Riya is an artificial intelligence & genomic researcher under the Hospital for Sick Children, where she explores different ways of applying AI in the future of genomic applications in different diseases. Currently researching the fields of AR/VR, Riya is developing ways of integrating virtual reality experiences into surgical settings and reinventing telemedical models, by creating Virtual Hospitals. She recently presented about her platform, Virtuary, at IBM’s Biggest Software Development Conference-Evoke, The Uber Canada Head Office, Tribal Scale innovation events, the PWC head tower and the Vector Institute of technology. She is on the speaker lineup for SXSW, attending Mobile World Congress, WNORTH, REWORK Boston and many more around the globe.

She is also a lead in the Cardiac Research Centre in the Hospital, to bridge the gap between emerging technology and the genetics of Pulmonary Vein Stenosis, through 3D cardiac modelling and 3D printing of pulmonary veins in newborns. This is a project being conducted by her through company Autodesk and the Hospital.

Passionate about the global epidemic for healthcare & solving the world's greatest problems with disruptive technology, Riya is a global health activist at the Hospital, on a mission to bring accessible health care in developing countries with the help of emerging technology, like VR/AR & AI.

Being a young woman in the STEM industry, she hopes to bridge the gap not only between gender diversity, but also include people from all ages into the conversation. Working in an environment where she works so closely to patients, she gets inspired everyday by those around her who constantly allow her to grow better, be better and do better, not only for herself-but for the rest of the world.

That’s why she's not only focusing on impacting billions of people or solve the world’s biggest problems in global health, but also represent the fields of STEM and prove to others that as she attests: age really is just a number, it's what you do with it that matters.