Maggie Li

Hi! I'm interested in all things engineering/physics x biology.

Currently, I’m exploring aging and biophysics, with broader interests in mechanistic models of biology and accelerating scientific R&D. I also care about translating science into real-world health outcomes.

My time is split between reading/writing, research, and side projects. During the day, I'm an engineering undergrad at the University of Toronto.

[Projects]

Working on

  • On-chip disease modelling @ Wheeler Lab (University of Toronto, Institute for Biomedical Engineering): Design of a microfluidic, high-throughput microtissue pacing platform for ML-driven cardiac electrophysiology.
  • Special projects and venture @ age1: Shifting the Overton window for healthy lifespan extension and making it a universally accessible reality.
  • Community for longevity @ Longevity Research Circle: Bridging talent with opportunity via events for Canadian students interested in the field.

Worked on

Research:

  • Redox metabolism @ Medoh Lab (Arc Institute): Biochemistry, cell biology, and computational modelling of enzyme kinetics for studying metabolic pathways implicated in aging and age-related disease.
  • Microfluidics @ Wheeler Lab (University of Toronto Institute of Biomedical Engineering): Optoelectronic tweezers and microfluidics for biology, including an olfactory sensor system for drug testing, neural stem cell single cell isolation, and on-chip cell culture systems.
  • Organoids-on-a-chip @ Wrana Lab (Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute): Device assembly and organoid seeding optimization, CFD simulations, and basic microfabrication.
  • Computational biology @ Loyal: Aging biology with dogs as a translational model. Work included data visualization, designing data workflows, and everything behind-the-scenes of the Healthspan Study.
  • Quantum natural gradients @ Pennylane: Open-source implementation of quantum natural gradients for accelerating small-molecule ground-state energy calculations using variational quantum eigensolvers.
  • Quantum machine learning for economics @ Bank of Canada: Groundwork for the Quantum Lab for Advanced Analytics, including benchmarking hardware, literature reviews, and facilitating industry collaborations.

Creative and community:

  • Core team @ Quantum Open Source Foundation: Scaled the quantum mentorship program that still runs today and led community growth.
  • Growth and marketing @ Gamechanger: Innovation advisory for corporate companies. Also helped run the Gamechanger Session series, which grew into Disco, an edtech platform where I did early product/brand design.
  • + Raised grants/sponsorships for various student organizations to fund events and donated personal grants to help make things happen.
  • + Occasional freelance design projects.
[Interests]

Coffee, matcha, memoirs, art, drawing, design, dogs, hiking, travelling, cooking, food adventures, occasional type II fun, and sci-fi.

[Contact]

Email: hi@maggiezli.com
Twitter/X: @maggiezli
LinkedIn: /maggiezli