07/25/2026
Congratulations to BHSc '24 alumna Ariana Lewis, who is the 2026 recipient of the Alfred Bader Fellowship in Memory of Jean Royce! This award supports a year of study, research, or a project that fosters creative expression or drives progress in knowledge or society.
What’s the project?
Lewis – who goes by the stage name Ariana Gillis – is creating a full-length concept album about women’s reproductive health, with each song structured around part of a scientific manuscript (abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references). Drawing on her graduate research in reproductive biology and her career as a singer-songwriter, she hopes to turn complex science into music people can hear, feel, and discuss.
Why does it matter?
For Lewis, the challenge is creating an album that doesn’t compromise the science or the art and also making sure it reaches people. “Women’s health remains notoriously underrepresented not only in science, but also in everyday conversation,” she says. Shifting that, she adds, will require “radical new approaches.”
What does this support make possible?
Before receiving the fellowship, Lewis wasn’t sure how she could keep pursuing music while building a career in science. The support gives her “the time, resources, and creative freedom to explore both at the same time,” she says, and create something she hopes can change how scientific information is shared and discussed.
Read more:
A rural landowner trying to help solve the housing crisis. A musician and researcher creating an album about women’s reproductive health. And a genetic counsellor advancing the mission of an ultra-rare disease foundation shaped by her own family’s experience.These are the forward-thinking projec...
