15 doctoral students receive Connaught PhDs for Public Impact fellowships
Published: June 16, 2025
Fifteen doctoral students at the University of Toronto have received Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowships for 2025-26.
The annual fellowships are designed to offer doctoral students the opportunity to explore the world of public scholarship. Fellows focus on engaging the public through their scholarly work – this can take a range of forms, from describing their work in a public forum to partnering with a school, community organization or cultural institution in an ongoing two-way exchange of knowledge and practices.
“The School of Graduate Studies congratulates this latest cohort of emerging public scholars who have received the Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship," said Vina Goghari, vice-dean, research and program innovation at the School of Graduate Studies. "We look forward to seeing their public scholarship initiatives unfold, and thank the Connaught Fund for the continued generous support of this program.”
The 2024-25 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellows are:
- Oluwatobiloba Michael Ajayi, department for the study of religion, Faculty of Arts and Science
- Mai Ali, dward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
- Shaghayegh (Shay) Chavoshian, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
- Asha Behdinan, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
- Kelly-Ann Blake, department of linguistics, Faculty of Arts & Science
- Bronwyn Clement, department of geography and planning, Faculty of Arts and Science
- Noah Khan, department of social justice education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
- Nandita Menon, Faculty of Dentistry
- Fareha Nishat, division of epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
- Sarah Proulx, department of anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Science
- Catherine Stratton, division of epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
- Donia Obeidat, department of occupational science and occupational therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
- Emmanuel Taiwo, department of physical and environmental sciences, U of T Scarborough
- Ashique Thuppilikkat, Faculty of Information
- Shereen Xavier, department of biological sciences, U of T Scarborough
