Forum Fellows

Forum Fellows (2021-2022)

Tushar Sood

Tushar is a third-year undergraduate student in the Honours Integrated Science (iSci) program at McMaster University, working towards a Concentration in Biology and an Interdisciplinary Minor in Community Engagement. He has previously worked on several research projects affiliated with McMaster University, conducting work in knowledge translation, public health, and epidemiology.

As a Forum Fellow, Tushar strives to use his interests in public health policy, epidemiology, research methodologies, and health systems innovation to inspire positive change in the community. Specifically, he hopes to better understand the evidence-informed decision-making process. During his fellowship, Tushar aims to play an integral role in stakeholder dialogues and citizen panels, as well as rapid evidence profiles, to better inform and support decision-makers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Vikita Mehta

Vikita is a third-year undergraduate student in the Arts and Science Program at McMaster University. As a Research Lead at Hemoglobal and Outreach Coordinator at Incentives for Global Health, she analyzes the barriers to accessing quality healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and advocates for equitable solutions. These endeavours have incited Vikita’s strong interest in reducing health disparities through evidence-informed research and policymaking.

During her time as a Forum Fellow, Vikita hopes to explore how knowledge translation tools can be used to strengthen health and social systems and improve health outcomes for marginalized populations. Through partaking in citizen panels at the Forum, she would also like to better understand the role of community engagement and collaboration in health policy advocacy. As an Arts and Science student, Vikita is excited to bring an interdisciplinary lens to the Fellowship as she further hones her interests in the social, political, and biomedical facets of health.

Forum Fellows (2020-2021)

Saif Alam

Saif is a third-year undergraduate student in the Honours Integrated Sciences (iSci) program at McMaster University. He previously worked at the McMaster Health Forum as a Research Assistant, where he helped to identify, extract, and synthesize information from relevant evidence sources for rapid response syntheses. Along with this, he has helped to translate web resources in French as part of the Forum’s contribution to the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal and has also actively engaged in the organization and preparation of stakeholder dialogues and citizen panels. As a Forum Fellow, Saif hopes to strengthen his understanding of current health- and social-system issues and develop a greater appreciation for how research evidence and informed-decision making processes play a role in the different responses to COVID-19 and other health- and social-system issues. During his fellowship, he aims to play an integral role in the synthesis of rapid evidence profiles, which will be used to help inform and support decision-makers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anastasia Drakos

Anastasia is a third-year undergraduate student in the Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) at McMaster University.