Physiology PhD student to attend Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

The Faculty of Medicine’s Graduate Studies Office is pleased to announce that Stephanie Mouchbahani Constance, a second year PhD student in the Department of Physiology, has been chosen to attend the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting this summer in Lindau, Germany.

Each year, dozens of Nobel Laureates convene at Lindau to meet the next generation of leading scientists, including undergraduates, PhD students, post-doc researchers, from all over the world. The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, which began in 1951, have as their aim to foster exchange between scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines.

Stephanie, whose research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms by which toxins in lionfish venom cause pain, will be among 650 young scientists representing over 100 nationalities and will have the unique opportunity to meet around 70 Nobel Laureates in physics, physiology or medicine, chemistry and economic sciences.

Stephanie was nominated by the Faculty of Medicine to the Canadian Student Health Research Forum (CSHRF), which then nominated five applicants from across Canada to the Lindau Committee. Ultimately, three Canadian students, including Stephanie, were selected to travel to Lindau.

Stephanie is a member of Dr. Reza Sharif Naeini’s lab, where she began her lionfish research as an undergrad and where she is currently applying this knowledge to further our understanding of the neurophysiology of pain as well as to develop novel therapeutics. Also out of this research, Stephanie became co-founder and CEO of PteroTech, a startup created in order to bring to market novel treatments that reduce the pain caused by lionfish stings. Lionfish (genus Pterois) are venomous spiny fish native to the Indo-Pacific which have, in recent years, become an invasive species in the Atlantic, likely due to aquarium owners dumping their unwanted pets in the ocean.

Stephanie is also the founder of ShadowHer, an organization that helps young girls shadow women in industries they’re interested in. ShadowHer’s inaugural event will be taking place on March 23rd, where high school girls will be learning from McGill professors about how they chose a career in science, and shadowing graduate students to get an idea of what being a scientist is really like.

She is also a member of the Montreal-based Science & Policy Exchange, a student-led non-profit organization that aims to assemble students, leaders and the community for an exchange of ideas on science and policy, as well as Let’s Talk Science! a Canadian organization that aims to educate Canadian youth through science, technology, engineering and mathematics based programs.

March 3 2020