Friday, May 7th at 7 pm ET, join us for our online live show! Three storytellers will be sharing their true, personal stories about their pregnancies! And we'll invite our audience to share their ten-word stories as well!

Burcin Ikiz, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist, science writer, and consultant based in Los Angeles. She is passionate about enabling and communicating discoveries for the treatment, prevention, and management of diseases using new data-driven tools and technologies.

Currently, Burcin works as a neurodegeneration specialist at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She also independently writes for popular science outlets and consults for biotech companies.

Previously, Burcin has initiated motor neuron disease research efforts at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and led preclinical development for several biotech startups. She got her B.Sc. in Biomedical Computation from Stanford University and Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Columbia University.

She considers sleep as a serious hobby she would like to invest more time in since her two little children and affectionate puppy do not allow her to get much of it.

April Gatson is the youngest of six siblings, her parents baby. She is a proud single mother of two teenagers. She has a Bachelor's of Science degree with a major in Child and Family Development and a minor in Early Childhood Intervention. She has worked for Child Protective Services for 12 years. She loves shopping,  watching DIY shows, nature and just enjoying the simple things in life. She loves being a mother and is the parent of a beautiful human who was born with a rare condition called Cloves Syndrome.

As a community builder, nonprofit fundraiser, and unapologetic rabble-rouser, Bridget Schank has been telling stories for social change for the past 20 years.  She chose to stay home full time when her son, Jack, had a liver transplant in 2011.  She loves to
travel but hates to pack, played women’s football at Notre Dame and
bakes a mean strawberry rhubarb pie.  Bridget has performed at First Person Live, The Moth, Truth Be Told, Story Sessions, Soul Stories, and more. Bridget lives in Arlington Heights with her husband Tim, daughter Gracie, son Jack, and her aggressively affectionate golden retriever Corby.

Online Story Hour: Pregnancy