Hi, I'm Dory!
I’m a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto.
I work at the intersection between computer science and biology. In my current research, I use software to analyze the DNA sequence of people with blood cancer. I’m working to better understand if regular blood can act as a ‘back door’ to a tumour. This involves seeing if DNA from a tumour can be detected in the blood and analyzed accurately.
If my research is successful, it will contribute to the development of less invasive, more affordable, and more accurate future tests for monitoring blood cancers.
About me
My interest in research started at Western University, where I studied Health Science and Biology.
Studying health science exposed me to varying research techniques and international experiences that developed my critical thinking. This also led to several publications and conference presentations related to harm reduction, public health and health promotion. These projects were completed either as a volunteer research assistant to a graduate student or through expanding a previous course project into a journal article.
Studying biology – along with courses in medical biophysics, biochemistry, and genetics – addressed my curiosity to understand the molecular basis of life. This was complimented by two four month summer-research terms at the University of Toronto. In Toronto, I studied the effects of cell receptors in acute myeloid leukemia using flow cytometry and survival data. I also grew leukemia cells on modified bone marrow cells to observe the effects of varying CSF1 proteins on cell growth (picture on right).
Studying health science exposed me to varying research techniques and international experiences that developed my critical thinking. This also led to several publications and conference presentations related to harm reduction, public health and health promotion.
These projects were completed either as a volunteer research assistant to a graduate student or through expanding a previous course project into a journal article.
Studying biology – along with courses in medical biophysics, biochemistry, and genetics – addressed my curiosity to understand the molecular basis of life. This was complimented by two four month summer-research terms at the University of Toronto.
In Toronto, I studied the effects of cell receptors in acute myeloid leukemia using flow cytometry and survival data. I also grew leukemia cells on modified bone marrow cells to observe the effects of varying CSF1 proteins on cell growth (picture below).
International experiences
These majors, health science and biology, came together to build my undergraduate thesis, where I worked for six months at the University of Tours in France. I strived to better understand the biological basis behind epidemiological studies suggesting an increased risk of breast cancer from consumption of red meat. I did this by exploring the effects of the red meat products hemin and cholesterol on cell growth, survival, architecture, gene expression and DNA damage. This project was supported by a grant from MITACS Global Link, a Canadian research granting agency for students which I recommend to any student looking to complete research abroad, and a scholarship from Western University. I am grateful to both organizations for their support.
During my time in France, I also completed several courses on data analysis using R, Python and Excel. I applied this learning to optimize the analysis methods used by the lab to determine the concentration of reactive oxygen species. This sped up analyses that used to take days with many manual steps into automated processes that were completed in minutes. I also wrote code that could quickly and autonomously process images taken by fluorescent microscopy to quantify the amount of lipid vesicles in each cell. This reduced bias introduced by manually scoring images by allowing the exact same method to be used across all images. Furthermore, this also saved time by being able to score hundreds of images in minutes.
Asides from the University of Tours in France, I have also visited Shiv Nadar University in India, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Trinidad and Tobago on programs affiliated with Western University. At Shiv Nadar University near Delhi, India, I studied South Asian history and culture over five weeks as a study abroad student. In Matelot, Trinidad and Tobago, I completed a cultural exchange week where I learned about local food, history and cultures, and assisted with the preparation of a library. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I completed two four-week terms where I studied Middle Eastern languages, international politics and coexistence. I am grateful for these experiences and the lessons they have taught me in cultural competency and sensitivity. I am also grateful to academic and financial support from Western University and their international partners which made these experiences possible.
These majors, health science and biology, came together to build my undergraduate thesis, where I worked for six months at the University of Tours in France.
I strived to better understand the biological basis behind epidemiological studies suggesting an increased risk of breast cancer from consumption of red meat.
I did this by exploring the effects of the red meat products hemin and cholesterol on cell growth, survival, architecture, gene expression and DNA damage.
This project was supported by a grant from MITACS Global Link, a Canadian research granting agency for students which I recommend to any student looking to complete research abroad, and a scholarship from Western University. I am grateful to both organizations for their support.
During my time in France, I also completed several courses on data analysis using R, Python and Excel. I applied this learning to optimize the analysis methods used by the lab to determine the concentration of reactive oxygen species.
