Student Academic Awards

Siminovitch-Salter Award

This award was established in 1995 to honour the contributions of Dr. Lou Siminovitch and Dr. Robert Salter, eminent researchers, founders, and mentors to the Institute of Medical Science. It is presented annually at IMS Scientific Day to a recently graduated PhD student who has made outstanding scholarly contributions during their program. 

The endowment represents contributions by Mount Sinai Hospital, the University of Toronto Department of Surgery and the Institute of Medical Science. The recipient is nominated by their supervisor and selected by the IMS Graduate Coordinators.

Dr. Melissa Chassé completed her graduate studies under the supervision of Prof. Neil Vasdev at the University of Toronto in collaboration with the Brain Health Imaging Centre at CAMH. She joined the Institute of Medical Science as a direct-entry PhD student in Fall 2020, specializing in radiochemistry and radiotracer development in neuro-oncology. Her doctoral thesis focused on biomarker identification and radiotracer development for imaging a rare form of childhood brain cancer in order to support drug discovery efforts and clinical trials.

During her graduate studies, Melissa published several first-author articles and held prestigious merit-based awards, including CIHR CGS-M and CGS-D. She successfully defended her doctoral thesis with no revisions in Fall 2025, and now holds the position of Senior Principal Scientist (Discovery Radiochemistry) at Eli Lilly and Company.

Whiteside Award

This award was established in 2003 to honour the contributions of Dr. Catharine Whiteside, a former IMS Graduate Coordinator and former Dean of Medicine at the University of Toronto. It is presented annually at IMS Scientific Day to a recently graduated Master of Science student who has made outstanding scholarly contributions. 

The recipient is nominated by their supervisor and defense committee and is selected by the IMS Graduate Coordinators.

Dr. Fabian Doktor earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Leipzig, Germany, in 2019. After two years of pediatric surgical residency training in Leipzig, he pursued a two-year fellowship under the supervision of Dr. Augusto Zani at the Hospital for Sick Children before entering graduate school at the Institute of Medical Science in 2024.

During his Master of Science studies, he investigated the regenerative potential of a novel stem cell–based approach for treating pulmonary hypoplasia, a devastating disease leading to neonatal death, using spatial transcriptomics. After graduating from the University of Toronto in March 2026, he will begin training in General Surgery as a PGY1 resident at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, USA.

This award was established by IMS in 2012 to honour the memory of Dr. Sara Al-Bader, a vibrant scholar and IMS PhD candidate who posthumously received her degree after colleagues completed her thesis on health innovation in sub-Saharan Africa. It is presented annually at IMS Scientific Day to an international doctoral stream student who shows exceptional academic promise. The recipient is chosen by the IMS Director.

Katharina Goke is a PhD candidate at the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at CAMH, under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Blumberger. Her research focuses on the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of late-life depression. By integrating clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging data, she aims to understand how cognitive impairment and structural brain changes influence rTMS treatment outcomes. Her work is currently supported by the CAMH Graduate Student Award, and she has twice received the IMS U of T Open Fellowship Award, in addition to multiple poster presentation awards.

Beyond her research, Katie has been actively involved in the IMS International Community, where she previously served as president.