Past Speakers

Dr. Jennifer Chan is the Director of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, at the University of Calgary. She received her Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dartmouth College and MD from McGill University. She then completed clinical training in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology at Harvard University. Following a research fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, she became a staff neuropathologist at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and the Pathology Leader of the Biological Samples Platform at the Broad Institute. Dr. Chan joined the University of Calgary in 2008, where she has clinical duties in Neuropathology at Foothills Hospital and Alberta Children's Hospital, and has a research lab in the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute. She also directs the Clark Smith Brain Tumor and Pediatric Tumor Bank, and is involved in several collaborative projects to molecularly characterize pediatric and adult brain tumors.

Dr. Chan's research program applies concepts from developmental neurobiology to further understand mechanisms of disease in brain tumorigenesis. Her lab is examining the intersection of growth factor signaling and intrinsic determinants such as transcription factor function in cell fate determination and proliferation in neural development and cancer. Their work uses somatic transgenesis to introduce genes of interest into neural stem and progenitor cells to model disease, and is supplemented by in vitro studies using brain tumour initiating cells (BTICs). Projects include defining the role of CIC in oligodendrogliomas, and proneural genes in oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas.  Another major goal is to use these techniques and reagents to develop more rapid and flexible systems for modeling brain tumors in vivo.

Aimee Norton is a senior researcher at Stanford University who studies the Sun's magnetic fields.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University. She first studied nuclear engineering at Texas A&M. A chance summer internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory introduced her to research.  She then changed her career path to do astronomical research.  She received her PhD from UCLA after using data from a NASA-funded spacecraft to search for magneto-hydrodynamic waves in the Sun's atmosphere. Dr. Norton worked at the Institute of Astrophysics in the Canary Islands (Spain) for a summer before her postdoc positions at Stanford University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.  She served as science editor for the Astrophysical Journal from 2017 to 2020.  In her free time, she enjoys running, swimming, reading science fiction, and writing poetry.

Natalie Gallegos is a software engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where she plays a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of the Trek Portals—a suite of web-based tools that provide interactive access to planetary and lunar mission data. Through her work, she helps make scientific data more accessible to researchers, mission teams, and the public, enabling exploration of Mars, the Moon, and other celestial bodies from any browser.

Ms. Gallegos's journey at NASA began as a computer science intern while completing her master’s degree. Her technical contributions and collaborative spirit led to a full-time position, where she continues to bridge front-end design with robust backend systems and emerging machine learning technologies. Her role is central to ensuring Trek Portals are not only functional and fast, but also intuitive and visually engaging.

Emily Law has over twenty years of experience in research, development and management of complex information systems. Since 1996, she has been working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she has provided leadership and management in the architecture, development, technology and operations of highly distributed ground data systems for planetary exploration and earth science.

Ms. Law currently serves as Deputy Program Manager and Development Manager to two separate directorates covering data systems in solar system research and earth science. She also leads operations for NASA’s Planetary Data System, and oversees the development and operations of science data infrastructures and portals in support of Earth and Planetary science including the Solar System Treks Project (SSTP). She has authored papers and made numerous presentations on data intensive systems at various national and international venues.

Mei Chuin Tan is a seasoned technical program management leader at Intel Corporation, where she currently serves as Senior Manager of the Technical Program Management (TPM) team. In this role, she oversees the successful execution of complex, customer-facing technology development projects, ensuring cross-functional alignment and timely delivery

With an MBA and PMP certification underscoring her expertise in leadership and structured project methodologies, Mei Chuin brings a rare blend of business acumen and technical fluency to her work. She leads teams through high-stakes environments, cultivating collaboration, driving program excellence, and maintaining strong partnerships with internal engineering groups and external customers.

Beyond her core responsibilities, Mei Chuin is actively engaged in leadership development—coaching others, facilitating workshops, and sharing her knowledge in organizational development, program governance, and stakeholder management. Her recent milestone: completing an advanced leadership accreditation, celebrated by peers across her network as a testament to her commitment to personal and team growth.

Dr. Xinnan Du is the Outreach and Engagement Manager at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford University. She got her PhD in astronomy in 2018 from UCLA, where she studied the physical properties of gas in distant star-forming galaxies. Before moving to Northern California, Dr. Du spent 3 years at UC Riverside as a postdoctoral scholar, outreach director, and program manager. She is very enthusiastic about public outreach. With a long-term career goal in informal science education, Xinnan hopes to inspire and engage everyone in learning astronomy through various outreach and training programs.