OUR MISSION
BioSA represents all students in Biological Science programs (Specialists, Majors and Minors) at University of Toronto Scarborough.
BioSA acts as a forum for these students to voice their opinions and concerns and serves as a bridge between the Department of Biological Sciences and the students.
We offer many events and seminars on post-degree opportunities and ways to enhance their experience while pursuing their undergraduate degree. We also offer opportunities to give back to the community while providing members with the resources to further their exploration of science related career paths.
You can view our constitution for the 2022-2023 year here.
2022-23 EXECUTIVE TEAM
Presidents
Shenwei Hu
Shen is a fourth year student majoring in Biology and Psych with a minor in (public disturbance) applied statistics. She has been involved with BioSA for two years now and her favorite thing about this experience is the community that BioSA fosters both within the executive team and students in the biology department. Her goals for this year as President would be to open as many doors as she can for the student body given all that was missed during the pandemic. She hopes that before she graduates, she leaves a legacy behind along the way.
Mahnoor Khan
Mahnoor is in her fifth year at UTSC, completing her double major in Human Biology and Neuroscience and minor in Psychology. As the Co-President of BioSA this year, her main goal is to strengthen the services provided by BioSA and to leave a deep positive impact in the undergraduate experience of students in the department. As an extrovert, Mahnoor loves to make friends and always appreciates a spontaneous chat or a passing hello – don’t be shy to reach out!
Email: president@thebiosa.org
Vice-Presidents of Academics
Mickaela Bautista
Mickaela is our Vice President of Academics. She is in her third year doing a double major in Human Biology and Psychology. She hopes to provide UTSC students with an accessible way to connect with other biology students, professors and resources through BioSA’s social media pages.
Julia Lo
Julia is a 4th year student at UTSC completing her Neuroscience Specialist Co-op degree. This year, she is BioSA’s VP Academics. She is interested in research surrounding brain and behaviour. Julia is grateful to be part of a fun team this year and hopes that she can continue to help bring UTSC students informative and fun events. In her spare time, Julia likes to play music through singing and piano, and can often be found trying not to sleep on long commutes.
Email: vpacademics@thebiosa.org
Vice-President of Graduate Affairs
Frans Budiman
Frans is a third year taking a Specialist program in molecular biology and biotechnology. He is excited to be able to organize events to help students pursue their career in medical science. If you have any event/seminar that you think will be interesting, please let him know and he will be more than happy to arrange it!
Email: vpgradaffairs@thebiosa.org
Vice-President of Volunteer and Charity
Jessie Tian
Jessie is a 3rd year student at UTSC double majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience with a minor in Applied Stats. She’s excited to be working with this year’s team at BioSA to organize new resources and events to help students enrich their experience at university. Her interests include psychopharmacology, neural network modelling, art, and writing.
Email: vpcharity@thebiosa.org
Vice-President of Public Relations
Shaima Hussain
Shaima is in her third year at UTSC, majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience. Her hobbies are to draw, bake and play games. She is excited to work with BioSA this year!
Vice-President of Finance and Operations
Papina Gnaneswaran
Papina is BioSA’s VP of Finance and Operations. She is in her 3rd year doing a double major in Human Biology and Biochemistry. Papina is excited to be apart of BioSA this year, and contribute to an effort that fosters curiosity in the sciences, and exposes students to opportunities within field, all while developing a sense of community within UTSC. As Papina has a passion for mentorship please feel free to reach out to her, grab some starbies, and chat about academics, research, or career paths.
Email: vpfinance@thebiosa.org
Vice-President of Social
Grace Hlal
Grace is currently in her fourth-year pursuing a double major in Human Biology and Psychology. This is her first year being a part of BioSA and she is very excited to be joining such a great team while serving the student body. One cool fact about Grace is that she once spent twenty four hours in the UTSC library. In her free time, she likes to embroider, tend to her plants, and walk her beloved dog Simba.
Email: vpsocial@thebiosa.org
Vice-President of External Affairs
Prithika Piratheepan
Prithika is BioSA’s VP of External Affairs. She is in her second year doing a double major in Human Biology and Health Studies. Prithika is excited to be a part of BioSA this year to bring forth fun events and seminars through collaborating with many external organizations. She is often seen drinking copious amounts of coffee around campus so if you spot her around please say hi!
Email: vpexternal@thebiosa.org
Secretary
Aditi Bansal
Aditi is specializing in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology with a Minor in Biomedical Ethics. She is an avid reader, dancer and F1 fanatic. As the Secretary for BioSA, she wants to connect students to resources and help and plan events that motivate and encourage the student body. Having already curated Suicide Prevention trainings for UTSC students, she hopes to bring more such opportunities for learning and having fun in the future.
