Institute of Medical Science Students’ Association

(IMSSA)

Click here to visit the IMSSA website.

All students registered in the Institute of Medical Science are members of the IMS Students’ Association (IMSSA), and are expected to take an active part in the organization. A portion of your incidental fees goes to the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU), which in turn funds the IMSSA. 

The IMSSA Executive is an elected body that represents students’ views and interests by participating in the standing committees of the IMS, and organizes various academic and social events throughout the year. The IMSSA Executive meets bi-weekly to plan these events and discuss issues of relevance to students. In addition, each member of the Executive fulfills certain specific duties.  Elections to office are held annually

Our mission

We are the Institute of Medical Science Students’ Association (IMSSA) and represent the interests of graduate students at the Institute of Medical Science (IMS). IMSSA engages graduate students, staff and faculty of the IMS, with our primary mission being to promote the well-being of our student body as we attend to a wide range of student needs. We inspire students to participate in initiatives, activities and events beyond the lab setting within the realms of our various subcommittees: social, community and outreach, sports, academics and wellness. This framework creates a bonded community and encourages the sharing of experiences, skills and ideas during and beyond students’ graduate degree.

Our achievements 

Our major achievements are establishing new and recurring (annual) events and initiatives that have both strengthened our student community and benefited the community at large. For example, we have an annual ‘Warm Hands Cold Streets’ event, in which IMS students come together during the holidays to take on numerous routes in downtown Toronto and disseminate warm clothing and other goods to homeless shelters as well as people living on the street. Another successful annual event is the documentary screening event, in which a health topic is featured in a film and we shed light on it from educational and advocacy perspectives. On a smaller scale, but equally impactful, we have also developed an academic seminar series program that rotates through various professional paths for graduates of the IMS. We are also proud of the social and sporting events that we offer, including intramural games, as in keeping with our aim to enrich students’ lives outside of the lab, we bring our student body together. 

IMSSA Events

For the IMSSA events calendar, click here.

Who should connect with us? 

Any current IMS student or prospective IMS student! There is room on IMSSA for every kind of student!

If you would like to join IMSSA or if you would like to make an announcement through the IMSSA newsletter, please email us at imssa@studentorg.utoronto.ca, or reach out to us on InstagramTwitter, and Facebook.  

2023 - 2024 Executive Council

Co-Presidents
Valentina Tamayo

Hamzah Khan

Vice-President, External Affairs
Jessica Muha

Vice-President, Operations
Kowsar Teymouri

Director, External Communications
Kimberly Main

Director, Internal Communications
Jenny Yune

Treasurer
Lauren Levy

Secretary
Nikki Alavi

IMSSA Senior Advisor
Alex Boshart

Director of Academic Affairs
Danica Johnson

Director of Sporting
David Rubenstein

Director of Wellness and Wellbeing
Molly Zhang

Director of Community & Outreach
Megana Thamilselvan

Officer of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Aishwaria Maxwell

Director of Social Affairs
Argyrios Perivolaris

Graduate Student Union Representatives
Salsabil Siddiqui
Sarah Sadat
Guy Nevo

International Student Representative
Joel Diaz

Fac. of Medicine Interdepartmental Committee Representative
Sipan Haikazian

First-year/SURP Representative Site Directors
Clara Sun

PhD Student Representative
Taso Daskalakis

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Site Directors
Taso Daskalakis
Siya Verma

The Hospital for Sick Children Site Directors
Julia Novielli
Fiorelle Aguilar

MaRS Discovery District Site Directors
Abby McCaig
Fei Gao

Mt. Sinai & Toronto Rehab Site Directors
Prachi Ray
Julia Nomikos

Princess Margaret Hospital Site Directors
Clara Sun
Stefan Aguiar

St. Michael's Hospital Site Director
Ria Khan

Toronto General Hospital Site Director
Karem Abdul-Samad

Toronto Western Hospital & Baycrest Hospital Site Directors
Kristen Ashworth
Karan Patel

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Site Directors
Alina Zaidi
Andrew Kennedy

Previous Executive Councils

For previous executive councils, click here.