This sped up analyses that used to take days with many manual steps into automated processes that were completed in minutes. I also wrote code that could quickly and autonomously process images taken by fluorescent microscopy to quantify the amount of lipid vesicles in each cell.
This reduced bias introduced by manually scoring images by allowing the exact same method to be used across all images. Furthermore, this also saved time by being able to score hundreds of images in minutes.
Asides from the University of Tours in France, I have also visited Shiv Nadar University in India, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Trinidad and Tobago on programs affiliated with Western University.
At Shiv Nadar University near Delhi, India, I studied South Asian history and culture over five weeks as a study abroad student. In Matelot, Trinidad and Tobago, I completed a cultural exchange week where I learned about local food, history and cultures, and assisted with the preparation of a library.
At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I completed two four-week terms where I studied Middle Eastern languages, international politics and coexistence.
I am grateful for these experiences and the lessons they have taught me in cultural competency and sensitivity. I am also grateful to academic and financial support from Western University and their international partners which made these experiences possible.
Resume
Over the course of my studies, I have accumulated more than two thousand hours of lab experience, written four peer-reviewed publications, presented at six conferences in North America and Europe, and attended a dozen other conferences and events. I am grateful to Western University, the University of Toronto and MITACS for making these experiences possible through financial and academic support.
I use bioinformatics tools to study the DNA from multiple myeloma cancer. I analyze the DNA sequence information from different parts of the body to see if a tumour in the bone marrow can be detected in the blood. I’m working to establish if modern next-generation DNA sequencing can replace older methods of monitoring myeloma cancer. I do this by experimenting with new ways to make use of DNA sequencing data. I’m striving to lay the foundation for more accurate, less invasive methods for monitoring the disease. I’m grateful to my lab mates and external collaborators for their support.
Over the course of six months, I completed my honours bachelors’ thesis at the Université de Tours in France as an exchange student. I worked full-time to better understand the effect of red meat on cancer risk. I did this by exposing breast cancer and normal cells to different levels of cholesterol and hemin. This involved creating small capsules made of lipids that can get the cholesterol into cells. I then analyzed the cells using fluorescence microscopy to see how the structure of the cell changed, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to see how DNA expression varied, and assays to determine the formation of reactive oxygen species that cause DNA damage, the level of cellular proliferation, and the rate of cell death. My goal is that this research will help to form a better understanding of the complex relationships between diet and cancer.
I completed my honours’ bachelor’s degree in health sciences and biology. This involved an exciting interplay of courses between genetics, physiology, biophysics and chemistry, as well as health promotion, epidemiology and public health. I took great pleasure in volunteering with the faculty students council as the academic commissioner, of which it was my job to survey students for their feedback on the department’s academic programs, and encourage them to get involved in conferences. This resulted in several articles in the faculty magazine and the eventual creation of a course enabling students to travel to Scandinavia for 10 days to learn about health systems there.
Croucher, C., Davasoa, A. J., Abelman, D. et al. Genomic characterization of cancer has enabled identification of numerous molecular targets, which has led to significant advances in personalized medicine. However, with few exceptions, precision medicine approaches in the plasma cell malignancy multiple myeloma (MM) have had limited success, likely owing to the subclonal nature of molecular targets in this disease. Targeted therapies against FGFR3 have been under development for the past decade in the hopes of targeting aberrant FGFR3 activity in MM…
Marquis, J., Elliot, E., Dahel, M., & Abelman, D. Improving the efficiency and sustainability of Canada’s healthcare system is currently being prioritized by the federal government. In order to achieve this, government and non-government stakeholder collaboration will be required to improve integration, universality, and equity for all populations throughout the country. There has been mention of developing a national EMR strategy by various organizations, including the Canadian Medical Association. Blockchain technology appears to have many desired characteristics for developing a comprehensive national EMR strategy to support the needs of our universal healthcare system.
Abelman, D. D. With a significant increase in aging populations in the coming years affecting many factors from increased health spending to restructuring of public spaces, challenges of how society can adapt to this major population change persist. Sociocultural models of aging have been shown widely effective in a variety of contexts to describe processes of aging, theories to guide future experiments, and applications of theories into practice. A review describing Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective, the PPCT model, and the life course perspective is presented. Applications to research in the field of mental health gerontology, future aging research, and criticisms of theories are described.
