Marina E. Tourlakis, PhD
Faculty Member in Life Sciences (Molecular Genetics),
Quest University Canada
Dates of Visit: November 7 – December 9, 2022
Biography
Marina Tourlakis is a Faculty Member in Life Sciences at Quest University Canada where she teaches introductory cell & molecular biology and advanced courses in plant and human molecular genetics & genomics. Her pedagogy seeks to engage and support diverse learners in these fields. She employs authentic experiential learning activities, writing to learn pedagogies and self-directed scholarship to help all students find the value in learning life sciences. Her service and mentoring portfolios have focused on developing institutional frameworks for students (and their mentors) to develop and succeed in self-directed research projects. She completed her PhD in Molecular Genetics (University of Toronto) in 2014. Her research has focused on the molecular genetics of ribosomes and disease, and more recently, on teaching and mentoring in the genetics & genomics disciplines.
Purpose of Visit
While visiting CHES, Marina will focus on developing a scholarly program centred on the following questions: What is the value of teaching basic science (particularly genetics) to health care providers? What should be the objectives of this training? How should this training be delivered (and by whom)? Marina also hopes to develop a network of colleagues and, hopefully, collaborators interested in similar questions.