Email: secretary@thebiosa.org
Academics Director
Zaynab Azeem
Zaynab is a second-year planning to pursue Neuroscience. She is always open to have a conversation and going on quick bubbe tea runs, so feel free to hit her up with any questions, or if you want to chat and try out exotic bbt flavors! She also enjoys reading, going on long-walks and discussing music. She is looking forward to making new friends and exploring the campus!
Email: academics@thebiosa.org
Medical Sciences Director
Denzel Lodge
Denzel is a final year double major in human biology and psychology. He is very passionate about the intersections of biology and psychology especially in ways that have been historically under explored. For him, this means tackling domains within the medical sciences that though not always highlighted, are still nonetheless essential in their own right. Along with the always popular, medicine, dentistry and optometry events, he hopes to highlight less spotlighted careers with similar events throughout the semester. Outside of BIOSA, Denzel also works as a clinical research assistant at the Kidney Health Education and Research Group.
Email: medsci@thebiosa.org
Departmental Events Director
Suzan Nasrallah
This is Suzan Nasrallah. She is currently in her third year double majoring in Human Biology and Molecular Biology, Immunology, and Disease. When she is free, she likes to watch tv shows on Netflix and Disney plus. She is so excited to plan awesome events for this school year.
Publicity and Marketing Directors
Wania Qamar
Wania Qamar is the Publicity and Marketing Director for BioSA for the 2022-2023 academic year. She is a third-year student double majoring in Human Biology and Biochemistry Co-op with a minor in Psychology. She enjoys painting and draws so she is really excited to show her creative skills through this position! This is her second year at BioSA and she is really excited to be a part of BioSA this year again! She hopes to showcase the new events through her creative artistic skills, and to help other students!
Lakshiya Shanmugalingam
Lakshiya is one of the Publicity and Marketing Director for the BioSA 2022-23 school year. She is a fourth-year undergraduate student, pursuing a double major in human biology and neuroscience. She’s excited to be a part of BioSA’s executive team this year!
Solomon Tse
Solomon (Solo) is one of BioSA’s Publicity and Marketing Directors for the 2022-2023 year and a 3rd year Psychology Specialist + Biology Minor student at UTSC. He loves engaging in and discussing various types of media (such as gaming, film/tv, anime, music and art+photography). He hopes to use his skills in marketing to help bridge the gap between the student body and BioSA to help support their education and career in the field of biology.
Email: pubmarks@thebiosa.org
Senior Year Representative
Yusef Khan
Yusef Khan is a 5th year student, currently studying Molecular Biology, Immunology & Disease and Psychology. This marks his 5th year on BioSA as he initially joined the team as one of their First Year Representatives. He hopes to use his wealth of experience to organize engaging events and provide helpful resources for UTSC students.
Email: senioryearrep@thebiosa.org
Second Year Representatives
Danielle Nanquil
Danielle Nanquil double majors in Human Biology and Health Studies at UTSC. As a second year representative at BioSA, she strives to prioritize the voices of second year biology students and hopes to foster a positive, fun environment for them.
Simran Batther
Simran is in her second year (as you can tell by her position) at UTSC and is completing a double major in human biology and mental health studies. This is her first year with BioSA and she is excited to plan some super fun events as well as be a voice for the second year students and their concerns.
Email: secondyearrep@thebiosa.org
First Year Representatives
Maria Zimmermann
Maria Zimmermann is one of the first year representatives, she came from Brazil, and she is going into Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Specialist in her second year. Her hopes for this year are to inspire and help as many biology students as she can, so everyone feels like a part of this incredible community. She loves giving advice and helping others, whenever you need, she’s here for you!
De-Mario Knowles
De-Mario is a first-year student specializing in human biology and minoring in psychology. As a First Year Representative, his main goal is to advocate for other first-year students and help them discover and embrace their passion for biology. With years of experience as an award-winning public speaker, De-Mario believes that he can use his newfound position to IMPACT the lives of others positively and to create a legacy that inspires generations of people.
Email: firstyearrep@thebiosa.org
Webmasters
Kishora Ravichandran
Kishora is a third year student majoring in Biochemistry Co-op and Molecular Biology, Immunology and Disease. As one of the webmasters of BioSA, she works with the team to help keep BioSA’s website updated! In her free time, she loves to watch random horror and thriller movies and also loves riding her bike when the weather is nice.
Kush Panchal
Kush is a fourth year student double majoring in Human Biology and Neuroscience. He joined the BioSA team in the 2021-2022 school year as a webmaster. Working alongside the other webmaster, he is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the BioSA website. Some of his hobbies include gaming, sports, and playing the guitar.
Email: webmaster@thebiosa.org