Abelman, D. D. As postsecondary students’ use of “study drugs” becomes more popular with increasingly reported negative effects on health and academic performance, failing prohibitionist policies to reduce consumption, and ambiguity in literature towards best practices to address this population, we present a literature review that seeks effective solutions educational institutions can apply to improve outcomes for students who use drugs. We suggest these drugs do not improve GPA and learning, while they might temporarily increase memory, but with detrimental negative health effects. Campaigns that address underlying factors of use can be most successful in mitigating harms.
Abelman, D. D. & Hanna, A. D. Considering both the high monetary and emotional costs associated with caring for patients afflicted with depression, it is apparent that health professionals should find effective treatments to ensure that interventions are both cost-effective and risk-reducing. While exercise is generally known to be important in maintaining general health and wellbeing, numerous studies have also indicated that it can play a critical role in moderating symptoms of mild to moderate depression. Globally, research continues to show a powerful reduction in depressive symptoms due to the benefits of exercise. This review article will highlight the growing perspective regarding the influence of exercise as a first-line treatment for depression over pharmacotherapy for patients with mild to moderate depression.
Abelman, D., Elliott, E., Marsot-Shiffman, L., and Feil, C. The Health Care Challenge is a student competition run by the Health Studies Students’ Association (HSSA) where Health Sciences students – in tandem with students from Psychology, Geography, BMOS and Ivey Business School – present proposals about building a resilient health system in Canada and beyond, to a panel of industry and academic judges. What follows was the winning solution presented by Health Sciences students Erik Elliott, Leah Marsot-Shiffman, Cameron Feil and Dory Abelman.
Abelman, D & Mallach, E. L’usage détourné de stimulants sur ordonnance par les étudiants pour améliorer leurs résultats scolaires est un phénomène qui prend de l’ampleur et dont les effets négatifs sur la santé sont de plus en plus souvent signalés. Selon une étude récente, plus d’un étudiant d’université sur 20 en Amérique du Nord avait consommé des médicaments conçus pour traiter le trouble déficitaire de l’attention avec hyperactivité (TDAH) au cours de l’année antérieure – des nootropes comme Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta ou Focalin – pour améliorer ses résultats scolaires.
Abelman, D. Student use of off-counter stimulants for studying purposes is becoming an increasingly challenging issue as more students use them to study and negative health effects becoming increasingly reported. My new article in BioMed Central’s Harm Reduction Journal hopes to address this issue through the evaluation of fifty studies. Through my literature review, I found that many students are using these drugs to cope with underlying issues such as low self-esteem, high reliance on external audiences for validation, few sources of meaning in their lives, limited parental attention, and potentially mental health issues.
Abelman, D. Students are becoming increasingly interested in participating in research. Many already possess the skills required to make meaningful contributions to their field. Learning how to access scientific literature, online training modules, free apps, student grants, and mentorship opportunities, are just some ways students can enrich their skills in research and succeed in the projects they hope to complete. Topics raised in a new article in Health Studies Publications should help students in public health with this process through easy-to-follow summary tables and short paragraphs with tips for success.
I have accumulated three years of training in the computer languages R, bash (linux) and git, with limited use of python and MATLAB. I use GitHub to learn bioinformatics tools from scientific manuscripts and apply them to next-generation sequencing DNA data. I continue to improve with increasing practice and look forward to reflecting on my skill development upon completion of my graduate research.
I have published four peer-reviewed articles, three magazine articles, and presented at five conferences. This has sharpened my skills in scientific writing and presentation. I look forward to continuing working on this skill by striving to publish further articles and presenting more at conferences.
My undergraduate and graduate studies have helped me better understand the biological mechanisms involved in cancer, such as inflammation, genome instability, cell signalling and metastasis. I have also accumulated a strong understanding of factors involved in DNA damage, gene expression, cell division and methylation. I look forward to continuing to understand genetic processes and cancer development over the course of my graduate research.
I have accumulated several years of experience in laboratory techniques such as growing cells or bacteria in culture, staining and imaging cells by flow cytometry, counting cells, isolating DNA, performing Western Blots, or utilizing specialized assays to determine cell proliferation, reactive oxygen species formation, and apoptosis, and basic rodent handling techniques.
