Shaghayegh (Feri) Foroozan Boroojeni, Addison Pacheco and Archita Srinath
By
Sarah Topa
In recognition of Dr. Keystone’s contribution to the education of graduate students at the University of Toronto, IMS created the Jay Keystone Memorial Award for Innovation in Scientific Communication. This annual award provides a grant of up to $4,000 to a team of IMS students, supported by a faculty member, to create a new initiative that demonstrates innovation and excellence in the communication of medical science to diverse audiences.
The 2024 recipient of the award is IMS MedDash, led by upper-year PhD Candidates Shaghayegh (Feri) Foroozan Boroojeni, Addison Pacheco and Archita Srinath. At this novel event, inspired by the popular TV show "The Amazing Race", senior high school students will embark on an exciting journey across UofT's St. George campus to solve innovative, hands-on science based challenges. Competing in small teams, participants will work collaboratively to solve the problems as quickly and accurately as possible to receive their next clue. The stations will be staffed and judged by IMS graduate and summer undergraduate research program students. After all teams have crossed the finish line, participants will enjoy a catered lunch, faculty keynote address and the awards ceremony.
A casual conversation while performing experiments sparked the idea for IMS MedDash - inspired by a similar competition one of us completed in high school that profoundly impacted the decision to pursue science. We quickly recognized the event's significant potential to engage high school students while offering valuable mentorship opportunities to IMS students.
