Student Academic Awards

2022 Whiteside Award Winner:

Muzammil Syed obtained his Bachelor of Sciences from McMaster University, and then completed a MSc under the co-supervision of Drs. Mohammed Al-Omran and Charles de Mestral. His thesis focused on ascertaining the hospital-level burden of diabetic foot ulcers across Canada using nation-wide administrative health databases. Muzammil’s graduate research work was jointly supported by a CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master's (CGS M) award and a Banting & Best Diabetes Centre-Novo Nordisk Studentship, and also received several accolades and awards at major national conferences. Outside of research and medicine, Muzammil is an avid athlete and a fervent reader with a diverse range of interests that spans tech, philosophy, and business, among others.

2022 Siminovitch-Salter Award Winner:

Dr. Jennifer Kwan studied in the Undergraduate Pathobiology Specialist Program at the University of Toronto (2008-11), graduated from Queen’s University School of Medicine (2011-15), joined the Radiation Oncology Residency Program at the University of Toronto in 2015, and completed her PhD (2017-21) during her residency through the Institute of Medical Science and Clinician Investigator Program at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include investigating novel biomarkers and regenerative medicine solutions for tissue repair in fibrosis and lymphedema. During her PhD, she received the CIHR Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (1 of 57 nationally) and the European Radiation Research Society Young Investigator Award (1 of 15 internationally). Furthermore, she has recently been a Plenary Abstract Speaker at 2021 CARO, recipient of the 2021 ASTRO Resident Recognition Award (1 of 3 internationally), and recipient of the 2022 Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) Young Investigator Award (1 of 5 internationally).

Sara Al-Bader Memorial Award Winner 2022

Neda Rashidi-Ranjbar is a medical doctor (MD) by training from Tehran University of Medical Science (TUMS) and is currently a PhD candidate in the Institute of Medical Science (IMS) at the University of Toronto. She received her master's (MSc) in Cognitive Neuroscience from Trento University, Italy, and the Donders Institute, the Netherlands.

In 2017, Neda joined a highly collaborative team under the supervision of Dr. Aristotle Voineskos at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She has conducted her PhD project as part of Canada's largest-ever funded study for Alzheimer's prevention, where she investigated structural and functional MRI scans in the population at-risk of Alzheimer's dementia. Neda received the Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP) Doctoral Award for her studies. The results from her studies are now published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals. 

Neda has also served the IMS community as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the IMS-International Community, a community for current and prospective international students, alumni, post-docs or post-doctoral fellows, and faculty in the IMS at the University of Toronto. Neda’s rich international experience has helped her identify the need for creating a global community for IMS graduate students.