Tell us about your McGill experience
I’ve been at McGill for 11 years, first as an undergraduate for 3 years in Anatomy & Cell Biology, and then for the past 8 years as a student in the MD & PhD program. Now I’ll be beginning my 3 year residency at McGill in Internal Medicine and will have further subspecialty and fellowship training to do after that. I’ve greatly enjoyed my time at McGill and have learnt so much from so many incredible people. I’m truly grateful to the McGill community for everything it has given me so far.
What does it feel like to be graduating?Ìý
It feels great to graduate, but I admit that it feels more like an intermission / half-time than an end-point. I still have many more years of learning ahead of me in my pursuit of becoming a clinician-scientist! I’m particularly looking forward to my next step as a medical resident, where I will learn to be a doctor and care for patients.
Why were you awarded the Scriver-Steinberg Convocation Prize in Human Genetics?
The Scriver-Steinberg Prize is awarded to a graduating student who has been successful at translating research into clinical practice. Over the course of my PhD and time in medical school, I was involved in multiple translational research projects that are in the process of being implemented into clinical care in the area of targeted therapies for cancer, and the management of patients with brain metastases.
How does it feel to be the recipient of this prestigious prize?
It is a tremendous honour and privilege to be awarded the Scriver-Steinberg Prize. Dr. Scriver was a McGill legend whose work I've admired for many years. He was successful at integrating his laboratory based research with community initiatives to bring his findings to the real world in order to truly make a difference. This is exactly what I aspire to do in my own career moving forward.
Acknowledgements
I have so many different mentors to thank who helped me along the way in my research training, both with experiments in the laboratory as well as in challenging me to think about how the work I am doing can be applied to real patients in the community. In particular, Drs. Peter Siegel, Kevin Petrecca, and April Rose have been instrumental in this process, and I am eternally grateful for their support and mentorship.