be able to spend the next few years learning everything I can about science communication.
+ Ya Qi Maxwell Mo
Instagram: @yqmmo.vis
Email: maxw.mmo@gmail.com
Hi, I'm Max! I am someone who loves art and science. Drawing has always stuck with me ever since I was very young. I grew to develop a deep appreciation and enjoyment for science in school. I love to do research and learn about new subjects I might not have ever heard before. I learned of the MScBMC program while completing a science degree in Anthropology at the University of Toronto. I am extremely grateful to the MScBMC program and faculty for providing me with the opportunity to pursue art and science together.
I love games, both to play and as a form of communication and storytelling. Interactive media can immerse players and drive engagement in amazing ways while being breathtakingly beautiful all at once. I believe interaction is especially significant for designing modalities of education. I want to be able to enhance learning through interesting and engaging presentations for audiences of all kinds. My long-term goals involve improving my capabilities in promoting information communication, understanding, and retention in each project I work on.
+ Priya Modi
Instagram: @priyamodivis
Linkedin: priyamodi-bmc
Like many of my peers, I developed a deep interest in both medical science and art from a young age but always felt torn between the two identities of “artist” and “scientist”. I struggled to fully embrace either of these labels because something always felt missing. Throughout high school, the split between these two options grew even wider, until I stumbled upon the wonderful field of medical illustration during a career survey in Grade 10. That moment changed everything - I had found my calling. Since then, I’ve been dedicated to pursuing my goal of becoming a certified medical illustrator. I completed my Bachelor of Medical Sciences at Western University where I studied cadaveric anatomy and illustrated research figures as an anatomical research assistant. I also collaborated with multiple professors to illustrate a collection of physiology lecture diagrams for upper-level undergraduate courses, where my ability to transform complex concepts into effective visuals was truly tested. These projects required a combination of scientific accuracy, technical skill, and most importantly, empathy - which I felt was the key ingredient for making effective visuals to help audiences learn. My undergraduate experiences greatly expanded my appreciation for medical illustration as a career, and my decision to pursue a Master’s in Biomedical Communications was solidified.
Today, I am deeply honored to be part of the MScBMC program alongside a cohort of talented and like-minded students. It truly is a privilege to develop my skills in such a supportive environment with cutting-edge techniques for science communication such as 3D modelling, animation, and VR. I hope to enhance the way students learn about medical science and meaningfully contribute to scientific literacy in our broader community as a biomedical communications expert.
+ Katelyn Moore
Email: katelyn.moore888@gmail.com
As far back as elementary school, redrawing concepts has been essential to my learning process. As time has gone on, however, art has become more than just rudimentary; it has become a passion. To this day, creativity remains a backbone to my daily life, providing an avenue for self-expression and innovation.
Upon searching for a potential career path, I had always been instinctively drawn towards pursuing creation, particularily for video game studios in character design and illustration; however, after completing my degree in Kinesiology at McMaster University, I found myself equipped with an irreplaceable fascination for the sciences. I sought to discover a method of integrating the intricacies of complex science knowledge with education through the means of visual tools.
Now as a student of MScBMC class of 2025, I am thrilled to be learning how to turn this dream into a reality. Using mediums including both traditional and digital illustration, 3D modelling, and animation, I am continuing to explore into the seemingly endless and diverse field of biomedical communications whilst being surrounded by the support of my like-minded peers and professors. Looking ahead at my future in this unique field, I aim to create visually rich, informative, and inspiring works that can instill the same sense of passion into others as medical illustration does for me.
+ Anaiah Reyes
Instagram: @areyes_visuals
Email: anaiahreyes@outlook.com
My earliest memory of scientific communication was from a textbook one of my family members had in their bookshelf. As a child, I spent hours flipping through different medical diagrams and illustrations trying to make sense of the structures they depicted, copying them down in my sketchbook to show friends. It was only a few years later that I realized that my interests in science and drawing could be combined.
In my second year of high school, I stumbled across an article in the Toronto Star commending the work of medical illustrators who were not only skilled artists, but skilled scientific communicators as well. I threw myself into researching more about the field and ultimately decided to pursue the Masters of Biomedical Communications program at the University of Toronto Mississauaga (UTM). I pursued an Honors Bachelor’s Degree in Biology for Health Science at UTM and took on work creating illustrations for first year engineering textbooks and biology department graphics. In my last year, decided to put my skills towards creating illustrations for an interactive vertebrate lab manual, to supplement material in a dissection-based course I had previously taken.
My ultimate career goal is to enter the field of biomedical communication as a scientific communicator, working towards the effective dissemination of information in order to improve how we educate and inform the public. I am currently interested in exploring interactive media and virtual reality as tools for education, and I am excited to face new challenges in the broad field of scientific communication.
