The Last Word with Vish

Lindsay Hamilton joined TSN in September 2016 and is an anchor for SportsCentre. Hamilton started working in broadcasting at a young age, becoming the first host of the Family Channel in 2008. For more than five years she interviewed entertainment icons, athletes, and musicians across North America, including Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and One Direction. While pursuing a double major in communications and film at McMaster University, she created, produced, and hosted various MacTV segments – a digital television outlet covering both sports and local entertainment. During her time at McMaster, Hamilton also created, produced, and hosted a sports radio program at CFMU. In 2012, Hamilton hosted events during the 100th Grey Cup Anniversary Week, and by 2014 she joined Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment as a host for Toronto Marlies, IIHF World Juniors, and Toronto Maple Leafs games and team events. The year following, Hamilton hosted the 2015 Pan Am Games torch relay across Ontario and the artistic gymnastics during the Games in Toronto. Hamilton joined CBC Radio as a sports reporter in March of 2016. During the Rio 2016 Olympics she was part of the CBC News Network team delivering national sports updates each morning of the Games. You can follow Lindsay on Twitter @Linz_Hamilton, and on Instagram @hamiltonlindsay.

Dr. Juliet M Daniel is a Canadian biology professor at McMaster University, where her research focuses on cancer biology. In 1987, Dr. Daniel completed a Bachelor's degree in life sciences at Queen's University, and then a PhD in microbiology at the University of British Columbia in 1993. Daniel completed post-doctoral research fellowships for three years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and then followed her supervisor's move to Vanderbilt University, in Memphis, Tennessee, where she stayed for another three years. Following her post-doctoral fellowship, she joined McMaster University's Department of Biology in November 1999, where she is now a full professor. Dr. Daniel's lab studies triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), specifically to identify genetic risk factors that may explain the prevalence and high mortality associated with TNBC in women of African ancestry. In 2017, her lab demonstrated that Kaiso plays a role in the proliferation and survival of TNBC cells. Daniel mentors students through the African Caribbean Association at McMaster University, as well as youth belonging to the African Caribbean community of Hamilton. She co-founded the Canadian Multicultural LEAD Organization for Mentoring & Training. In recognition of her research, Daniel has received several awards including the Ontario Premier’s Research Excellence Award, the John C. Holland Professional Achievement Award, the African Canadian Achievement Award of Excellence in Science, the Barbados National Honor Gold Crown of Merit and a Hamilton YWCA Women of Distinction Award. She has also been featured in “Millennium Minds: 100 Black Canadians”. You can follow Dr. Juliet Daniel on Twitter @bajanjules27

Dr. Dawn M. E. Bowdish is a Canadian immunologist and currently a professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. She is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Aging & Immunity. She is known for several discoveries including the immunomodulatory properties of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37, how MARCO signaling complex recognizes Mycobacterium tuberculosis, age-associated inflammation and its effects on clearing pneumococcal pneumonia and how the aging gut microbiome drives age-associated inflammation. Dr. Bowdish was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1976. In 1999, she graduated from the University of Guelph with an Honours Bachelor of Science in microbiology. Bowdish was a graduate student and obtained her PhD from the University of British Columbia between 2000 – 2005. There, under the supervision of Robert E. W. Hancock, she discovered the immunomodulatory role of the host defense peptide LL-37. As a Canadian Institute of Health Research Post-Doctoral Fellow, Bowdish worked at the University of Oxford from 2005-2008 under the supervision of Siamon Gordon in the Department of Pathology. Dr. Dawn Bowdish’s lab is focusing on why the elderly are particularly susceptible to pneumonia and striving to extend lives by developing new therapies that bolster the body’s own natural defense mechanisms. You can follow Dr. Bowdish on Twitter @MsMacrophage

