Student IMPACT Award Winners

Mariam is a second-year MSc student conducting community-based research on alternatives to drug criminalization under the supervision of Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi at St Michael's Hospital.

Mariam is passionate about science communication and bridging the gap between medical research and art. Her initiative, MedComic Con, won the 2025 Jay Keystone Memorial Award and was recently featured on CBC Radio's Metro Morning show.

Katie 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. 

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

Ria is an MSc student whose research focuses on developing and testing surgical urology devices. She is an active leader in the IMS community, having served in multiple roles including IMSSA Site Director, EDI Director for the St. Michael’s Hospital Research Students’ Association, IMS Interdepartmental Representative, and Peer Mentor. 

Ria has also competed globally, placing in the top 22 of 15,000 teams at the Hult Prize. Driven to bridge research and real-world impact, Ria leads the development of IMS Bridge: Patients to Prototypes, a course supporting student skills in biomedical communication and commercialization.

Anita is a second-year MSc student in the Familial Breast Cancer Research Unit at Women’s College Hospital, supervised by Dr. Joanne Kotsopoulos. Her research explores exogenous hormone use and breast cancer risk among BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers.

Anita served as the Officer of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) on IMSSA, a mentor for the STEAM-Design High School Summer Program, and is currently a member of the IMS EDIIA Committee. She launched the first department-wide survey focused on the mental health and social experiences of IMS graduate students, and increased EDI conversations through innovative student initiatives. Anita is committed to advocating for underrepresented communities and fostering an inclusive academic environment at IMS.

Celine is a PhD candidate in Neurology working with Prof. Carmela Tartaglia at the Tanz Center for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, where her research focuses on agitation in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration. She is an active member of the International Society of Frontotemporal Dementias, contributing to its communications team and Early Career Researchers committee.

Beyond her thesis, Celine is committed to enriching the graduate student experience at IMS. As student co-lead of the Healthcare Innovation Challenge, she helped organize a case competition tackling AI-driven solutions to rural healthcare access in Canada. Passionate about graduate professional development, she works as a scientific collaborator to mixed-methods curriculum research whose findings were accepted for oral presentation at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Conference.

Valentina is a PhD candidate under the supervision of Dr. Bernard Le Foll. Her research focuses on development, implementation, and adoption strategies for the integration of artificial intelligence in mental healthcare settings, with a specific emphasis on patient safety and outcomes. As an immigrant and first-generation graduate student, Valentina is passionate about community building, equity, and STEM education. 

Within IMSSA, she has been director of community outreach and EDI, co-president, and senior advisor, where she led and executed student initiatives and events. She is currently a volunteer with Pueblo Science, an IMS pedagogy research collaborator evaluating IMS Graduate Professional Development strategies, and she helps run the bi-monthly IMS Research Rounds showcasing students’ research across IMS.