Student activities
While at Western University, I worked with the Faculty of Health Science students’ council to increase student engagement within the broader health sciences community. This involved speaking on CHRW’s Health Science Radio twice (pictured on left), where I discussed opportunities for students to get involved. Here I mentioned local health associations such as the Canadian Public Health Association, which hosts frequent student webinars and networking, and research assistant programs offered by Western professors. My message to students was that they already had the skills to contribute meaningfully to their field and the greater student community. To their field by bringing fresh and unique perspectives as research assistants, and to the student community by having conversations about important topics they learned in courses on physical and mental health, fitness and nutrition.
During this time, I also volunteered with RehabINK, a student-led rehabilitation sciences research magazine, hosted by the rehabilitation sciences department at the University of Toronto. I applied to this magazine after receiving a mass email about it with the interest of learning more about the publication process, scientific writing, and editing. Over one year I worked alongside the editorial team (pictured on right) to screen articles for peer review, communicate with authors, edit manuscripts and write letters to the editor. I also contributed to discussions about the future of the magazine and themes for future issues. Observing what made a successful article helped me excel in future course research assignments, some of which I continued working on for publication.
Over the course of four months, I partnered with a local office of the Canadian Mental Health Association to help them be better prepared to answer distress calls from select minority populations in southwestern Ontario via a community learning course. Alongside students from statistical sciences, we generated reports showing where callers were calling from, how long each call was, and frequent words used in calls. I then prepared a literature review with a partner on best practices for addressing calls from select populations. This was then packaged into a 45-page report, 20-minute presentation, eBook and brochure that was shared with the Canadian Mental Health Association for training and review purposes.
As a part of my role on student engagement, I also worked with the Faculty of Health Sciences to design, pilot, advertise, and analyze data from a survey on students interest in a course that would take them to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. This would expose students to different hospital and healthcare systems in Scandinavia, which they could then compare and contrast to those in Canada. I helped design the survey questions, brought small groups to test the survey and speak their thoughts about it out loud, and edit it through several revisions. I then advertised the survey by speaking about it in front of classes. Over two hundred students responded to questions relating to their budget, interest about different learning goals, and preferences for duration, accommodation and transportation. I then analyzed this data and generated plots which were used in a final report submitted to the faculty. Following this, Western ran a successful iteration of this course, which the survey questions helped design, sending a cohort of upper-year students to make memories that will last a lifetime.
While at Western University, I worked with the Faculty of Health Science students’ council to increase student engagement within the broader health sciences community.
This involved speaking on CHRW’s Health Science Radio twice (top picture), where I discussed opportunities for students to get involved.
On radio, I discussed local health associations such as the Canadian Public Health Association, which hosts frequent student webinars and networking, and research assistant programs offered by Western professors.
My message to students was that they already had the skills to contribute meaningfully to their field and the greater student community. To their field by bringing fresh and unique perspectives as research assistants, and to the student community by having conversations about important topics they learned in courses on physical and mental health, fitness and nutrition.
RehabINK
During this time, I also volunteered with RehabINK, a student-led rehabilitation sciences research magazine, hosted by the rehabilitation sciences department at the University of Toronto.
I applied to this magazine after receiving a mass email about it with the interest of learning more about the publication process, scientific writing, and editing.
Over one year I worked alongside the editorial team (bottom picture) to screen articles for peer review, communicate with authors, edit manuscripts and write letters to the editor.
I also contributed to discussions about the future of the magazine and themes for future issues. Observing what made a successful article helped me excel in future course research assignments, some of which I continued working on for publication.
Canadian Mental Health Association
Over the course of four months, I partnered with a local office of the Canadian Mental Health Association to help them be better prepared to answer distress calls from select minority populations in southwestern Ontario via a community learning course.
Alongside students from statistical sciences, we generated reports showing where callers were calling from, how long each call was, and frequent words used in calls. I then prepared a literature review with a partner on best practices for addressing calls from select populations.
This was then packaged into a 45-page report, 20-minute presentation, eBook and brochure that was shared with the Canadian Mental Health Association for training and review purposes.
Lessons from Scandanavia: Student survey
As a part of my role on student engagement, I also worked with the Faculty of Health Sciences to design, pilot, advertise, and analyze data from a survey on students interest in a course that would take them to Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
This would expose students to different hospital and healthcare systems in Scandinavia, which they could then compare and contrast to those in Canada.
