2024
Board of Directors
Trish Osler
M.Ed., (Art) Western University
Ph.D., (Art Education) Concordia University
President
Rebecca Duclos
Ph.D. Art History and Visual Culture
University of Manchester
Board Member
Edward Ruthazer
Ph.D. Neuroscience
Montreal Neurological Institute
Board Member
Nour Chahine
Ph.D. Student in Neuroscience
McGill University
Communications Director
Eric Trudel
Ph.D. McGill University
MBA, CPA auditor
Board Member
Cristian Zaelzer
Ph.D. Molecular & Cell Biology
Founder & Past President
Trish Osler
M.Ed., (Art) Western University
Ph.D., (Art Education) Concordia University
President
From arts-based to art-sci, professional practice to pedagogy, artist and educator Trish Osler’s portfolio reflects a new hybridity of design thinking and neuroscience in research and education. As President of the Convergence Initiative, she is dedicated to mobilizing domain-specific knowledge through intra-active, two-way engagement and collaboration. Trish's transdisciplinary research investigates new pedagogies at the nexus of art education and the neuroscience of creativity, a dynamic field revolutionizing curriculum and practice for 21st century learning. A Concordia Public Scholar (2021-22), Trish’s research challenges disciplinary and institutional boundaries, exploring creative cognition in a playful quest for the transformative and the transcendent: entangled, embodied exchanges that are both theorized and felt. This approach, constructed to be both introspective and extrospective, reimagines the discrete and integrated persona of the a/r/tographer and foregrounds diverse spaces of relationality in critical and pedagogical thinking.
Rebecca Duclos
Ph.D. Art History and Visual Culture
University of Manchester
Board Member
I have been fortunate to have watched the Convergence Initiative expand and deepen over the past few years, first as dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia when our partnership with McGill first began, and now as a Professor in Art History. I'm not really one for disciplinary barriers and boundaries. Both in my own practice and administratively, I've pursued more experimental and open modes of knowledge seeking that are grounded in a sense of curiosity and wonder.
Edward Ruthazer
Ph.D. Neuroscience
Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital
Board Member
Dr. Edward Ruthazer is the James McGill Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University. He has directed a biomedical research laboratory at the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital since 2005. Dr. Ruthazer has held the Canada Research Chair in Neuronal Circuit Development and the FRSQ chaire de recherche. Today he is Director of the Integrated Program in Neuroscience graduate program. His research combines cellular-level live imaging and electrophysiology to understand the mechanisms underlying experience-dependent neural circuit development.
Nour Chahine
Ph.D. Student in Neuroscience
McGill University
Director of Communications
Nour Chahine is a Lebanese Neuroscience PhD student at McGill University. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the American University of Beirut. Nour’s work explores the intriguing mechanisms governing spatial exploration, sleep and dreaming. Her artistic practice merges science with art, incorporating experimental algorithms, ambient music, lighting, and projections into immersive experiences. Inspired by her admiration for jellyfish, Nour draws from their ethereal beauty and intriguing sleep-like behavior, despite their simple nervous systems. She believes that art offers a unique perspective to explore the fascinating workings of the sleeping brain.
Eric Trudel
Ph.D. McGill University
MBA, CPA auditor
Board Member
Being interested in science, in 2009, he obtained a PhD in Neuroscience at McGill University as an electrophysiologist. While continuing in research, he then went on to study business and obtained an MBA from Laval University in 2014. He then switched careers and became a chartered accountant in 2020. He has since been working in corporate finances and taxation with the Chiasson Gauvreau inc. accounting firm.
Cristian Zaelzer
Ph.D. Molecular & Cell Biology
Founder & Past President
Cristian is an award-winning Chilean-Canadian neuroscientist, graphic designer, educator, communicator & artist. Trained as a graphic designer, he moved to the sciences obtaining a Ph.D. in Molecular & Cell Biology studying ion channels. His work and scientific collaborations have been published in high impact journals, including Nature. As a science communicator & educator, he teaches neuroscience to artists and science communication to scientists. In 2016, he founded the Convergence Initiative.
