Meet some of the 2023-2024 Canderel Graduate Studentship Recipients!

Every year, the Canderel Foundation supports graduate students at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute through Canderel Graduate Studentships. Beyond the financial aspect of the support, this recognition empowers trainees through the next phases of their careers. “I want to continue conducting research in biomedical sciences as a long-term career goal. This studentship award is regarded as an accomplishment that will help me to stand out among the candidates”, shared award recipient Chenyue Wu.

Importantly, these awards are an investment in the next generation of scientists with an international reach. Olivia Zhu, studentship recipient, explained, “As an international student, accessing limited funding opportunities is crucial due to the higher tuition fees we face compared to local students.” In addition to higher tuition fees, international students often do not meet eligibility requirements for major funding programs in Canada due to their citizenship status. “As an international student in my first year, governmental funding options were quite limited. However, seeing as I met the eligibility, I was encouraged to apply to the Canderel award” shared awardee Michael Mouradian. Haotian Zhuang, another international student and award recipient who struggled with these funding challenges, shared: “I am very thankful that Canderel creates funding categories to support people like me as I know I am not the only person who’s struggling with this situation”.

The Canderel graduate studentships enrich the breadth of talent that is able to contribute to research at the GCI through their international reach. The awards also nurture young scientists, setting them up for success in their future careers. Importantly, the awards support cutting-edge cancer research. Read the research profiles of the 2023 award recipients to learn more about the supported projects:

Chenyue Wu

Chenyue is a first-year master’s student in the Tremblay laboratory. Her project focuses on investigating a class of proteins called ‘protein tyrosine phosphatases’, and determining how they influence immune responses. Ultimately, she aims to apply her discoveries to the generation of anti-cancer vaccines.

Olivia Zhu

Olivia is a second-year master’s student under the supervision of Dr. Alain Nepveu. Her research focuses on understanding the role of an oncogenic protein called MYC, which cancer cell often use to protect their DNA. This research is especially relevant to developing new treatments for B cell lymphomas.

Michael Mouradian

Michael is conducting his first-year of master’s research in the Cockburn laboratory. His research aims to highlight changes that occur in the skin due to ultraviolet radiation, a common cause of skin cancer which people are exposed to through unprotected sun exposure.

Haotian Zhuang

Haotian is a first-year master’s student in the Sonnenberg laboratory. His project aims to determine the structure of a protein complex which plays an important role in how cells control the quality of another protein complex which makes new proteins. Understanding the structure of this complex will allow further research into how it functions in normal cells and in diseases like cancer.

Donate here to support studentships through the 35th edition of the Défi Canderel.