In this week's episode, hosts Kelly Wang and Mark Ambrogio speak with Marina de Oliveira Emerick, a PhD candidate in Neuroscience. Marina's research looks at the relationship between music and cognition; more specifically, how music and non-invasive brain stimulation can affect walking patterns (gait) in healthy older adults and those with Parkinson's Disease. Although walking feels automatic, it relies on brain systems that help us start moving and keep a steady rhythm, which can be disrupted by aging and Parkinson’s. Early studies with young adults show promising improvements in step rhythm when people synchronize their steps to music. Marina is now expanding this work to older adults and those with Parkinson's, which means she is working directly with a clinical population. In addition to being found on LinkedIn, Marina has a ResearchGate profile. Marina's supervisor is Dr. Jessica Grahn, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies music. Those in the broader London area may find more information and community support from the Parkinson Society of Southwestern Ontario. Recorded on Tuesday, December 9, 2025 Produced by Mark Ambrogio and Kelly Wang Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

This week, hosts Garth Casbourn and Maris Schneider speak to Sarah Capellaro, a master's student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Sarah is developing methods to reduce bias against autistic people seeking to enter the workforce. Her particular focus is on promoting a growth mindset amongst hiring managers via carefully prepared infographic interventions. She studies how viewing these interventions affects managers' attitudes towards autistic applicants.

Sarah has been able to recruit a very impressive 400 participants in her experiment and shows us that it is possible to change, or at least momentarily influence, people's biases to create more fair hiring practices.

Recorded on Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr

Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by White Hot)

In this week's episode, hosts Milan Mammen and Kelly Wang interview Denise Bedard, a PhD candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Health and Aging). Denise shares with us her immense professional and academic experience in long term care, including reimagining person-centered care in small home service areas. Denise also kindly shares the difficult lessons learned about long term care through the COVID pandemic and its many impacts, especially on older adults in long term care; please consider this a content warning if this is a particularly sensitive subject for you. Denise is part of the Caregiving Research (CARE) Lab at Western University.

Recorded on Tuesday, November 18, 2025. Produced by kirstyn seanor. Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot).