GradCast

This week, PhD student Bright Ofori talks about his research on HIV stigma and mental health among older adults living with HIV. With advances in treatment, people living with HIV are living longer. However, this raises new questions about what aging with HIV looks like; what happens when the social impacts of HIV (including stigma, shame, and fear of disclosure) last after diagnosis?
Bright’s research compares the experiences of older adults living with HIV across two different settings: the Ashanti Region of Ghana and African, Caribbean, and Black communities in Ontario. How do culture, community, and social support shape experiences of HIV stigma? How can stigma affect mental health, including experiences of depression and anxiety? And how can researchers capture these experiences while ensuring that the people and communities affected have a meaningful role in building a stronger voice for affected individuals?
Join Kuljeet Chohan and Victor Lau as they hear more about Bright’s methodologies and tackling how stigma exists, to understand a little more about the prevalence of HIV stigma and persisting through with mental health challenges.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bright-ofori-phdInstagram: @i.am.bryt ----------------------------------------
Recorded on Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Produced by Kuljeet Chohan
Theme tune “Feelin Good” provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

We’re back with our mini-series, chatting with folks on campus who support graduate students in every aspect of life! This week, your hosts, Maris Schneider and Garth Casbourn, are chatting with Melanie Molnar, the Ombudsperson at Western University. Melanie is a professional mediator who supports graduate students as they move through their programs and learn to navigate complex relationships with supervisors and advisors. Tune in to learn more about Melanie’s role in graduate life and how you can use the Ombudsperson to support your academic journey.
If you would like to learn more about the Ombudsperson or access their services, you can find all of the information here https://www.uwo.ca/ombuds/index.html.
 
Recorded on Tuesday, Sep 15, 2026Produced by Kuljeet ChohanTheme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Ryan Baxter and Mark Ambrogio interview Rory Succee as he graduates with his MA in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology.  A newly-minted Western graduate, Rory is about to begin a PhD in Art History – also here at Western. Congratulations, Rory!
In their conversation, Ryan and Mark ask Rory about research he undertook at St. Dominic's Cemetery in D'Hanis, Texas — a cemetery of German heritage.  Rory shares anecdotes about his fieldwork at the cemetery, as well as how he learned from oral history and archival research, not to mention enjoying the famous "southern hospitality" from the local Texans.
As he enters his PhD, Rory is interested in the work of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, as well as other noteworthy Latin American artists, including Frida Kahlo, Poty Lazzarotto, Candido Portinari, and Fernando Botero.
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, September 8th, 2026
Produced by Evelyn MacKay-Barr
Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by White Hot)

In this episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Ryan Baxter are joined by neuroscience PhD student Nima Zargarnezhad. An amateur musician from an early age, Nima relates how, as an undergraduate in electrical engineering, he developed a fascination with how the human brain works. For his Master's research, Nima was able to combine the strands of his musicianship, his computational skills, and his neurological interests, and bring all three to bear on a project at Western's Centre for Brain and Mind. Using a sound equipment array known as the audiodome, he created virtual sound spaces to study how the human brain interprets positional information from the sounds in its environment.
You can learn more about Nima and his research at the following links:
https://nimazargarnezhad.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nima-zargarnezhad/
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, September 1st, 2026
Produced by Garth Casbourn
Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by White Hot)

This week, freshly-graduated MA Cristina Lama talks about her research, and why it’s cool to be studying human bones.  Why can the tibia be a better candidate than other bones, when doing research in bioanthropology? What sort of problems and models can we take from the literature, and use that to develop hypotheses and investigate our own questions? What are some of the complexities in working with human samples?
 
Join Mark Ambrogio and Victor Lau as they hear more about some of the richness of Cristina’s investigations into the literature, and how she’s used that to translate her rigour and scientific approach to analyzing scans in the human tibia. 
 
Listen to hear about some of the fascinating methods Cristina is applying, as well as how she considers ethical questions around handling human samples in a respectful manner! Finally, Cristina shares a little about her upcoming doctoral studies at the University of Toronto.
 
Links:
PAVElab (https://www.pavelab.ca/) 
SchroederLab (https://www.laurenschroederlab.com/)  
 
 
Recorded on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
Produced by Ella Siciliano
Theme tune "Feelin Good" provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)

In this week's episode, hosts Anthony Cruz and Anika Bushra interview Stephanie Brocca, a master’s graduate in Health and Rehabilitation Science. Stephanie researches how current methods of communicating health information can be a barrier to health literacy, patient activation, and health competencies in individuals with specific learning disorders, a field not well studied. Outside of research, Stephanie is passionate about mental health awareness and has written a book of poetry on trauma, stigma, and mental health called The Pains of Living, taking inspiration from true stories across the GTA. Tune in to learn more about the health literacy, patient activation, and the importance of accessible communication in the health field!
 
Anyone interested can reach out to Stephanie via Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-brocca
 
Recorded on Tuesday, August 18, 2026Produced by Evelyn MacKay-BarrTheme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by WhiteHot)