Graduate Students

Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

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Ten graduate students at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine have received Cecil Yip Doctoral Research Awards.

The annual award provides financial support to doctoral-stream students whose research interests, proposed work and background align with the Donnelly Centre's mandate to advance innovative and collaborative work that crosses disciplinary boundaries.

It is named in honour of the late Professor Cecil Yip, a former vice-dean, research in the Faculty of Medicine and co-founder of the Donnelly Centre.

“On behalf of the Yip Doctoral Award committee, I congratulate this year’s recipients,” said Christopher Yip, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, chair of the Cecil Yip Doctoral Research Award selection committee and son of Cecil Yip.

“Our 2024 recipients represent the diverse range of biomedical research areas that are being tackled at the Donnelly Centre. I believe this new generation of scientific leaders will uphold the Donnelly Centre’s innovative and collaborative spirit in their efforts to help solve the biggest challenges in health and medicine.”

The recipients of 2024 Cecil Yip Doctoral Research Awards are:

Noor El-Huda Bahsoun
Mel Davie
Juliana de Andrade Bolsoni
Zhenfeng Deng
Wenjia Hao
Mingyang Liang
Umayeer Milky
Hadi Tabarraei
Joel Wingrove
Cheng Xing

Read the Donnelly Centre story about the award recipients

Donnelly Centre

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Al-Amin Ahamed named 2024 McCall MacBain Scholar

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 01 May 2024 14:34:44 +0000

Al-Amin Ahamed named 2024 McCall MacBain Scholar

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 05/01/2024 - 10:34

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

McCall MacBain Scholarships

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Al-Amin Ahamed (supplied photo)

Al-Amin Ahamed, a doctor of pharmacy candidate at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, has been named a 2024 McCall MacBain Scholar, joining the fourth cohort of recipients of the scholarship.

McCall MacBain Scholars are selected based on evidence of exceptional character, community engagement, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, academic strength and intellectual curiosity. They are provided access to a fully funded master’s or professional degree at McGill University, mentorship and a comprehensive leadership program.

Ahamed will pursue a master of public policy in the hopes of advancing health equity in drug policy.

As an undergraduate student at �鶹��Ƶ, Ahamed served as social innovation ambassador, orientation co-ordinator and residence don at Innis College. Upon returning to �鶹��Ƶ for their second degree, they continued to gain leadership and governance experience, serving as vice-president, professional faculties of the �鶹��Ƶ Students’ Union and president of the Undergraduate Pharmacy Society. They also served as president of the PharmaPride club, working to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in health care.

“Words alone cannot articulate what this scholarship means to me. Growing up in a first-generation immigrant household, I never felt that these types of opportunities were meant for people like me,” Ahamed said. “Becoming a McCall MacBain Scholar has transformed my life by making graduate education an accessible reality for me and my family.”

Four other �鶹��Ƶ students and one alum received McCall MacBain Awards:

McCall MacBain Finalist Award for use at McGill University

Tamara Altarac (Woodsworth College)
William Lloyd (Trinity College)
Jacob Kates Rose (University College, 2020)

McCall MacBain Regional Award for use at a Canadian public university

Muhammad Ansar (�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough)
Yomni Makonnen Tesfaye (�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough)

Read the University Registrar’s Office story about Al-Amin Ahamed

Registrar's Office

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Seven �鶹��Ƶ graduate students awarded 2023-2024 Inlight Research Fellowships in support of mental health research

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 19:26:40 +0000

Seven �鶹��Ƶ graduate students awarded 2023-2024 Inlight Research Fellowships in support of mental health research

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 04/01/2024 - 15:26

Department of Computer Science

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

OISE

�鶹��Ƶ Mississauga

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

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Clockwise from top left: Melissa deJonge, Egag Egag, Asma Shamim, Maya Ahia, Danika Quesnel, JesusMiracle Chiadika and Ananya Bhattacharjee (supplied images)

Seven students from across the University of Toronto are recipients of the 2023-2024 Inlight Research Fellowships awarded by Inlight Student Mental Health Research, a �鶹��Ƶ institutional strategic initiative committed to improving student mental health and wellness outcomes.

The $10,000 fellowships support graduate scholars who are leading research projects that aim to improve student mental health and well-being on campus and recognize the importance of student-led and co-designed research solutions.

“The Inlight Research Fellowship Program is dedicated to promoting the development of leaders in post-secondary student mental health research,” said Julius Haag, Inlight’s associate director, education and training and an assistant professor, teaching stream in the department of sociology at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga.

“We are actively supporting impactful research that will grow the perspectives and capacity needed to advance student mental health and wellness, as well as centring research that focuses on engaging the experiences and perspectives of our diverse student community.”