I helped design the survey questions, brought small groups to test the survey and speak their thoughts about it out loud, and edit it through several revisions. I then advertised the survey by speaking about it in front of classes.
Over two hundred students responded to questions relating to their budget, interest in different learning goals, and preferences for duration, accommodation and transportation.
I then analyzed this data and generated plots that were used in a final report submitted to the faculty.
Following this, Western ran a successful iteration of this course, which the survey questions helped design, sending a cohort of upper-year students to make memories that will last a lifetime.
Business experience
At the University of Toronto, I completed exciting projects with the Life Science Career Development Society (slides on left) and the Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship training program (slides on right).
Industry team case study: IBSRELA commercialization strategy
Over the course of four months, I worked alongside three graduate students in life sciences and two industry advisors to develop a commercialization strategy for the drug IBSRELA (by Ardelyx and Knight Therapeutics). This project completed as a part of the industry team case study, hosted by the Life Science Career Development Society. We were excited to select IBSRELA as the Food and Drug Administration recently approved it for use in reducing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome – constipation (IBS-C) following promising clinical trial results. Irritable bowel syndrome, a painful and chronic condition, affects approximately 3 out of 10 Canadians at least once in their lifetime and has few treatment options. We were excited as this was the first-ever IBS-C drug to inhibit the NHE3 sodium-hydrogen transporter. This caused increased osmotic flow into the intestines to soften stool and reduce painful symptoms.
Our goal for this project was to determine if Ardelyx/Knight Therapeutics should attempt to enter the Canadian market. We did this by first investigating the need for novel IBS-C drugs. To do this, we performed a literature review to look at the effectiveness of existing treatment options. We also estimated the effects of IBS-C symptoms on the Canadian economy and examined reports from patient advocate groups on patient experiences. We found that 4 in 5 people affected by IBS-C are unable to manage all their symptoms with existing treatment options. Difficulty managing symptoms was associated with anxiety, pain, decreased productivity and more sick days.
We then completed a market landscape analysis, where we compared the effectiveness of IBSRELA to other currently available IBS-C drugs. By reviewing clinical trial data, we found IBSRELA to be more effective in reducing symptoms and available for use by a broader population than competitors. We believe this improved clinical effectiveness compared to similar drugs will position IBSRELA well for approval from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). CADTH approval recommends a drug for public reimbursement in Canada. If adopted by provincial agencies, this recommendation may result in the drug being free of cost for a patient. This increases the likelihood it will be prescribed over non-reimbursed drugs to those in need.
Using the listing prices recommended by CADTH for similar drugs, we then modelled potential revenues over 10-years post-launch. With 48% of the market share in 10 years, we estimated the drug could net one billion dollars of revenue annually. Our analysis was presented at a public event to all case study teams and industry advisors and received positive feedback. We have also contacted Knight Therapeutics with our proposal.
Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program: Reducing cardiac surgery readmissions
After the industry team case study, I completed the Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship program run by the Medventions team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Through weekly lectures from different entrepreneurs over four months and a capstone project, I built skills relating to the commercialization of new medical device technologies. Lecture topics included methods of entrepreneurship, intellectual property management, regulatory pathways for medical devices, reimbursement mechanisms from healthcare funding organizations in Canada, appraising a company’s value, marketing, and business strategy.
Alongside a passionate team of students from several research institutes and two industry advisors, I pitched an idea for an application designed to prevent readmission following cardiac surgery to a panel of medical technologies entrepreneurs. Our team of four, as our capstone project, identified the gaps in patient management relating to post-cardiac surgery care. We then completed a market assessment exploring the demographics of who people receiving cardiac surgery in Canada are and who are most likely to be readmitted for preventative complications. Following customer segmentation, we assessed estimates for the total value of the cardiac care technologies market in Canada and existing spending on software interventions.
Next, we completed stakeholder analysis of groups affected by our application. This included evaluating their power over the success of our project, interests and preferences, and unique needs. We considered the interests of patient advocate groups, patients and their physicians, investors, health system administrators, and family caregivers. Following this, we completed a critical review of existing technologies and their gaps, and proposed regulatory and reimbursement considerations to bring our app to market.
