Project Pulse Winnipeg 2019
Executive Team
Winnica Beltrano
Founder& Principal Advisor
Winnica is a third year student at the University of Calgary who loves keeping herself busy with the world around her. Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Biomedical Sciences, Winnica finds enjoyment in exploring different regions of Canada, while critically thinking about how her education can be utilized to make a meaningful impact in the surrounding community. Winnica’s greatest passions reside in the interplay between leadership, science literacy, and advocacy for underrepresented youth. In 2015, Winnica developed a manual for a “tractography” program that is currently being used in research labs at the University of Winnipeg and Manitoba. Some of her most memorable experiences include presenting this manual at the Canada-wide Science Fair, participating in SHAD, delivering a keynote address at Manitoba's International Day of the Girl Event, and serving as a panelist at the 2017 Canadian Science Policy Conference, advocating for increased gender equality in the STEM field. Winnica was also honoured with the 2016 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame scholarship and 2017 Terry Fox Humanitarian Award, which greatly reinforced her aspirations to pursue a career in healthcare, while advocating for increased educational resources for youth. In her spare time, Winnica enjoys singing, running, and playing Tetris. As the past president and founder of Project Pulse Winnipeg, Winnica is looking forward to helping the 2019 team take the fourth conference to new heights!
Janessa Morin
Principal Advisor
Janessa is in her first year of the Neuroscience program at the University of Alberta, happy to be studying something she is passionate about.
Although currently a couple provinces away, Janessa will always cherish the ties she has in the Winnipeg community after years of tutoring, coaching, teaching, acting, making music, playing sports and volunteering around her hometown. She plans to use the skills she has developed throughout the past 18 years to continue being an active citizen on her campus and in Edmonton.
Janessa looks forward to a future in neuroscience, with specific interests in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. Psychiatry, especially child and adolescent psychiatry, is a career path she hopes to follow.
This is Janessa's third year on the Project Pulse Winnipeg team, after acting as Logistics Director in 2016 and President in 2017. She is thrilled to be able to keep contributing to an organization so close to her heart.
Janessa’s favourite part about Project Pulse is by far the connections made possible through the organization. She encourages everyone, whether a participant, ambassador or executive member, to get to know as many people as possible throughout the process. Janessa is looking forward to the opportunity to do just that – continue connecting with every member of the Project Pulse Winnipeg family.
Emily Green
Co-President
Emily Green, one of the co-presidents of Project Pulse Winnipeg 2019, is a grade 12 International Baccalaureate student at Kelvin High School. Now in her second year on the Project Pulse executive team, Emily has a comprehensive understanding of the leadership and dedication required for her to pursue a future career in the medical sciences.
In addition to Project Pulse Winnipeg, Emily is involved with numerous other extracurriculars, including being the editor of her school newspaper, researching with the International Student Led Arctic Monitoring and Research Program, founding a dance program at her local refugee centre, and partnering with Plan International to promote gender equality amongst Canada’s youth across the gender spectrum.
In school, Emily enjoys biology, history, and english. Her experience with Project Pulse, her other extracurriculars, and her enrollment in the International Baccalaureate Program have motivated her to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology and genetics at the University of Manitoba in Fall 2019. Emily is thrilled to bring a comprehensive and exciting day of health sciences education and hands-on experience to Winnipeg’s youth at the 2019 in conference.
Guneet Uppal
Co-President
Guneet is currently a grade 12 student enrolled in the Advanced Program at Sisler High School. Her favorite subjects include Physics, Calculus, and Chemistry. Her interest in the health sciences was heightened after attending SHAD 2017 at the University of Calgary and participating as a summer research intern at the University of Winnipeg. She recently co-founded Sisler’s Breakfast Club, a student group that provides free breakfast to all students of Sisler High School. Guneet tries to be involved in her school community by performing in various activities and joining school groups such as Sisler’s Political Youth, Young Minds, and Overseas Educational Fund. She also runs with her school’s Cross Country and Track team.
In her free time, Guneet likes to spend time with her family, paint, and read; She also enjoys going for a run. As she enters her fourth year with Project Pulse Winnipeg, Guneet is excited to apply her experience to plan a conference that will inspire many participants to follow their dreams.