Here is the full list of Inlight’s 2023-2024 research fellowship award recipients:

Maya Ahia – master’s student in clinical psychology, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

Ananya Bhattacharjee – PhD candidate in computer science, Faculty of Arts & Science

JesusMiracle Chiadika – PhD student in higher education, comparative, international & development education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Melissa deJonge – PhD student, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Egag Egag – PhD student, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Danika Quesnel – PhD student in clinical psychology, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

Asma Shamim – PhD student in developmental psychology and education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Daphne Tan and Kevin Golovin receive 2023 SGS Early Career Supervision Award

siddiq22 — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:49:03 +0000

Daphne Tan and Kevin Golovin receive 2023 SGS Early Career Supervision Award

Teaching

siddiq22 Thu, 07/20/2023 - 11:49

Faculty

Early Career Supervision Award

School of Graduate Studies

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Kevin Golovin (L) and Daphne Tan (supplied images)

Daphne Tan, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Music, and Kevin Golovin, an assistant professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, have been recognized with the 2023 Early Career Supervision Award.

The award, given annually by the School of Graduate Studies, aims to recognize pre-tenure faculty at the university who have demonstrated excellence in graduate supervision within the first six years of their graduate faculty appointment.

Two awards are offered every year: one for the humanities/social sciences and one for the physical/life sciences.

“Graduate supervision is the best part of this job,” Tan says. “The students I work with are very talented, and they come with their own skillsets and perspectives. I always learn from them in some way.”

Tan, whose research explores questions related to music and the mind, has supervised four doctoral theses and co-supervised a fifth, supervised seven master’s independent projects and served as an advisory committee member on nine doctoral theses.

Golovin, who is currently supervising 10 PhD students and three master’s students, is the principal investigator of the Durable Repellent Advanced Engineering Materials (DREAM) Laboratory at �鶹��Ƶ.

“Supervision is my favourite part of the job,” he says. “Just teaching my students how to think in a way that’s new and interesting, and teaching them to observe the things they see in a lab in a way that’s scientific.”

Read the School of Graduate Studies story

SGS

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Brenda Cossman and Jonathan Abbatt receive 2023 JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award

siddiq22 — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 14:46:41 +0000

Brenda Cossman and Jonathan Abbatt receive 2023 JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award

Teaching

siddiq22 Thu, 07/20/2023 - 10:46

Faculty

JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award

School of Graduate Studies

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Brenda Cossman (L) and Jonathan Abbatt (supplied images)

Brenda Cossman, a professor in the Faculty of Law, and Jonathan Abbatt, a professor in the department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science, are the recipients of the 2023 JJ Berry Smith Award for Doctoral Supervision.

The award, given annually by the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), aims to recognize outstanding performance in the multiple roles associated with graduate supervision. Candidates must be active faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in supervision at �鶹��Ƶ over a period of at least 15 years.

Two awards are offered every year: one for the humanities/social sciences and one for the physical/life sciences. Each winner receives a conference or travel grant to award to a student, a framed certificate of recognition and has their name inscribed on a plaque at SGS.

“As a supervisor, I am so honoured to be given this award,” Cossman says. “Knowing that my students saw fit to support my nomination – that to me is worth its weight in gold.”

Cossman has supervised eight master's students and 14 doctoral students since 2003 – a high number for the Faculty of Law, which typically admits fewer than 50 graduate students per year.

Abbatt, an atmospheric and environmental chemist, has supervised 16 PhD students and 12 master’s students since joining �鶹��Ƶ in 2000.

“A lot of the value for me of this position comes from interacting with people,” he says. “And to know that students have found those interactions meaningful is wonderful.”

Read the School of Graduate Studies story

SGS

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Daniels student Batoul Faour takes top prize in Avery Review essay competition

lanthierj — Fri, 28 May 2021 16:46:41 +0000

Daniels student Batoul Faour takes top prize in Avery Review essay competition

lanthierj Fri, 05/28/2021 - 12:46

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Landscape & Design

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A pile of broken glass in Beirut, after the blast. Photograph by Batoul Faour.

Batoul Faour has been named the first-prize winner in the 2021 Avery Review Essay Prize competition.

A Lebanese Canadian designer and researcher, Faour is a student in the post-professional architecture program at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty' of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Her winning essay is a distillation of her thesis project, which critically examines the role of architectural glass in exacerbating the damage from last year's catastrophic port explosion in Beirut.

The essay, which won Faour a $4,000 prize and top billing in the Avery Review's April issue, describes the way shattered window glass piled up in Beirut's streets after the blast. It traces the historical and contemporary uses of glass in Lebanon to reveal the politics behind the fragile material.

The Avery Review is a monthly architecture journal published by the Office of Publications at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture. The April issue is readable online and you can read Faour’s winning essay here.