Our final report was presented to a panel of industry personnel in medical devices and clinicians of cardiac care from across the Sunnybrook Health Sciences community and received positive feedback. I am grateful for the skills cultivated and partnerships formed from each of these rewarding experiences.
At the University of Toronto, I completed exciting projects with the Life Science Career Development Society (first slide) and the Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship training program (second slide).
Industry team case study: IBSRELA commercialization strategy
Over the course of four months, I worked alongside three graduate students in life sciences and two industry advisors to develop a commercialization strategy for the drug IBSRELA (by Ardelyx and Knight Therapeutics).
This project completed as a part of the industry team case study, hosted by the Life Science Career Development Society.
We were excited to select IBSRELA as the Food and Drug Administration recently approved it for use in reducing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome – constipation (IBS-C) following promising clinical trial results.
Irritable bowel syndrome, a painful and chronic condition, affects approximately 3 out of 10 Canadians at least once in their lifetime and has few treatment options.
We were excited as this was the first-ever IBS-C drug to inhibit the NHE3 sodium-hydrogen transporter. This caused increased osmotic flow into the intestines to soften stool and reduce painful symptoms.
Our goal for this project was to determine if Ardelyx/Knight Therapeutics should attempt to enter the Canadian market.
We did this by first investigating the need for novel IBS-C drugs. To do this, we performed a literature review to look at the effectiveness of existing treatment options.
We also estimated the effects of IBS-C symptoms on the Canadian economy and examined reports from patient advocate groups on patient experiences.
We found that 4 in 5 people affected by IBS-C are unable to manage all their symptoms with existing treatment options. Difficulty managing symptoms was associated with anxiety, pain, decreased productivity and more sick days.
We then completed a market landscape analysis, where we compared the effectiveness of IBSRELA to other currently available IBS-C drugs.
By reviewing clinical trial data, we found IBSRELA to be more effective in reducing symptoms and available for use by a broader population than competitors.
We believe this improved clinical effectiveness compared to similar drugs will position IBSRELA well for approval from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH).
CADTH approval recommends a drug for public reimbursement in Canada. If adopted by provincial agencies, this recommendation may result in the drug being free of cost for a patient. This increases the likelihood it will be prescribed over non-reimbursed drugs to those in need.
Using the listing prices recommended by CADTH for similar drugs, we then modelled potential revenues over 10-years post-launch. With 48% of the market share in 10 years, we estimated the drug could net one billion dollars of revenue annually.
Our analysis was presented at a public event to all case study teams and industry advisors and received positive feedback. We have also contacted Knight Therapeutics with our proposal.
Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program: Reducing cardiac surgery readmissions
After the industry team case study, I completed the Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship program run by the Medventions team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Through weekly lectures from different entrepreneurs over four months and a capstone project, I built skills relating to the commercialization of new medical device technologies.
Lecture topics included methods of entrepreneurship, intellectual property management, regulatory pathways for medical devices, reimbursement mechanisms from healthcare funding organizations in Canada, appraising a company’s value, marketing, and business strategy.
Alongside a passionate team of students from several research institutes and two industry advisors, I pitched an idea for an application designed to prevent readmission following cardiac surgery to a panel of medical technologies entrepreneurs.
Our team of four, as our capstone project, identified the gaps in patient management relating to post-cardiac surgery care. We then completed a market assessment exploring the demographics of who people receiving cardiac surgery in Canada are and who are most likely to be readmitted for preventative complications.
Following customer segmentation, we assessed estimates for the total value of the cardiac care technologies market in Canada and existing spending on software interventions.
Next, we completed stakeholder analysis of groups affected by our application. This included evaluating their power over the success of our project, interests and preferences, and unique needs.
We considered the interests of patient advocate groups, patients and their physicians, investors, health system administrators, and family caregivers.
Following this, we completed a critical review of existing technologies and their gaps, and proposed regulatory and reimbursement considerations to bring our app to market.
Our final report was presented to a panel of industry personnel in medical devices and clinicians of cardiac care from across the Sunnybrook Health Sciences community and received positive feedback.
I am grateful for the skills cultivated and partnerships formed from each of these rewarding experiences.
