Anna Mandel is a PhD candidate at the IMS. Her research focuses on drug development in rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer which is most prevalent in children. She completed her undergraduate education in Europe and arrived in Canada during COVID times. In her free time she enjoys reading, hanging out with friends, and exploring the city. She hopes to contribute to the expansion of the international community and get to know more of the international students at the IMS and the UofT!

Christina is a master's student at U of T', where she holds an Ontario Graduate Scholarship for her research on developing effective drug therapeutics by targeting the DNA damage pathway in leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. She completed her undergraduate degree at U of T, majoring in Human Biology. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer, weightlifting, and spending time with friends and family.

Dr. Zhong-Ping Feng, is a Professor in Physiology and Medical Science (IMS) at the University of Toronto. Her portfolio as the Director of International Development for IMS, includes promoting international experiences to IMS graduate students, leading on international recruitment initiative, and developing international programs and partnerships with leading academic institutes. Dr. Feng has played an integral part in forming the IMS International Community, and we are grateful for her valuable advice and support during our early stages.

Ali is a graduate student at IMS and he is perusing a PhD degree while doing research at Hospital for Sick Children. He is studying the mechanisms of memory formation and recall with the use of memory manipulation techniques in mice. He did his undergrad at University of Tehran in Cellular molecular biology and Biotechnology Majors. Ali came to Toronto during fall of 2018 and has been experiencing an international student life since then.

Anukrati is a PhD student at the IMS and the Collaborative Program in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto. Her work at the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, conducted under the guidance of Dr. Sean Hill and Dr. Shreejoy Tripathy, focuses on the integration of multi-modal data in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. At the IMS, she is also a part of the Raw Talk Podcast (audio engineer) and the IMS Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (student volunteer for current graduate student support). Outside of the lab, Anukrati likes to do yarn crafts (crochet, knitting, embroidery), play musical instruments (ukulele, guitar, keyboard), art (drawing, painting), read books, travel, and attend live music concerts. Having lived in four countries and on three continents, Anukrati is well on her way of completing her goal to live on all habitable continents. She loves meeting people from all over the world and wants to facilitate events that bring the world—in this case, the IMS community—closer together.

Atsuhiro Hibi is a second-year PhD student at the Institute of Medical Science. He is a member of the Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM). After receiving his master’s degree in computer science at Kyoto University, Japan, he worked as an AI corporate researcher in manufacturing industry for eight years and led multidisciplinary projects specializing in machine learning for image recognition tasks. His PhD research, under the supervision of Drs. Pascal Tyrrell and Michael Cusimano, focuses on AI-assisted CT assessment methods applicable to traumatic brain injury. He has a research interest in dramatically decreasing annotation workload with the aim of increasing speed of technology translation from bench to bedside.

Neda is a 5th year PhD candidate at IMS, and her research focus is on investigating structural and functional MRI scans in the population at-risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. She has received the Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP) Doctoral Award for her studies.
Neda holds a medical doctorate (MD) from Tehran University of Medical Science and a MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from Trento University, Italy, and the Donders Institute, the Netherlands.
Neda’s rich international experience has helped her in identifying the need for creating an international community for IMS graduate students.

Fernando Montano Rendon is a medical graduate from Mexico, currently pursuing his PhD at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto and conducting research at the Hospital for Sick Children as part of the program in Cell Biology. Fernando has acquired robust international experience and has been able to collaborate with top international universities and research institutes around the world. He has done academic and research attachments in the Netherlands, Singapore, Canada, and Mexico.

Mohsen is a third-year Ph.D. candidate at the IMS and CPIN at UofT. His area of research focuses on the optimization of Brain Stimulation using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). He enjoys the atmosphere of his laboratory, Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention. Mohsen would like to invite all of the students at IMS to join ISCE where he and the other members have founded a group for international students to develop a sense of engagement and community building. Mohsen is an enthusiast of reading literature from various countries.

Vidushi Madaan is a third-year PhD candidate at IMS, and her research focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms that lead to development of ovarian cancer. She was born and raised in India, and has completed her Masters in Microbiology and Immunology from Germany. She has gained extensive international experience in world-class institutes in Germany and India, which has helped her to broaden horizons and strengthened her fundamental learnings. Outside of the lab, Vidushi enjoys to paint, dance, travel, and listen to music. She feels being an international student can be quite overwhelming at first therefore, through IMS international community, she would like to make the journey of the incoming international students easier and at the same time, learn from different perspectives and experiences which will help her to grow as a person.