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Student design team wins prestigious international competition

lanthierj — Tue, 25 May 2021 14:20:37 +0000

Student design team wins prestigious international competition

lanthierj Tue, 05/25/2021 - 10:20

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Landscape & Design

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A team comprising students from �鶹��Ƶ, York and Ryerson won top prize at the annual Urban Land Institute/ Gerald D. Hines Hines Student Competition with a design that focused heavily on sustainability and community use (image courtesy of team)

A team of Canadian students, including two from the University of Toronto, recently took home top prize in the Urban Land Institute/ Gerald D. Hines Hines Student Competition – the first time a non-American team has won the prestigious contest.

Ruotian Tan, a master of urban design student, and Chenyi Xu, a master of architecture student, were both members of the winning team, which also included students from York University and Ryerson University.

“It was a great multidisciplinary learning experience for me,” Tan said earlier this year. “It was a very good chance for me to practice and get some good results before I actually go into a professional career.”

The annual competition asks entrants to find a solution to a complex urban design problem – in this case, by developing master plans for the East Village, a neighbourhood in Kansas City, Mo. More than 100 teams from the U.S., Singapore and Canada competed for the US$50,000 prize.

The Canadian team “pushed a new paradigm for an urban neighborhood based on the strong regional legacy of agriculture,” ULI Hines jury chair Diana Reid wrote in a statement. “Their financing plan and design enabled economic resilience through small scale food growth and distribution, local culinary incubation, and research-driven employment opportunities.”

Read the �鶹��Ƶ News story

Read the Toronto Star story

UTC

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Two �鶹��Ƶ students named to Poets&Quants list of Best & Brightest MBAs

lanthierj — Fri, 14 May 2021 18:03:34 +0000

Two �鶹��Ƶ students named to Poets&Quants list of Best & Brightest MBAs

Rotman School of Management

lanthierj Fri, 05/14/2021 - 14:03

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From left: Caley Laxer and Andrea Poile

Two graduating MBA students from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management have been named to the Poets&Quants “Best & Brightest MBAs” list that honours 100 of the world's most accomplished business students from the Class of 2021.

Caley Laxer and Andrea Poile were selected to the list by Poets&Quants, which received nominations from 68 of the world’s leading MBA programs.

Laxer, who has accepted a full-time position with Bain & Company, served as president of the Management Consulting Association.

“In a year like no other, Caley Laxer stepped up and her efforts helped contribute to an incredibly successful year for our students seeking jobs in consulting,” says Professor Joseph Milner, vice-dean, MBA programs. “Starting last summer and continuing throughout the year, Caley and her team produced more than 20 virtual events including multiple case prep boot camps, seminars on the basics of consulting, and lunch and learns on topics such as how to approach case and behavioural interviews.”

Poile held a number of student leadership roles, including vice-president with the Graduate Business Council and co-founder of Students Against Anti-Black Racism.

“Compassion, empathy, and a willingness to always see the best in others, the Rotman community has benefited enormously from Andrea Poile’s many contributions – in fact, every MBA program in the world would benefit from having an ‘Andie P’ in their class,” says Neel Joshi, Rotman's director, Office of Student Engagement.

Rotman School of Management

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Daniels students honoured in OAA challenge

lanthierj — Fri, 14 May 2021 17:04:17 +0000

Daniels students honoured in OAA challenge

lanthierj Fri, 05/14/2021 - 13:04

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Landscape & Design

landscape

(L-R): Victoria Cardoso, Eugenia Wong, Erman Akyol

Victoria Cardoso, Erman Akyol, and Eugenia Wong have been recognized by the SHIFT Challenge, a biennial competition hosted by the Ontario Association of Architects, that invites students and architects to address social challenges through design.

The three first-year students in the master of architecture program at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design created a project that was one of five honoured by this year’s challenge.

Their project, originally created for a fall semester course taught by Professor Ted Kesik, proposes a community-oriented redesign of Ontario Place, the disused public amusement park located on a small chain of artificial islands off Toronto's western shoreline. The students will present their work during the OAA's Virtual Conference at an online SHIFT event that will begin at 4:30 p.m. on May 20, and be viewable online on the OAA's YouTube channel.

“This was really an opportunity for us to open ourselves up to the field,” Wong says. “We'll get to present our project not just to teachers and our colleagues, but also to architects, landscape designers, and urban designers. We're hoping to get our proposal out to decision makers and important stakeholders for the site.”

Read the Daniels Faculty story

Daniels

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Jillian Sprenger awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship

lanthierj — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 15:18:41 +0000

Jillian Sprenger awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Faculty of Arts & Science

lanthierj Mon, 04/19/2021 - 11:18

Gates Cambridge Scholarship