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OUR PANELISTS
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR + ASTROCHEMIST
Dr. Ilsa Cooke
Ilsa Cooke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia and co-PI of the GOTHAM collaboration. She is an award-winning scientist and recently has joined the 2026 class of Cottrell Scholars. Her group focuses on building laboratory experiments to constrain the formation of aromatics and other complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium. Her interests lie in the formation of heterocycles and properties of radicals on low-temperature ice surfaces. Ilsa has conducted her education and research all over the world. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Otago, in Dunedin New Zealand and a post-graduation Research Assistant position at the Centre for Trace Elements Analysis. She became a Fulbright fellow at the University of Virginia to conduct her PhD in Physical Chemistry. She worked as a visiting researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before she was awarded a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship to study low-temperature reactions involving CN and aromatic molecules.
Read more: https://ubyssey.ca/features/ilsa-cooke/
RESEARCH SCIENTIST @ CARBON ENGINEERING
Dr. Emma Davy
Emma Davy is a Research Scientist at Carbon Engineering ULC and a former Science Education Specialist and Honorary Lecturer at the University of British Columbia. Emma’s background is in organometallic and physical organic chemistry having earned her PhD at the University of Victoria and time as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa. From 2016-2024, Emma worked in chemical education as a teaching post-doctoral fellow and faculty member at Quest University Canada, as a sessional instructor at Thompson Rivers University and the University of Victoria, and high school educator. Since making the move to industry, Emma has been excited to use her knowledge of chemistry to contribute to solving the climate crisis. Outside of work, Emma is a trail and road runner, climber, mountain biker, and knitter with a passion for music, cooking, watching sports, and podcasts.
UBC LECTURER
Dr. Laura Stirchak
Coming soon!
PHD CANDIDATE + CHEMICAL BIOLOGIST
Antonio Wong
Antonio Wong (He/Him) is a chemical biologist at UBC whose work intersects radiochemistry, molecular imaging, and oncology to develop next-generation radiopharmaceuticals for cancer. His research focuses on modified nucleotides and peptide-based radiotheranostics: molecules that enable both precise tumor imaging and targeted delivery of therapeutic radiation, addressing critical needs in personalized cancer medicine where conventional treatments often lack tumor selectivity and real-time monitoring capabilities. His research journey has spanned small-molecule drug design, natural product-inspired therapeutics, and most recently, the development of targeted radiopharmaceuticals and pre-clinical theranostic platforms. As an undergraduate, Antonio published his research as first author, establishing an early foundation for his independent scientific contributions. Antonio is also deeply involved in undergraduate research, education and scientific leadership, serving as instructor of UBC's iGEM synthetic biology team, which he has mentored to gold medal recognition for synthetic biology excellence amongst 400+ teams internationally. Fun fact: he first attended WCUCC as an undergraduate poster presenter in 2015 at UBC Okanagan.
Read more: https://blogs.ubc.ca/antoniowong/
GRADUATE STUDENT + BIOCHEMIST
Nicolas Pereyra Dos Santos
I'm a 5th year Ph.D. student in Biochemistry at UBC, supervised by Dr. Kizhakkedathu in the Centre for Blood Research. I am primarily interested in blood-compatible materials, blood banking and transfusion quality, and cell-surface interactions, as well as antimicrobial technologies.
My current research focus is developing self-sterilizing storage bags for platelets. These are the cells in the blood that control bleeding, and are indispensable transfusion products clinically. The challenge is that the cells are hard to store and prone to bacterial contamination: to address this, we've developed a line of polymer coatings conjugated with antimicrobial proteins that kill bacteria without harming the cells. Ultimately, my goal is to improve the supply, safety, and quality of transfusion products for recipients.
In my free time, I love to watch/play sports, read, argue about geopolitics, and hang out with my girlfriend's cat Tiggy. The simple things in life.