Teaching
Over the course of my graduate studies, I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to act as a teaching assistant to courses in computer science, statistics, epidemiology and global health. My duties consist of preparing and leading weekly 1h tutorials, preparing and marking assignments, holding weekly office hours for students to ask questions, and assisting in the maintenance and moderation of course websites. Tutorials generally consist of 25 students and are 1-2h classes where I run workshops with students to help clarify concepts from lectures. The slides above show examples of the content I created for a tutorial in a course on epidemiology.
My teaching style revolves around two concepts: (1) that students would find joy, or even passion, in challenging work that had clear applications to decisions they would face in the future, and (2) that students would remember course concepts through using them to solve specific problems. I apply these concepts by preparing assignments and class examples that revolve around exciting and challenging current events, such as difficulties in reproducing results from scientific studies for a tutorial in epidemiology. In this assignment, students were instructed to find a study with an inappropriate conclusion based on what their data showed, or an inappropriate study design. This outlined the need for students to think critically when reading a scientific paper, and not take everything the paper says for absolute truth.
I create opportunities for students to attempt to solve problems in breakout groups and come back to present their findings to the class for feedback to promote collaboration. I also use formative written assessments or take-home quizzes to gauge students understanding, and online tools such as ‘Slido’ to live-poll student’s reactions. Slido offers excellent interactive teaching tools such as giving the students an opportunity to rank statements based on correctness, generate word clouds to see how their peers think about a topic and live anonymous multiple-choice quizzes that reduce anxiety associated with participation.
Project S.O.S: Solving Omphalitis with Solar Power
Asides from traditional teaching assistant jobs, I had the exciting opportunity to lead the Health Lab for the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy’s global problem-solving labs first-year course. This involved meeting with five students every week for two hours (which was their only contact time for this course, it was tutorial-based) and guiding them to identify and develop a solution to an important global health issue. I thought critically of where I wanted the students to be at the end of the course and what I could to do to steer the students there most effectively.
To guide students to identify a global health issue, I encouraged students to form relationships with people they might end up working with if their final intervention succeeded. I taught students how to reach out to authors of scientific papers on LinkedIn, and once they identified infant mortality in Pakistan as their focus, to reach out to people working at hospitals and government in Pakistan as well. They ended up keeping in touch with several researchers, healthcare staff, and policymakers throughout the course, who helped them decide to focus on the infection of the umbilical cord (medically referred to as omphalitis) after birth.
I taught marketing tips I’d previously learned from books and courses throughout the project’s development. This included being as simple as possible, telling a story with an individual people can relate to as the focus, and evoking emotion in the judging panel. I also drove the students for consistently more rigorous research, which inspired them to see what they were capable of. This included critically evaluating more articles, interviewing more people, and forming more strategic partnerships. Ultimately, the Health Lab beat out all other (four) teams in their cohort, winning the best intervention for the most significant problem with ‘Project S.O.S.: Solving Omphalitis with Solar Power.’
My favourite part of teaching is the opportunity to mentor students and participate in curriculum development. Teaching gives me a strong opportunity to improve my interpersonal and communication skills, practice leadership, and learn about course administration. More so, I learn many new things about a topic from students questions and assignments. I’m now focusing on helping students find joy and even passion in the course topics, and to inspire them to continue learning in the field after graduation. More about this experience is on the Munk School website.
Over the course of my graduate studies, I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to act as a teaching assistant to courses in computer science, statistics, epidemiology and global health.
My duties consist of preparing and leading weekly 1h tutorials, preparing and marking assignments, holding weekly office hours for students to ask questions, and assisting in the maintenance and moderation of course websites.
Tutorials generally consist of 25 students and are 1-2h classes where I run workshops with students to help clarify concepts from lectures. The slides above show examples of the content I created for a tutorial in a course on epidemiology.
My teaching style revolves around two concepts: (1) that students would find joy, or even passion, in challenging work that had clear applications to decisions they would face in the future, and (2) that students would remember course concepts through using them to solve specific problems.
I apply these concepts by preparing assignments and class examples that revolve around exciting and challenging current events, such as difficulties in reproducing results from scientific studies for a tutorial in epidemiology.
In this assignment, students were instructed to find a study with an inappropriate conclusion based on what their data showed, or an inappropriate study design. This outlined the need for students to think critically when reading a scientific paper, and not take everything the paper says for absolute truth.
I create opportunities for students to attempt to solve problems in breakout groups and come back to present their findings to the class for feedback to promote collaboration.
