Our Team Has Grown!
Meet the members of our teams! Each member is dedicated to upholding the Pulsar Collective values and helping to make our mission a reality.
Meet our Board of Directors
Cassidy Swanston
Board Member
(She/Her)
Master's student in science communication, Communications Director at the Pelling Lab. Ask me how to grow an ear out of an apple.
Nina Hadžimustafić
Board Member
(She/Her)
MD Candidate at the University of Toronto, avid classical piano lover, ask me about mitochondria or composing music!
Joanne Zhou
Board Member
(She/Her)
Dietitian and Product Management Professional. Building Products and Community are my passions.
Farhana Alarakhiya
Board Member
(She/Her)
Data nerd; obsessed about making life smarter through data insights and analytics. Ask me why society suffers from DRIP - Data Rich but Insight Poor.
Aqeela Somani
Board Member
(She/Her)
Certificate in Health Management & a Masters of Management in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Building a social impact start up and exploring the world of data.
Sam Yee
Board Member
(She/Her)
HBSc student in Biomedical Sciences, Indigenous Studies, and Science Policy. Passionate about social justice and equity, and loves all brightly-coloured things.
Cora Larkins
Board Member
(She/Her)
Strategic fundraising leader, community development Master’s student at the University of Victoria. Lover of city parks and public art.
Meet our Executives
Cassidy Swanston
Executive Director
(She/Her)
Master's student in science communication, Communications Director at the Pelling Lab. Ask me how to grow an ear out of an apple.
Nina Hadžimustafić
Director of Operations
(She/Her)
MD Candidate at the University of Toronto, avid classical piano lover, ask me about mitochondria or composing music!
Rahna Rasouli
Director of Programs
(She/Her)
Medical student at the University of Toronto & piano teacher. Ask me about music in medicine!

Emily Hashimoto-Roth
Director of Communications
(She/Her)
Master's student in bioinformatics in the Lavallée-Adam and Neural Regeneration Labs. I develop software that uses machine learning to mine and analyze mass spectrometry data!
Breana Hooks
Director of Human Resources
(She/Her)
Master's student in biochemistry, working on immunometabolism in the Harper Lab. I grew up wanting to be the first female astronaut to go to Mars.