GradCast

In this installment of the #TheScoopOnSOGS miniseries, host Maris Schneider is joined by Saghar Soltanabadi, a fourth-year PhD candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, serving as the Vice President Student Services (VPSS) for the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) at Western University. In her role, Saghar acts as a main operational role for graduate student support, coordinating across comm...

What's a better way to start off the school year than with a brand new mini-series! GradCast is teaming up with Learning, Development and Success, out of Western Student Experience. We talk to experts on campus who support graduate students in doing research, writing theses, and have all the tips and tricks to succeed in grad school!

In our third episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Chrishma Perera chat with ...

In this installment of the #TheScoopOnSOGS miniseries, host Maris Schneider is joined by Kirsty Ng, a PhD Candidate in Western's Department of Chemistry who currently serves as the Board Chair at the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS). Listen to this episode to learn about Kirsty's research, background, and roles at SOGS.

Recorded on September 23, 2025.  Produced by Anthony Cruz & Milan Mammen.  Theme song provided by https...

What's a better way to start off the school year than with a brand new mini-series! GradCast is teaming up with Learning, Development and Success, out of Western Student Experience. We talk to experts on campus who support graduate students in doing research, writing theses, and have all the tips and tricks to succeed in grad school! 

In our second episode, hosts Riya Sidhu and Garth Casbourn chat with H...

In this installment of the #TheScoopOnSOGS miniseries, host Maris Schneider is joined by Anthony Cruz, a PhD Candidate in Western's Department of Psychology who currently serves as the Vice-President Academic at the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS). Listen to this episode to learn about Anthony's research, background, and roles at SOGS.

Recorded on September 16, 2025.  Produced by Anthony Cruz.  Theme song provided by https:/...

What's a better way to start off the school year than with a brand new mini-series! GradCast is teaming up with Learning, Development and Success, out of Western Student Experience, to talk to experts on campus who support graduate students in doing research, writing theses, and have all the tips and tricks to succeed in grad school! 

In our first episode, hosts Chrishma Perera and Ryan Baxter chat with ...

Join us for the 7th episode of our collaboration with Inspiring Minds, which is a campus-wide partnership between Western Research, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Writing Support Centre, Western Libraries, Student Experience, and Western's 11 faculties. Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research while enhancing transferable skills.

This week, ...

Hosts Anthony Cruz and Scott Walters chat with Anemily Machina, a PHD candidate in Computer Sciences. Anemily puts our hosts on the spot with a word association game as part of summarizing their work on explainable AI, the limits of large language models (LLMs), and the risks of the ongoing AI bubble.

For even more from Anemily on this topic, consider watching their two part series, available on Youtube: Part 1 | Part 2.

Recorded...

In this week’s episode, hosts Krishna Pereira and Anthony Cruz interview Sydney Holland, a second-year PhD student in Anthropology at Western University. Sydney’s research focuses on bioarchaeology, using human remains such as teeth and bones to study life in the past.

Sydney Holland explores the lives of past communities through the lens of bioarchaeology. Her research focuses on how infant feeding practices—particularly breastfee...

In this week's episode, hosts Riya Sidhu and Ryan Baxter interview Sarah Park, a student in the combined  MScOT/PhD program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.  Parkinson's disease can have a deleterious effect on walking, or gait. Left untreated, worsening gait (such as uneven pacing, or irregular steps) can lead to negative outcomes, such as falls. Sarah discusses her research in non-pharmacological interventions to help impro...

In this week's episode, hosts Bruno Mesquita and Garth Casbourn interview Ben Pilling a Master’s student in Psychology. 

Ben shares how he plans to build on the classic motor homunculus model using video games in the fMRI throughout his Master's. He also discusses the benefits and considerations of making research more ecologically valid.

Recorded on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Produced by Riya Sidhu  Theme song provided by FreeBe...

Hosts Ryan Baxter and Chrishma Perera chat with Caitlin Fitzpatrick, a MSc student about to defend her master's in Neuroscience. Caitlin returns to GradCast to discuss her findings into the emotional connection between music and memory, specifically in older adults experiencing "normal" forgetting or mild cognitive impairment.

If you'd like to register as a prospective research participant with OurBrainSCAN, you can do so online: h...

Hosts Ryan Baxter and Maris Schneider chat with Geneva Herold, a MSc student in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Geneva studies patients who are at high risk of developing osteoarthritis in their knees due to a previous injury, like an ACL tear. She is studying the cells in a special tissue in the joint called the synovium, which she hopes will help us better understand why some patients develop osteoarthritis and why...

In this week's episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Riya Sidhu interview Anthony Tannous, an incoming PhD student in Physical Therapy. Anthony is going to study whether robotic surgical assistants can improve patient satisfaction while saving healthcare dollars. Tune in for a look at how technology might reshape recovery—and the healthcare system.

Recorded on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Produced by Riya Sidhu and kirstyn seanor. Theme so...

In this episode, hosts Ryan Baxter and Mark Ambrogio interview Dima Kassem, a PhD student in Anthropology on her research in the field of Sociocultural Anthropology.  More specifically, Dima is studying the assistance provided for People Living with a Rare Disease (PLWRD).  Entering the second year of her PhD, Dima is furthering her research on this subject, continuing work she did in her Master's degree.  In this conversation, Rya...

This week on GradCast, hosts Maris Schneider and Mark Ambrogio sit down with Linda Rosbach, a visiting research student from the University of Regensburg. Linda studies how the brain controls everyday actions, such as reaching and grasping. Her research explores whether our brains function the same way in the real world as they do in virtual reality. Tune in to learn more about her fascinating work and what it’s like to conduct res...