I also use formative written assessments or take-home quizzes to gauge students understanding, and online tools such as ‘Slido’ to live-poll student’s reactions.
Slido offers excellent interactive teaching tools such as giving the students an opportunity to rank statements based on correctness, generate word clouds to see how their peers think about a topic and live anonymous multiple-choice quizzes that reduce anxiety associated with participation.
Project S.O.S: Solving Omphalitis with Solar Power
Asides from traditional teaching assistant jobs, I had the exciting opportunity to lead the Health Lab for the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy’s global problem-solving labs first-year course.
This involved meeting with five students every week for two hours (which was their only contact time for this course, it was tutorial-based) and guiding them to identify and develop a solution to an important global health issue.
I thought critically of where I wanted the students to be at the end of the course and what I could to do to steer the students there most effectively.
To guide students to identify a global health issue, I encouraged students to form relationships with people they might end up working with if their final intervention succeeded.
I taught students how to reach out to authors of scientific papers on LinkedIn, and once they identified infant mortality in Pakistan as their focus, to reach out to people working at hospitals and government in Pakistan as well.
Students ended up keeping in touch with several researchers, healthcare staff, and policymakers throughout the course, who helped them decide to focus on the infection of the umbilical cord (medically referred to as omphalitis) after birth.
I taught marketing tips I’d previously learned from books and courses throughout the project’s development. This included being as simple as possible, telling a story with an individual people can relate to as the focus, and evoking emotion in the judging panel.
I also drove the students for consistently more rigorous research, which inspired them to see what they were capable of. This included critically evaluating more articles, interviewing more people, and forming more strategic partnerships.
Ultimately, the Health Lab beat out all other (four) teams in their cohort, winning the best intervention for the most significant problem with ‘Project S.O.S.: Solving Omphalitis with Solar Power.’
My favourite part of teaching is the opportunity to mentor students and participate in curriculum development.
Teaching gives me a strong opportunity to improve my interpersonal and communication skills, practice leadership, and learn about course administration.
More so, I learn many new things about a topic from students questions and assignments.
I’m now focusing on helping students find joy and even passion in the course topics, and to inspire them to continue learning in the field after graduation.
When I'm not in the lab
When I’m not in the lab, you’ll find me hiking, flying my drone, painting, and reading biographies or historical novels. I enjoy photography, nature, and history. I also enjoy graphic design, and spend some of my free time editing drone videos into short films. I think carefully about composition, timing, colour and music when filming and editing, as well as when painting. My favourite scenes to paint are landscapes including oceans or mountains. Shown above is an example of a painting I made, a photo taken while hiking, and a photo I captured from a drone.
My favourite books to read are historical novels related to WW2, the Cold War, and large expeditions. Some of these include: “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand, “The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War” by Scott Anderson, “Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy” by Larry Loftis, “Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt” by Steven Johnson, and “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing.
I also enjoy reading biographies such as “Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery” by Scott Kelly (an American astronaut) and books about science. Some of my favourite books on scientific topics are “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep & Dreams” by Matthew Walker and “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
In addition, I enjoy learning and practising languages. Asides from English my primary language, I speak advanced French and intermediate German. I studied both French and German as electives in university, and significantly improved my French during my exchange in Tours, France.
When I’m not in the lab, you’ll find me hiking, flying my drone, painting, and reading biographies or historical novels. I enjoy photography, nature, and history. I also enjoy graphic design, and spend some of my free time editing drone videos into short films.
I think carefully about composition, timing, colour and music when filming and editing, as well as when painting. My favourite scenes to paint are landscapes including oceans or mountains. Shown above is an example of a painting I made, a photo taken while hiking, and a photo I captured from a drone.
My favourite books to read are historical novels related to WW2, the Cold War, and large expeditions.
Some of these include: “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand, “The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War” by Scott Anderson, “Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy” by Larry Loftis, “Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt” by Steven Johnson, and “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing.
I also enjoy reading biographies such as “Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery” by Scott Kelly (an American astronaut) and books about science.
Some of my favourite books on scientific topics are “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep & Dreams” by Matthew Walker and “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer” by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
In addition, I enjoy learning and practising languages. Asides from English my primary language, I speak advanced French and intermediate German.
I studied both French and German as electives in university, and significantly improved my French during my exchange in Tours, France.