51社区黑料

Vandad Hazrati: FHS Award for Outstanding Service to the Faculty of Health Sciences

Vandad Hazrati is a third year student who has been highly engaged in student leadership roles since his arrival at FHS. He has passionately devoted himself to HSUSU, first serving as the Science student representative to the Undergraduate Studies Committee where he consulted with students and brought their perspectives to Faculty tables. He then became HSUSU鈥檚 vice-president, Student Life, where he organized and led out key events such as FROSH and the annual HSUSU Gala. Currently, he is the Co-President of HSUSU, overseeing operations, supporting his team members in achieving their goals, and discussing student concerns and HSUSU initiatives regularly with the dean to strengthen collaboration between students and faculty administration.

Hazrati was also the student representative on a Faculty search committee where he reviewed applications, participated in candidate interviews, and helped identify a lecturer who would best serve the needs of Health Sciences students.

Hazrati has carried out all of this service for the Faculty while serving as an informal mentor for his peers, and maintaining top grades. His contributions have helped strengthen the sense of community at FHS and supported students in feeling connected to each other as well as their professors. For these reasons, we are pleased to recognize him with the award for Outstanding Service to the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

Gabriella Santorelli: FHS Award for Outstanding Service to the Faculty of Health Sciences

Gabriella Santorelli served with HSUSU from 2022 to 2026, serving first as an undergraduate representative, then as vice-president of Student Life, and finally as president. She led the HSUSU executive team as president while doing a study exchange in Australia, tackling the challenge of working virtually with a significant time zone difference. In her roles for HSUSU, Santorelli focused on bringing the voices and opinions of undergraduate students to Faculty discussion tables, and worked tirelessly to introduce new events to students 鈥� including themed events and week-long event series where there was a different activity each day of the week. She also launched the End-of Semester goodie bag project which distributed snacks and treats with encouraging messages for approximately 200 undergrads during the last week of class. Her leadership laid the foundation for ongoing popular undergraduate events and has contributed to the strengthening of faculty, staff, and student relationships at FHS. She will be heading to Kamloops with her BSc degree in hand for further education in respiratory therapy.

In addition to these activities, Santorelli also served as a course peer mentor, and actively supported prospective and new FHS students by speaking about her experiences and answering their questions at Faculty welcome events. Her deep devotion to student connection and engagement, along with her advocacy for creating the best experience for other FHS students, has enabled the Faculty to create a tight-knit community for its undergraduate students, and she deeply values all the time she has spent in FHS for the foreseeable future. It is in recognition of these contributions that the Faculty is pleased to award Santorelli the award for Outstanding Service to the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Nicholas Tjandra: FHS Award for Extraordinary Achievement

Nicholas Tjandra is the recipient of this year鈥檚 FHS Award for Extraordinary Achievement. This remarkable third year Health Sciences student began working with Liver Canada鈥檚 community liver disease screening program in asymptomatic people. While he was undertaking this work, he was also conducting research at the UBC Division of Gasteroenterology. The parallel streams of his work and research resulted in Nicholas publishing four peer-reviewed research papers, three of them as the primary author. He has contributed to 13 conference presentations, one of which was an award-winning research poster presentation.

Beyond generating research accolades, his work with Liver Canada helped him identify a gap in liver disease screening in northern BC. Tjandra is currently conceptualizing and leading the Rural BC Liver Screening Equity pilot under the guidance of UBC Gastroenterology, working with health authorities and community organizations to make sustained outreach and screening feasible for this underserved population.

At SFU, Tjandra has been supporting the School of Medicine's curriculum development, researching approaches other institutions have taken to integrate Indigenous worldviews and planetary health into medical education. He learned about Indigenous health inequities in his work with the UBC Global Surgery lab, but felt strongly that changing physician perspectives of Indigenous health must begin at the first years of medical training, before a doctor ever sees a patient. Similarly in his work with NaloxHome, a local youth-led non-profit, Tjandra鈥檚 strong understanding of how early prevention and education can improve health outcomes led him to propose, design, and lead the group鈥檚 Access for All project which supports newcomers in accessing naloxone and stigma-free supports to address drug overdose in their communities.

Tjandra has been described as a 鈥渢railblazer in his thinking and vision [who] has pursued this work not as a series of separate commitments but as an expression of a single, consistent set of values,鈥� and he has been lauded for having a deep sense of purpose and strong commitment to health equity. It is for these reasons, and many more, that the Faculty of Health Sciences is recognizing Nicholas for his contributions to the university and to British Columbians.

Alveena Babul: FHS Award for Outstanding Community Service

Alveena Babul is a fourth year Health Sciences student whose sustained commitment to community service, health advocacy, and social impact has meaningfully strengthened campus and broader community engagement. When she joined FHS, she was immediately drawn to the UNICEF 51社区黑料table during Clubs Day, marking the beginning of a meaningful four-year journey which saw her progress from General Member to Volunteer Director, then Vice President of External Relations, and finally Co-President. Under Babul鈥檚 leadership, UNICEF 51社区黑料saw increased engagement and community impact following the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthening its presence as the largest student-led humanitarian club on campus. Through monthly fundraisers and bottle drives, community sponsorships and partnerships, and charity galas, UNICEF 51社区黑料has been able to contribute $3,000 annually to UNICEF Canada each year for two years, tripling the amount that the club had previously donated.

