Isabella Hotston is a master’s student in the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University. Her research focuses on the complex interplay between early-life trauma, stress, cannabis use, and mental health. By integrating psychosocial measures with biomarkers of stress, her work aims to identify distinct profiles of cannabis users and better understand who may be most vulnerable to adverse mental health outcomes.

 

Bella has had the pleasure of learning under the mentorship of Dr. Kim Hellemans since the beginning of her undergraduate degree, where she completed the Dean’s Summer Research Internship. She has remained an active member of the Hellemans Lab ever since, contributing through volunteer work, research assistant roles, completion of her Honours thesis, and now as a graduate student.

 

Her involvement with CU Spark and the Society for Neuroscience Ottawa Chapter reflects a strong commitment to reimagining how scientific knowledge is communicated and shared. Outside of her research, Bella has a deep love for music. If she’s not bopping around campus with headphones in, she’s likely in the audience at a local concert. Bella hopes to one day bridge her passions of neuroscience and music through her future research.