Alandra Barairo
Sponsorships and External Relations Director
Alandra Barairo is a grade 12 student currently enrolled in the Advanced Placement program at Sisler High School. She has a passion for learning and finds herself enjoying her drafting and economics classes the most. Alandra tries to be involved with her community by volunteering at the Health Sciences Centre. Apart from that, she has participated in various science fair competitions and math contests. When Alandra is not studying or working, she likes to listen to music, read, work out and paint.
Alandra is excited to attend Project Pulse Winnipeg for the fourth time in a row. This year she is the Sponsorship & Financial Director, after acting as the Events Director in 2017/2018 and as an ambassador in 2016.
For her, Project Pulse Winnipeg is very important and hopes to be able to provide opportunities for other students in the city to learn about the health science field. The conference also gives students a place to make valuable connections with both professionals and students in the city. She hopes that the participants of Project Pulse Winnipeg 2019 are able to enjoy the conference as much as she had in previous years!
Tooba Razi
University Panel Director
Tooba Razi is a first year student in the Faculty of Science, at the University of Manitoba, further hoping to pursue a major in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology. Tooba has developed a passion for the sciences, whether it be learning, or teaching others. As a result, she has dedicated much of her leisure time to pursue those passions. She is a Medical First Responder for St. Johns Ambulance, a volunteer with Lets Talk Science, and has avidly been involved as a student-researcher for the past 5 years. Tooba has worked at the University of Winnipeg in the Department of Chemistry, CancerCare Manitoba, and is working at the Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine in the coming summer. Her research has taken her from Montreal to Singapore, earning high accolades at all, and has instilled a life-long love of learning within her. With Project Pulse, Tooba hopes to inspire the next generation of health care professionals, and instil a passion of life-long learning in all attendees.
Madhumita Chandrasekaran
University Panel Director
Madhumita Chandrasekaran is a grade nine student at Acadia Junior High School with a strong passion for STEM. She was a Canada Wide Science Fair (CWSF) finalist from MSSS (2017 and 2018), won third place at her regional SANOFI Biogenius Challenge (2018), and was a gold medallist, Challenge Award, and Special Award at the CWSF (2018). She has achieved gold honor roll twice and was selected for the PACE and Honors’ Math enrichment programs. Madhu was in the top 25% for the Pascal, CNML, and Gauss Math Contests (2017 and 2018). She enjoys art, reading, sports, and volunteering within her school and community. She participates in educational events like LTSC, and Speech and Debate programs throughout Manitoba. Madhu is fascinated with health sciences and hopes to become a doctor. Through Project Pulse, she hopes to gain and help spread valuable knowledge about careers in this vast field to interested students!
Sandeep Mangat
Professional Panel Director
Sandeep is a senior at the University of Winnipeg Collegiate and loves everything from philosophy to physics, though his favourite subjects are biology, calculus, and psychology. He looks to involve himself in any STEM-related opportunity to share his passion, so he started research at the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre in tenth grade. His first project, on the beneficial impacts of a simple cloves drink on Parkinson’s disease, received a gold medal at the Manitoba Schools Science Symposium and two provincial scholarships. He is currently researching mitochondrial diseases in the Cardiac Engineering and Tissue Regeneration Laboratory at the Research Centre. Sandeep also cares for the environment, and apart from consuming anything by Aldo Leopold, has established his school’s Environmental Club. He was also 1 of 150 students selected nationwide for a National Forum in Ottawa in 2017, based on an essay he wrote about Canadian environmental issues and solutions. Further, he passionately discusses the environment, among other things, in the Winnipeg South Youth Council.
Sandeep loves helping others through his volunteer positions at St. Amant and St. Boniface Hospital. He was dedicated by the House of Commons of Canada for his community involvement in 2017. In his spare time, Sandeep loves reading (just about anything), playing the piano, and watching movies. He looks forward to an exciting year for Project Pulse and an unforgettable conference in 2019.
Harsimran Kaur
Events Director
Harsimran Kaur is an undergraduate student at the University of Winnipeg and loves to explore and learn different aspects of health sciences. Harsimran has always been interested in the life sciences and is now pursuing a Bachelor of science degree. Currently, she volunteers at the Seven Oaks Hospital, helping patients in their daily endeavors and also spends time teaching young children about science related fields as a Let’s talk Science volunteer.
Harsimran not only enjoys being active in the community but also likes to keep herself physically fit. She loves to swim and has recently completed all her requirements to be a lifeguard. Furthermore, she participated in the Commit to get fit run at the Wellness institute to create awareness for healthy living in the community. She also loves to draw, read and spend time with her family.
