McMaster University Researcher Receives CIHR’s 2013 Synapse Award for Mentorship

Dr. Sandeep Raha is being recognized for his exceptional efforts to provide scientific outreach to Canadian youth

For immediate release –

2013-19

Hamilton (May 23, 2013) – Today, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce that Dr. Sandeep Raha, an assistant professor in pediatrics at McMaster University, has received its 2013 Synapse Mentorship Award – Individual Researcher.

The award, which is worth $5,000, recognizes the efforts of a health researcher who has made exceptional efforts to promote health research among Canada’s students. Through mentorship, the winner regularly motivates youth to consider both the value of health research as well career opportunities that exist within various scientific fields. The winner is nominated by someone who understands his/her direct scientific contributions to young people, and is chosen by the members of the CIHR Youth Outreach Advisory Board.

“I applaud Dr. Raha’s mentorship efforts with Canadian youth,” says the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health. “His drive to educate students through interactive lectures, supervision of activities in his lab and science fairs challenges is a clear testament to his desire to motivate them to appreciate the value of science and health research overall.”

Despite a busy work schedule, Dr. Raha has actively provided educational outreach and innovation to Canadian high school students. Since 2007, through the Hamilton Health Sciences Summer Bursary program, he has supervised grades 11 and 12 students in his lab as they perform biomedical experiments and analyze data in the area of reproductive biology. He developed “Health Research under the Microscope” as an all-day event where 200 high school students can discuss careers in health care and health research with mentors from McMaster Children’s Hospital and biomedical researchers from McMaster University. Dr. Raha has also reached 1,600 children with a series of interactive lectures about popular health subjects, which include the human body, called the McMaster Children’s and Youth’s University (MCYU). With Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair (BASEF), He has created a science fair challenge regarding specific themes (like the impact of nutrition on the human body) for senior high school students. All winners are mentored by him and get to present their findings to international caliber researchers and healthcare providers at a conference. Dr. Raha has also partnered with school boards/community groups to provide scientific guidance for at-risk youth and encouraged McMaster graduate students to mentor high school students through Let’s Talk Science, a nationally-based science organization.

“It’s valuable for researchers to pass along their knowledge of science to the next generation,” says Dr. Robert Thirsk, CIHR’s Vice-President of Public, Government and Institute Affairs. “Dr. Raha deserves this Synapse mentorship award because he’s devoted to teaching youth about the value of science through various outreach activities. This guidance will help students choose career paths that will make them scientific leaders of tomorrow.”

CIHR’s Synapse – Youth Connection initiativeacts as a meeting place, a scientific junction that brings together health researchers and young students. More than 8,600 CIHR-funded health researchers from across the country have already signed up to become CIHR Synapse mentors. Synapse, in collaborative partnership with national science outreach organizations, connects these mentors with high school students through hands-on training experience that will help create the next generation of Canadian health researchers.

Dr. Raha’s award is one of three related to mentorship through CIHR’s Synapse initiative. Ms. Angela Alberga, a PhD candidate from University of Ottawa, won the Synapse Mentorship Award – Graduate Student / Postdoctoral Fellow and the Cancer Therapeutics Program, led by Dr. Michael McBurney, won the Synapse Mentorship Award – Research Group.

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About the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened health care system for Canadians. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 14,100 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

About McMaster University

McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000, and more than 156,000 alumni in 140 countries.

Media Contacts:

David Coulombe
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E-mail: mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Wade Hemsworth
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Media Relations
McMaster University
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Tel. (Mobile): 289-925-8382
E-mail: hemswor@mcmaster.ca