Hartley holds a BA in Theatre Studies from Acadia University and an MA in Applied Drama from Goldsmiths, University of London (UK). He has facilitated theatre workshops and productions both nationally and internationally - Ontario, Nova Scotia, the United States, England, Bulgaria, and Kosovo.  He joined the Arts & Science Program in 2012-13, teaches ARTSSCI 3CL3 / Theatre, Self, and Social Development and co-teaches (with Dr. J. Wilson) ARTSSCI 4MN2 / Movement and Integration. Hartley also teaches in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Program, where he facilitates theatre and arts-based courses. Currently working on his PhD, he focuses his teaching and research on Applied Drama, research-based theatre, and the use of drama in professional health science education. When not on the McMaster campus, Hartley works as a freelance applied drama practitioner, a communication coach at the University of Toronto’s postgraduate Medical Education program, and an arts educator at Baycrest Health Sciences. For over a decade, he has been integrating drama, improv, and play specifically within health professions education. One of his projects is a pilot of a medical improv curriculum with residents in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Toronto as a vehicle for curriculum delivery of the CanMEDs-FM framework. He has been honored to receive four McMaster Students Union Teaching Awards for his work in the Faculty of Health Sciences (2012, 2015, 2018) and the Arts & Science Program (2017). He is also a clown nose enthusiast. You can follow Hartley on Twitter @hartleyjafine

Dr. Elizabeth joined McMaster following a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Neuroscience at the Sachs Lab at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She started her career at Queen’s University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and after a Master of Engineering Science in Mechanical Engineering from Western University, she joined MEA Forensic Engineers and Scientists. She then went on to earn a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCADU and a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University. She's currently an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University. You can follow her on twitter @Liz_Hassan

Dr. Allison Sekuler joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto in 1990. In 2001, Professor Sekuler moved to McMaster as Professor and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. She currently serves as Associate Vice-President (Research) for McMaster University, and she is an adjunct member of York University’s Centre for Vision Research.

Professor Sekuler has been recognized as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow, and as an Ontario Distinguished Researcher. In 2004, Professor Sekuler’s research garnered her the distinction of a "Leader of Tomorrow", by the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE), recognizing her advances in research showing how the human brain processes visual information and how that processing changes as a function of aging. And in 2005, she received the Hamilton Spectator Publisher's Award for Educators, in appreciation of her devotion and efforts toward increasing public science outreach. She recently received a Women's Executive Network 2019 Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award in the Manulife Science and Technology category.

A former MVP point guard at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and a graduate of the school’s Radio Broadcasting program, Meghan shattered barriers as the first female play-by-play broadcaster in the National Basketball League of Canada. On top of that, she continued shattering barriers, becoming the first and only female play-by-play broadcaster in the NBA G- League (formerly NBA Development League).

In October 2018, Meghan became the first female play-by-play broadcaster in 30 years to call an NBA game, which featured the Washington Wizards take on the Detroit Pistons in pre-season action for Monumental Sports Network. She was also announced as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Capital City Go-Go, the G-League affiliate for the Washington Wizards, as they embarked on their inaugural season. Entering the 2019 WNBA Season, the Washington Mystics & Monumental Sports & Entertainment announced that Meghan would join the broadcast as the play-by-play broadcaster, alongside Color Analyst Christy Winters-Scott. Prior to joining Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Meghan was the voice of Raptors 905, the G-League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors. She also hosted pregame, halftime, and postgame for the Toronto Raptors 2016-17 NBA season on TSN 1050 radio and was an occasional guest analyst on NBA TV Canada “The Hangout” along with Bell TV “Open Gym: Fast Break.” You can follow Meghan on Twitter @meghanmcpeak and Instagram (@meghan.mcpeak).

Dr. Ishwar Kanwar Puri is an Indian-American and Canadian scientist, engineer, and academic. He is dean of the Faculty of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is also the founding academic director of McMaster's Computing Infrastructure Research Centre. Dr. Puri's vision for McMaster Engineering has been to invest in excellence by recruiting and retaining the best talent, marshaling resources to help the faculty, staff and students fulfill their capabilities, recognizing outstanding contributions and innovations, and efficient governance and administration.

David 'Turk' Yilmaz is 5th year Materials Science Engineering student at McMaster University. He was born and raised in Turkey, and came to Canada in 2014 to pursue his undergraduate studies. He's completed multiple internships in Turkey (Microsoft) and Dublin while going through one of the most challenging phases of his life. Over time, he has come to understand the support he has had around him along the way and is beyond grateful to the people who've supported him through thick and thin.

Patricia Kousoulas graduated from the Faculty of Science (Life Sciences - Valedictorian) in 2017 . She currently works in Undergraduate Recruitment at McMaster Engineering, and was the President of the McMaster Science Society for 2 years during her time as a student at McMaster.