About Me
Hi, I'm Francis. In a past life, I competed in olympic freestyle wrestling. As you can see in the photo, competing has taught me to use my head in many ways (joke). I have a wide range of interests, demonstrated by my variegated path in school. I have completed a BSc. in Behavioural Neuroscience at Concordia University, and am currently a MSc. student in Machine Learning at Université de Montréal and MILA. I am now interested in applying what I have learned to help others.
My personal interests include reading books unrelated to my schooling, reading books related to school, running and cooking.
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Experience
- All
- Education
- Work Experience
- Volunteer Experience
Education
Université de Montréal
Sep 2020 - currently
MSc. - Computer Science (Machine Learning) at MILA Professional Master's degree in Machine Learning given by the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms. Courses consist of a mixture of machine learning theory and of applications/projects in the field of data science. Projects cover a wide range of topics including (but not limited to) text processing, image processing, graph and causal modelling, and latent variable modelling.
Concordia University
Jan 2016 - Jun 2020
BSc. - Behavioral Neuroscience - highest standing BSc. recipient The coursework focused on biology (molecular, cell, & systems biology; bioinformatics), chemistry (organic & biochemistry), and psychology (cognitive, neuro, social, & developmental psychology). I became interested in AI and machine learning through research (see research section below), and self-taught myself computer science fundamentals throughout this time. I also competed in the Stinger's varsity wrestling team, where I won two national championships and represented Canada at the world championships.
Vanier College
Sep 2013 - Dec 2015
DEC - Pure and Applied Sciences I completed this DEC while being in the sports-études program and competing in wrestling for Vanier.
Work Experience
Hydro Quebec
May 2021 - currently
Machine Learning intern
Working on models for solar radiation forecasting based on satellite images. Responsible for the transfer learning of models on newer satellites, including the formation of conversion methods and retraining new models on the higher resolution data.
Concordia University
Jun 2017 - currently
Research Assistant
Worked in all phases of academic research, including project design, managaement and communication with third parties, litterature search, experimentation, data analysis, and writing manuscripts. I have worked for three researchers: Dr. Peter Shizgal (studying reinforcement learning, neural signalling, and motivation), Dr. Christopher Steele (developing methods to analyse quantitative MRI images), and Dr. Andrew Chapman (studying neuropharmacology of the hippocampus/memory-related region of the brain).
Biochemistry Department, Concordia University
2019 - 2020
Supervisor, Strategic Learning Program
Direct supervisor for a group of teaching assistants in the Strategic Learning program - a program designed to help all students in a selection of difficult subjects through collaborative learning. In addition to supervision duties, involved project managment, session planning, and quick adaptability.
Biochemistry Department, Concordia University
2019 - 2020
Teaching Assistant, Strategic Learning Program
Aided students through group tutoring provided by the University. Required interacting both as a peer and teacher, and planning session.
Equinoxe Care/ Virtual Clinic
2016 - 2017
Medical Coodinator
Was the point of first contact for patients entering the medical clinic and for communication with other medical services. Worked in a fast-paced environment with patients, doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and laboratories.
Derme & Co.
2016
Research Technician
Worked in the development and mixing of skin care products. Quality control of skin-care products
Volunteer Work
Montreal General Hospital
2017 - 2019
Intensive Care Unit Volunteer Guided and supported family members of patients. Also shadowed medical procedures and occaisonally helped with small tasks in the ICU.
Concordia Access Center
2018
Tutor for students with disabilities Learned to adapt communication and material for people with difficulties. Taught the importance of compassion.
VMC and YM-YWHA
2014-2015
Wrestling coach for young athletes Occaisonal replacement of coaches. Learned to communicate skills and advice.
Vanier College
2015
Mentorship program for new athletes Helped new students balance education and athletics.
Research
Published Scientific Articles
- Francis Carter, & Andrew C. Chapman, "Serotonin 5-HT1A Receptor-Mediated Reduction of Excitatory Synaptic Transmission in Layers II/III of the Parasubiculum", Neuroscience, 2019.