+ Stefanie Jinyin Wang
Instagram: @stefaniejywang
I am and have always been a dedicated fan of the balance between the Arts and Sciences. My undergraduate education was in the Interfaculty Cognitive Science degree from McGill University. During this time I was exposed to how undervalued combining both art and science is in the proliferation of educational information. This perceived dichotomy of the two seems to be a root to many of the miscommunications and misunderstandings that arise when we try to share knowledge. My goal is to find ways in which we value and utilize both in tandem and harmony. I believe this is the direction education must push towards in order to continue to evolve.
My previous education in Neuroscience and Biology has allowed me firsthand experience in the process of scientific research and revealed some weaknesses in the accessibility of this information. The efforts of the authors are often buried and stashed away from the public eye. I believe that art in its many forms is an excellent tool to illuminate the important discoveries being made each day. Some of my most influential courses were those that valued the way that the Arts and the Sciences walk hand-in-hand at each level. From visualizing molecular interactions to representing patterns found in animal behaviour to conceptualizing quantum theories.
I am passionate about projects that pursue to communicate scientific information to the public and share accurate and supported research in an approachable, friendly, and clear format. I truly hope to aid in fostering curiosity in all ages to pursue accurate and reliable information.
+ Bonnie Yuqing Wang
Instagram: @visualsbywang
LinkedIn: Bonnie (Yuqing) Wang
Graduating in 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in Honours Physiology, I spent the majority of my academic career focused on my interest in the field of healthcare and anatomy. Although I have always had an intrinsic passion for art, I could not see a tangible way to combine this passion with my academic interests; in my mind, they were two vastly distinct topics that repelled each other. It wasn’t until I began working in a clinical research laboratory during and after my undergraduate degree that I discovered the field of biomedical communication. In the laboratory, I began to understand the significance of scientific communication.
Exposure to both patient interactions and clinical research made it apparent to me that there was a large disconnect between how data was presented by the science community and how it was interpreted by lay audiences. This is especially apparent among marginalized populations, who face intersectional barriers to accessing healthcare information. Although I had gained a great appreciation for scientific research through my work, I knew that the data we had gathered would not make a meaningful difference if it could not be understood and applied.
This revelation, coupled with my passion for illustration, led me to pursue the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications program. Over the next two years, I hope to build my knowledge and technical skills to eventually realize my goal of enhancing patient education and bridging the gap between lay audiences and the healthcare field.
+ Molly Wells
Website: mollywellsart.ca
Instagram: @mollywellsart
Email: mollymbwells@gmail.com
I am deeply interested in science visualization and communication because science is nothing if not communicated. Throughout my BSc in Marine Biology at Dalhousie University, I encountered a wide range of fascinating research; however, this research was often not known, not understood, or worse: misunderstood. The act of branching academic and public spheres of knowledge has become a central focus of mine – what do scientists choose to communicate, how do they communicate it, and how could I improve it? I explored visual science communication in my honours research on the use of visuals in marine science outreach. I designed a survey, created art pieces and illustrations, wrote a thesis, and presented my work at two conferences. I also audited a course on science communication and completed a NSERC-funded summer research project on the roles of marine science illustrations throughout history. I further won a scholarship for a fully funded exchange on a tall ship sailing across the Pacific in part due to my proposed science communication plan, which included me keeping a daily sketch journal to share my experiences. Whether I am teaching or learning in my classes, labs and at sea, I find that visuals always help tremendously when explaining, learning, or sharing information. While working for the science illustration company Designs That Cell and as a freelance illustrator, I have been privileged to work for clients in a variety of disciplines such as marine biology, oceanography, microbiology, oncology, and patient health. My favourite part of my job is that my clients are experts and passionate in their field. When they explain their research, I learn something new and can then help share that knowledge with a wider audience using visuals. I am enjoying strengthening my science background and visual skills in the MScBMC program.
+ Nichole Zhou
Instagram: @niczhouart
Email: zhounichole@gmail.com
Like many of my peers, I have always enjoyed art and science — but I never imagined I’d be able to combine the two through BMC. I attended a 4-year arts program in high school where I balanced my curiosity for science with my passion for visual arts. However, when deciding on post-secondary pathways, I felt stuck at a crossroads; I had to choose between the two. I was prepared to attend Sheridan or OCADU for illustration, but I ended up in the Medical Sciences program at Western University. While my time there deepened my appreciation for scientific thinking, it felt like something was missing. It was only halfway through my undergraduate degree that I discovered BMC through a spontaneous Google search. This was my eureka moment — science and art didn’t have to be mutually exclusive! I realized that I could not live without art, but I also did not want to abandon science to pursue a purely artistic career, so BMC was the perfect option for me.
Now that I am a part of the BMC community, I am excited to incorporate art into a professional scientific career. I hope to challenge myself to think both scientifically and creatively, and to learn and grow alongside my peers.
Outside of creating art for BMC, you can find me at a variety of conventions (Anime Expo, Anime North, etc.) at Artist Alley selling my work, fan art and otherwise.