Yesterday was an incredible day in the TCN lab! Our first MD–PhD student, Shahnaza Hamidullah, successfully and beautifully defended her thesis, “Cholinergic modulation of parvalbumin neurons in cognition relevant to schizophrenia”.

Shahnaza moved to Canada on December 3rd, 2009 when she was just 13 years old as a refugee from Afghanistan, learning English for the first time in school. Now, sixteen years later, on the very same day, she defended her PhD. During her three years conducting research in the lab, she received several awards, including the prestigious Vanier Scholarship.

As she returns to med school, we all know that Shahnaza is exactly where she’s meant to be! The world needs physicians like her who care and are empathetic.

All of us in the TCN lab are incredibly proud of Shahnaza’s achievements, and we have no doubt she will continue to thrive in her career.

Congratulations, Shahnaza!