Graduates celebrate milestones at Faculty of Health Sciences Fall 2023 convocation

Celebrating the culmination of years of hard work, determination and growth, graduates from the Faculty of Health Sciences crossed the stage in front of family, friends and supporters during the Fall 2023 convocation ceremony on Nov. 23.

Reemal Shahbaz, a graduate of the Master of Global Health program and previous graduate of the Honours Life Sciences program in Spring 2022,  represented the Faculty of Health Sciences and School of Nursing as valedictorian.

Shahbaz says she has wanted to be a valedictorian since she was ten years old — soon after she immigrated to Canada from Pakistan.

“I knew that I wanted the position as soon as I learned that it is symbolic of leadership, excellence, uplifting peers, commitment to learning, and using one’s knowledge to leave a positive impact in the community,” says Shahbaz.

Her master’s thesis examined the role of transnational carer-employees — immigrants who engage in caregiving of their loved ones across borders while also working in their country of resettlement.

Shahbaz has had leadership roles teaching young children in science education workshops, worked as a student counsellor at a day camp and served as a mentor and outreach coordinator for non-profit organizations.

This past spring, she won a Faculty of Health Sciences Teaching Assistant Excellence Award.

Every year, two outstanding graduating McMaster students receive the Governor General’s Academic Medal, one of the most prestigious student awards in Canada.

Established in 1873, the award recognizes exceptional academic achievement. Earning this accolade not only places this year’s recipients among the top students to graduate from McMaster; it places them among the top students in all of Canada.

This year’s winners included Sophie Poznanski, PhD, Medical Sciences.

Her research is in developing new effective cancer immunotherapies for poor prognosis tumours.

During her time as a researcher in the Ashkar Lab at McMaster, Poznanski connected with clinician-researchers around the world and her work has made major breakthroughs in the field of cancer immunotherapy.

In 2019, Sophie received a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, ranking fourth in the country-wide competition.

Poznanski will be a two-time graduate of McMaster, having completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences in 2016.

Following her PhD defense this summer, Sophie was recruited to a senior position in a cancer immunotherapy pharmaceutical company to head their translational research and pre-clinical development.

Congratulations to all graduates from the Faculty of Health Sciences and McMaster University!