Spotlight On: MSc Global Health Student Forouhid Peyvandi

Forouhideh Peyvandi joins fellow MSc Global Health program student Andrew Irwin as a Graduate Student Ambassador. She is excited to have been selected for the role, which involves connecting with students – prospective, past, and present – and helping to promote the program.

Raised in Ontario, Peyvandi completed her Bachelor of Science in Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University. There, she gained hands-on experience in interdisciplinary scientific innovation, as a coordinator of guest research seminars and as a researcher, studying cell quality control mechanisms in mitochondrial disease.  

In 2015, she collaborated with neonatal surgeons and research fellows at SickKids in Toronto to design a mouse model of intestinal disease, a common cause of mortality during pediatric general surgery in neonates.  The results were presented in Dublin at the 28th International Symposium on Pediatric Surgical Research, and were published in the journal Pediatric Surgery International.

“Contributing to this international journal was my first real endeavour in globally relevant medicine, and it made me appreciate healthcare as a means to address the threat of internationally relevant diseases,” explains Peyvandi, who has chosen to pursue the Global Health Sciences concentration at McMaster in the winter term. In this stream, Peyvandi will learn from a network of leading professionals, and explore the threat to public health from existing, new, and re-emerging diseases spread through immigration, travel, and global trade.

Outside of academia, Peyvandi has dedicated much of her time to helping those in need. Four years ago, she joined SwimAbility Montreal, a program offering affordable swim lessons to children with disabilities. “It’s been rewarding to be able to help these vulnerable and marginalized children progress, both athletically and socially,” says Peyvandi, whose career goal is to become a physician specializing in pediatrics.

Peyvandi hopes that being immersed in a curriculum that values overcoming cultural and communication barriers will enable her to challenge herself – as a current student and future doctor – in new ways to reduce health inequality. 

“Becoming a Graduate Student Ambassador has provided me with a welcome opportunity to promote initiatives that will inspire current and prospective students to engage as productive members in our increasingly globalized society,” she says.

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