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Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program celebrates summer students at annual presentation day

September 8, 2022

At the end of August, students in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Summer Research Program had the opportunity to showcase research projects they worked on over the past several months at the program’s annual presentation day.

The half-day event included opening remarks from Research Director Dr. Clement Hamani, research presentations from students, and award presentations. In total, eight students received studentships this year.

Congratulations to the award winners:

Gary MacDonald Award
Awardee: Kristiana Xhima
Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Black
Presentation title: Amyloid pathology and small vessel disease: relationship to hippocampal volume and shape

The Gary MacDonald Award was created in memory of the late Gary MacDonald, a former Sunnybrook patient and supporter of brain sciences research. The award was presented to the top application in the Hurvitz Summer Student Program. Special thanks to Gary's wife Ms. Clarke for attending this year’s presentation day to speak about Gary.

Presentation Awards

1st Place – Donald T. Stuss Award
Awardee: Ved Hatolkar
Supervisor: Dr. Jamie Near
Presentation title: Investigating Elevated Choline Levels in the Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease Using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

The Donald T Stuss Award recognizes the top presentation of the day, determined by a panel of scientist judges in the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program. The award was created in memory of Dr. Donald Stuss, a deeply missed colleague, friend and visiting scientist of Sunnybrook Research Institute who passed away in 2019.

2nd Place
Awardee: Shuruthisai Sivadas
Supervisor: Dr. Isabelle Aubert
Presentation title: AAV9 is fine, but HBKO steals the show

3rd Place
Awardee: Kristen Li
Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Dimitrijevic
Presentation title: Brain Responses to Semantic Irregularities in Connected Speech