Refereed Abstracts / Presentations (Selected)
- Francis Carter, Alfred Anwander, Thomás Goucha, Helyne Adamson, Angela Friederici, & Christopher Steele "Assessing Quantitative MRI Techniques Using Multimodal Comparisons", Organization for Human Brain Mapping, 2020.
- Francis Carter, Pierre-Louis Bazin, & Christopher Steele "Improving the Speed of Surface Registrations", Quebec Bio-Imaging Network, and Organization for Human Brain Mapping, 2020.
- Francis Carter, Vasilis Pallikaras, & Peter Shizgal "Questioning the Role of Phasic Dopamine Signalling in Reinforcement Learning", Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2019.
- Peter Shizgal, Vasilis Pallikaras, Francis Carter, David Velazquez-Martinez, & Andreas Arvanitogiannis "Frequency Response of Optically Stimulated, Midbrain Dopamine Neurons", Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2019.
- Vasilis Pallikaras, Francis Carter, David Velazquez-Martinez, Andreas Arvanitogiannis, & Peter Shizgal "The Trade-Off between Optical Power and Pulse Duration in Optical Excitation of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons", Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2019.
- Peter Shizgal, Ivan Trujillo-Pissanty, Marie-Pierre Cossette, Francis Carter, Vasilis Pallikaras, Yannick-A. Breton, & Rebecca Solomon "Does Phasic Dopamine Signalling Play a Causal Role in Reinforcement Learning?", Reinforcement Learning and Decision Making Conference, 2019. Winner of the poster spotlight.
- Vasilis Pallikaras, Francis Carter, David Velázquez-Martinez, Andreas Arvanitogiannis, & Peter Shizgal "Temporal Integration of Optical Excitation in Midbrain Dopamine Neurons", CSBN Scientific Symposium, 2019.
- Ariel Batallan Burrowes, I.A. Iasenza, Francis Carter, Waqqas Shams & Andrew C. Chapman, "Ovariectomy Reduces the Suppression of Excitatory Synaptic Transmission Induced by Physostigmine in Layer II of the Entorhinal Cortex", Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2018.
Preprints
- Vasilis Pallikaras, Francis Carter, David Velazquez-Martinez, Andreas Arvanitogiannis, & Peter Shizgal "The Trade-Off between Optical Power and Pulse Duration and Power in Optical Excitation of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Approximates Bloch’s law", bioRxiv, 2021.
- Currently finalizing two articles
Theses
- Francis Carter "Testing the Role of Dopamine in Reinforcement Learning Through Optogenetics", BSc. Thesis, Concordia University Psychology Department, 2019. Supervised by Dr. Peter Shizgal.
- Also completed a second, shorter (single-semester) thesis project supervised by Dr. Christopher Steele.
Awards
Notable Academic Awards
- Alexander Graham Bell Doctoral Scholarship (105,000$), NSERC. I declined this award.
- 2020
- FRQNT Master's Scholarship. I declined this award to enter a professional MSc.
- 2020
- Mappin Medal and J.W. Bridges medal: highest standing BSc. recipient from Concordia University
- 2020
- Governor General All-Canadian, Awarded at Rideau Hall by Julie Payette
- 2019
- 3x NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award
- 2017 - 2019
- 2x President's Award, Concordia University
- 2018 - 2019
- 2x Molson Foundation Academic Excellence
- 2018 - 2019
Notable Athletic Accomplishments
- 2x Canadian University Wrestling Champion, USPORTS
- 2018 - 2019
- National Team Member - Competed in the World Championships in Goiana, Brazil
- 2018
- 2x Individual Sports Excellence Bursary, FAEQ
- 2018 - 2019
- Top 8 University Athletes in Canada
- 2018
- Male Athlete of the Year, Concordia University
- 2018
Other Projects
- My Master's project course involved working on a open source speech processing library where I implemented a GAN based model and explored various possibilities of the interplay between GANs and VAEs. The fundamentals of my project was contributed to the project. I may write a small blog post on generative models.
- Check out an explanatory post on energy models and associative learning in neuroscience and Machine Learning.
- I helped set up the website of podiatric medicine students to allow them to easily add events, photos, and text.
Contact Info
I'm open to discussing anything, including research, projects, or work opportunities!
Just send me an email: