Annual Spotlight - Volunteer Appreciation
In honour of National Volunteer Appreciation Week (April 27 - May 3, 2025), UHN STEM Pathways would like to recognize the invaluable impact of volunteer contributions. STEM Pathways volunteers comprise of a diverse network of research trainees, staff and scientists from across UHN’s hospitals and research institutes.
Volunteers continue to impact and inspire the next generation of researchers and health care workers – the STEM Pathways team thanks ALL those at TeamUHN who have supported these efforts. This year, special recognition goes to the following individuals and teams for their above and beyond contributions to youth outreach programming.
Volunteers of the Year
Asides from their leading volunteer hours, the following individuals were selected in recognition of their outstanding commitments. Their dedication to participating in outreach events, leadership skills and engagement with students has been critical to inspiring student interest in STEM.
Top Row: Cristiana O'Brien, Alaina Giang Bui, Foram Vyas, Rui Tong Geng Li
Bottom Row: Boluwatito Mafikuyomi, Matthew Chang, Carla Kulcsar, Ash Hagerman
Research Lab of the Year
The Guided Therapeutics (GTx) Program has been hosting engaging sessions for students since program launch in 2022. This effort has been led by staff scientist Michael Daly, who works with his co-op students to host interactive demonstrations of ongoing work. Both current and previous students have generously volunteered their time and efforts to share their lab’s work in the research field with students.
Volunteers photographed: Rooaa Shanshal, Sujit Patil, Michael Daly, Jack Wunder, Hikaru Kurosawa
Previous team members: Christina Negus, Elise Schwarz, Jun Qing (Jerry) Wan, Matthew Siracusa, Natalie Won
Team of the Year
Staff and students of the Howe and Fish lab routinely team up to deliver classroom visits, workshops and lab tours to students all year round. Special shoutout to Majed Samad, who leads their efforts as our team's 2024-2025 TGHRI Outreach Ambassador.
Volunteers photographed: Kristen Schulz, Kunze (Mandy) Guo, Majed Abdul-Samad, Suejean Park, Kamalben Prajapati
Additional thanks: Crizza Ching (2022-2024 Ambassador) , Emilie Boudreau, Ruilin Wu
Physicians of the Year
We are so fortunate to be surrounded by the most amazing team of doctors at UHN, many of whom have supported our STEM Exploration Program over the years.
We would like to especially thank Dr(s). George Oreopoulos and Stephen Juvet, MD PhD FRCP(C) for all whom they have inspired over the years. They have welcomed every student with kindness and left them with invaluable experiential learning experiences in the field of Medicine.