ACHRI Trainee Association

Areefa Alladin

President

Areefa is a second-year MSc student in Clinical Epidemiology in Dr. Susan Samuel’s lab. As a pediatric nephrologist, Areefa focuses her research on studying kidney disease in children. She is exploring Immunoglobumin A (IgA) Nephropathy in children in Alberta and developing a local guideline for the management of IgA nephropathy in children.

Meghan Maiani

Vice-President & Treasurer

Meghan is a registered occupational therapist whose clinical practice has been primarily in the area of neuro-rehabilitation. Meghan is a second-year MSc student in Dr. Adam Kirton’s lab. Meghan is studying the structural connectivity of the visual system in children with perinatal stroke, and how this correlates to functional vision in everyday life. 

Joanna Keough

Education Co-Director

Joanna is a second-year MSc student in the Leaders in Medicine program in Dr. Adam Kirton’s lab. Her research explores pediatric brain-computer interfaces and the mechanism and impact of user fatigue.

Bevin Wiley

Education Co-Director

Bevin is a second-year MSc student supervised by Dr. Kara Murias in the neuroscience program. Her research focuses on the use of non-invasive brain stimulation in children with ADHD. 

Shefali Rai

Communications Director

Shefali is a second-year PhD Candidate in Dr. Signe Bray’s lab. Combining her experience as an engineer with computational neuroscience methodologies, her research is focused on mapping the unique aspects of functional brain networks in adults and children.

Tahsin Hassan Rahit

Social Director

Tahsin is a fourth-year PhD Candidate in Dr. Maja Tarailo-Graovac's lab. He is in the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology program with a Bioinformatics specialization. Coming from computer science background, Tahsin is applying his expertise in Machine Learning to identifying genetic modifiers from whole genome sequencing data.

Dr. Zahra Clayborne

EDI Co-Director

Zahra is a psychiatric epidemiologist and postdoctoral fellow with the All Our Families research team, supervised by Drs. Sheila McDonald and Suzanne Tough. Her research focuses on the measurement of flourishing and its determinants in the family context. 

Dr. Munawar Soomro

EDI Co-Director

Munawar is a general physician, epidemiologist and currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Deborah Dewey’s lab. His research focuses on the health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including the environmental and occupational exposures on human health, particularly during the pregnancy and early childhood

Dr. Sharon Hou

Sharon is a postdoctoral scholar supervised by Dr. Fiona Schulte at the Cumming School of Medicine. Her research program broadly focuses on exploring the social and cultural factor that shape child development and health. She has a special interest in the study of migrant groups, acculturation, and cultural characteristics in relation to child and family outcomes. She is dedicated to community engagement and volunteerism in the service of social justice and passionate about bringing greater equity, diversity, and inclusion to research and practice. 

Dr. Tiffany Bell

Tiffany is a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Ashley Harris’ lab. Her primary research involves using magnetic resonance imaging to study brain chemistry in children. Through her research, she hopes to further understand the contribution of altered brain chemistry to neurological disorders, informing novel targeted therapies to aid management of these conditions.

Dr. Reza Aghanoori

Reza is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Guang Yang's lab in the Department of Medical Genetics. He studies translational regulation of brain in autism and rare neurodevelopmental disorders and hopes to propose therapeutic options for these disorders.