Annual scholarships and bursary awards create possibilities

July 07, 2022

Sinai Health is recognizing the spirit of discovery with our annual scholarship and bursary awards.

This year, we virtually presented awards and bursaries that highlight our people and their children’s extraordinary work and support them in attaining higher education, professional development and embracing new learnings.

Here are the 2022 recipients:

The Lloyd S.D. Fogler, QC, Award of Excellence

The Lloyd Fogler award is presented annually to an investigator or group of investigators within Sinai Health whose recent research contributions have had a significant impact at the highest level of international excellence.

This year’s winners, Drs. John Kingdom, Kelsey McLaughlin and John Snelgrove have done extensive work in the management of preeclampisa. Preeclampisa is life-threatening condition that effects five per cent of births each year at Mount Sinai Hospital. In response, they formed a three-person research team and worked together to launch the Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) blood test. It is the first test to offer real time results and accurately diagnose preeclampsia, which has reduced the risks of preterm birth, fetal growth restrictions and stillbirths around the world.

Diamond Jubilee Scholarship

This scholarship was created in recognition of Mount Sinai Hospital’s 75th Anniversary and created to support the attainment of higher education for the children of Sinai Health employees and physicians.

This year, there are four recipients, meet them below:

Chiara Alcantara will be pursuing a double degree in Computer Science and Business at the University of Waterloo.

She is a swim coach, co-president of her student council, a tutor and the creator of several podcasts. She brings a lens of social justice and equity to her volunteer work and advocacy including through the creation of a youth organization that aims to provide opportunities for teens and young adults through online events and charitable initiatives. Chiara’s mother is Mary Jo Alcantara, a clinical utilization specialist at Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital.

Jonathan Que is currently pursuing a degree in Chemical and Bioengineering at McMaster University.

Aside from earning grades in the top five per cent of his class, he is an ambassador for his program and volunteers his time supporting current and prospective students by creating meaningful experiences for his peers. He is described by his nominators as versatile, selfless, a great student and always ready to help his peers through mentorship and tutoring in order to help his peers succeed. Jonathan’s mother is Siu Kit Yee, a nurse coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Ben Boguslavsky will be pursuing a degree in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

In addition to being an outstanding student, he is positive mentor who is passionate about helping his friends and classmates succeed. He is an avid volunteer who has supported his communities in feeling a sense of belonging, a musician that plays piano, guitar and alto saxophone and is a positive influence on his peers. Ben’s mother is Shlomit Boguslavsky, a clinical research coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Victoria Ranieri is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University.

She is an Outreach Ambassador and a Student Lead in her program who connects first and second year students with resources that will support them through their academic journey. She is actively working on community projects that focus on female empowerment and anti-racism and is currently collaborating on an anti-racism textbook. Victoria’s father is Jack Ranieri, Director of Information Security and End User Computing at Sinai Health.

The Valerie Fine Bursary

The Valerie Fine Bursary is awarded to someone who has demonstrated outstanding humanity in their duties and is continuing their education towards the promotion of patient care excellence.

This year’s honouree is Yumna Sajid, a technician III in the Microbiology department at Mount Sinai Hospital who is pursuing a designation of Medical Laboratory Technologist at Anderson College.

During the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, Yumna worked collaboratively to spearhead a manual process for locating COVID-19 positive samples, reducing the turnaround time of this duty from days to hours. At every opportunity, she is focused on ensuring decisions are made with the patient’s best interest in mind and represents the next generation of leaders in laboratory medicine.

The Rose Torno Bursary

This bursary was established to encourage an interest in research or in health-sciences education.

This year, it is awarded to Najla Tabbara, a clinical pharmacist in the NICU and Special Pregnancy Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital. As a member of the multi-disciplinary team, she contributes to the care of our vulnerable infants and aspires to establish herself a clinician scientist. She will be pursuing her Masters in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the University of Toronto.

Her thesis project will focus on characterizing pharmacotherapies in infants admitted to the NICU. The results of her project will help clinicians optimize medication use, update current practices and ultimately lead to enhanced patient outcomes.

The Bernard Ghert Award of Resident Excellence in Patient Focused Care

This award recognizes a resident who has demonstrated excellence in patient care and teaching, particularly in interpersonal relationships with patients and families, and is awarded to a recipient that is considered a role model by his colleagues.

This year’s honouree is Dr. Carlos Muzlera, a third-year resident in the Internal Medicine program. He is a dedicated physician who cares for each patient as if they were members of his family. He is described as a leader, gifted, hardworking and compassionate. He is also a strong advocate for his patients’ needs and providing them with best possible care. In the fall, Carlos will begin his subspecialty training in Medical Oncology at Mount Sinai Hospital.

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