Through UNICEF SFU, Babul has been instrumental in advancing community-centered health advocacy initiatives, with a particular focus on children's health, safety, and well-being. UNICEF 51社区黑料has worked with local organizations including NaloxHome, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, and the Salvation Army, connecting global health issues to urgent and local health challenges and needs. Her work has seen her collaborating with other student clubs at 51社区黑料to create a vibrant, service-oriented student community.

Babul鈥檚 empathy, intentionality, and deep sense of responsibility has allowed her to develop into a remarkable values-driven leader dedicated to both the work and the well-being of her team. She has an exceptional ability to inspire engagement, build partnerships, and translate complex health and social issues into meaningful action. Babul credits her time at Health Sciences and her volunteer experiences as key to learning about the importance of community-based approaches to creating meaningful change. She will be continuing to learn about these topics more deeply when she undertakes her Master of Public Health degree. It is with great joy that FHS has chosen her as the recipient of the Award for Outstanding Community Service.

Tara Hashemi: FHS Award for Citizenship and Exemplary Academic Performance

Tara Hashemi is a new Health Sciences alumnus whose academic and social contributions have earned her the Faculty鈥檚 award for Citizenship and Exemplary Academic Performance.

She is the Health Sciences student representative to the 51社区黑料Senate, where she brought student perspectives to central 51社区黑料tables where decisions about academic and institutional matters are made. She is an elected member of the Senate Committee on University Teaching and Learning and served on the AI Learning and Teaching Taskforce, providing student input on Academic Integrity at SFU. In these roles, Hashemi has helped shape curriculum development and assessment practices, and has provided student perspectives into teaching and learning as well as university policies.

Hashemi is deeply committed to participating in civic life, both at 51社区黑料and in Coquitlam where she has lived since immigrating from Iran six years ago. She cites her lived experiences as a Persian-Canadian woman navigating new and intersecting challenges as the inspiration for her dedication to research, community engagement, and advocacy. She is the current co-Chair of the Coquitlam鈥揚ort Coquitlam Youth Advisory Council where she collaborates with youth, community organizations, and local MP Ron McKinnon to identify local priorities, amplify youth perspectives and voices, and promote civic engagement. Under her leadership, the Council has organized community initiatives that provide essential resources to individuals and families facing financial hardship, as well as engaging in local environmental stewardship projects.

Academically, Hashemi has been researching the influence of social media on the development of eating disorders among adolescents. During her Directed Study with Dr. Rochelle Tucker, she examined the effectiveness of school-based media literacy programs in reducing the risk of developing eating disorders and identified a gap in the BC curriculum. She has subsequently developed recommendations for adapting school-based media literacy initiatives to help address this gap and reduce the risk to adolescents of developing an eating disorder. Hashemi may work further on this topic and related issues when she begins her Master鈥檚 studies in September.

Caitlin Chow: FHS Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, BA Program

The most memorable part of Caitlin Chow's undergraduate experience was learning from others in the FHS program. Whether it was peers sharing their personal stories or professors giving valuable advice, she learned the importance of engaging with everyone she meets. This not only gave Chow an appreciation for the diverse skills and knowledge that each person possesses, but also taught her the importance of collaborating with community members to bring about tangible change.

Being awarded the FHS Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement for achieves the highest mark in the BA program has been incredibly rewarding for Chow considering the time and effort that went into studying at libraries, cafes, and even overseas. Pursuing an education takes dedication and determination, which can come at the cost of sacrificing other commitments. During her undergraduate career, she lost loved ones, faced hardships, and dealt with unforeseen circumstances, but she took everything one day at a time and made sure to rely on the support of friends and family.

Chow advises that you will have to make many decisions in your lifetime - and there is a common notion that you need to strive to make the right choice - but sometimes decisions are not right or wrong and you simply have to choose one and make it the best choice you ever made. She also encourages people to be confident in themselves and stand by their decisions; even though she was met with many closed doors, she was led towards many more open doors with even greater opportunities.

Kirstin Heath: FHS Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, BSc Program

Kirstin Heath is a graduating student who has achieved the highest GPA in the Health Sciences Bachelor of Science program. However, like many of our students, she has been involved in many different activities. She works part-time, but she also spends her time volunteering. During the third year of her studies, she began volunteering with Surrey Parks, where she helped to clear invasive species to improve the local environment. She then went on to volunteer at Surrey Memorial Hospital, working with nurses at the Intensive Care Unit to communicate with and comfort the families of patients during an incredibly stressful and terrifying time.  

Heath started an Honours research project for her undergraduate degree, studying macrophages of the innate immune system and how they interact with B-cell lymphoma following immunotherapy treatment with a monoclonal antibody. (Translated, Kirstin studied an important immune response often used to the advantage of lymphoma cancer treatment.) Through this experience, she found clinical research to be a good fit for her interests and decided to undertake a Master鈥檚 degree which she began this January 2026.