Harsimran believes that Project Pulse is very important to help students see what an exciting experience a career in health sciences entails. She is eager to participate this year as the Events director of Project Pulse Winnipeg 2019. In the past, she has fulfilled the roles of a graphic designer and last year was the Professional panel director. With the experiences of her fellow executive team members, she would like to make this conference knowledgeable and memorable for the participants this year.
Simran Saroya
Events Director
Simran is a Science student at University of Manitoba completing her undergraduate studies in the Bachelor of Science program. Simran, along with her co-leaders founded and runs Manitoba International Bridging Society, a student group that hopes to help students transition into university smoothly by holding various events and providing them any assistance they require. She volunteers in the Respective and Supporting Visiting Program at the Health Sciences Centre. Simran is also a volunteer with Let’s Talk Science and Variety, a Children’s Charity, and a member of Sikh Student’s Association.
During her free time, she enjoys reading, travelling, spending time with her friends and family. She loves giving back to her community by donating blood regularly and being stem cell donor. She tries to stay close to her culture by learning traditional music.
Participating in Project Pulse Winnipeg for the past three years has helped her gain a lot of insight on the day to day experience of different careers in medicine and hearing the rewarding experiences of the panelists has made her confident in her decision to work in the field. She strives to create an environment for all students to have open conversations and make connections among peers and panelists on the conference day.
Anmol Mann
Logistics Director
Anmol Mann is in her third year of Bachelor of Science at the University of Manitoba and is thrilled to be taking part of Project Pulse Winnipeg 2019. She is a Pre-Op volunteer at the Health Sciences Surgical Intensive Care Unit and Vice President Events for STEM Fellowship. As a Tallman Scholar, she values the education she is receiving – both inside of school and outside. Anmol works with Children’s Health Research Institute of Manitoba as an undergraduate researcher as well as an Optometric Assistant at Steinbach Professional Eyecare. With an intention to pursue a career in health sciences herself, Anmol hopes to be able to help design a successful conference which fulfills its goals of engaging high school students in the intriguing and gratifying careers of health care.
Katrina Lengsavath
Graphics Designer
Katrina is a grade 11 student at Gordon Bell High School. She possesses equal interest and admiration for the sciences and arts, and hopes to pursue a future that allows them to break even in her life. She hopes to gain new insight about the possibilities of a career through working with Project Pulse and discover the right fit for her. Katrina is eager for the opportunity to contribute to a cause that promotes and educates students about the health sciences and supports those interests. She looks forward to curating designs and further developing the organization’s branding as a Graphic Designer on the Executive Team this year.
Katrina has been awarded gold medals for her projects at her high school and division wide science fairs. She has also received the Samantha Mason Friendship Award in 2016. Katrina is a passionate “triple threat” in the performing arts world and sees the value in connecting with others through storytelling, movement, and music. She is also a student athlete with a fierce motivation to make her years playing sports a growing and positive experience for her community. Katrina is an ambitious, creative individual who strives to do her best in all her participating fields. She strongly believes that kindness can go a long way.
Harkirat Kaur
Marketing and Outreach Director
Harkirat is a grade 12 student at St. John’s Ravenscourt School and will be serving as the Marketing and Outreach Director for her first time on the Project Pulse Executive Team. As a student who is keen in both, health sciences and business, Harkirat hopes to pursue a career in which these two fields coexist, such as dentistry.
Aside from Project Pulse, Harkirat is an active member of her school community, serving as a Peer Tutor, Student Ambassador, and a member of the Community Service Club. She believes it is important to contribute to the betterment of the community and tries to enact this belief through volunteering weekly at the South Sikh Centre, as well as through taking on the role of a committee chair at her schools Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, a club that allocates funds to local charitable organizations. Harkirat has also been involved in organizing major events in the past, having been the Chief Organizer of Scheduling for the Senior National Public Speaking and Debating Championships 2018 and a Lead Organizer for Eaglefest, an annual function held at her school. Additionally, Harkirat has been a part of four business in the past, fulfilling a range of roles, from VP of Finance to President.
Through Project Pulse, Harkirat hopes to provide like-minded students to a greater world of opportunities in the health sciences field, allowing them to broaden their network and learn more about different specialties. She is honored to be your 2019 Marketing and Outreach Director!