Imaan Jeewa wins the Arabinda Guha Graduate Research Scholarship

The Department of Biology at the University of Toronto Mississauga is pleased to announce that Imaan Jeewa, MSc candidate, Levine Lab, has been awarded the Arabinda Guha Graduate Research Scholarship in Cellular and Molecular Biology.

Imaan was selected by the faculty for her outstanding achievement in her program at UTM.

This award was originally established by Friends, Family & Colleagues of Professor A. Guha to honour oustanding scholars.

Asked what it means to win this award, Imaan wrote:

I am a first year M.Sc. candidate in the Levine lab at UTM. I completed my HBSc at UTM, specializing in Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology. I joined the lab as an undergraduate student in May 2021, where I conducted an Independent Research Project under the supervision of Dr Joel Levine. I was quickly intrigued by the potential avenues for the project and chose to embark on my graduate studies with the lab. Now, as an M.Sc. student, I am exploring whether a critical period for early-life sleep also defines a critical period for the acquisition of social network behaviours in fruit flies.
I am pleasantly surprised and very much honored to receive this auspicious award. Whilst I am pleased with my progress so far, I am excited to think about the project’s many future directions. I think, then, that this award celebrates scientific inquiry because it gives novices, like myself, the confidence and motivation to explore the unknown, especially when the pursuit for answers in science often presents challenges. It’s thanks to Dr Joel Levine’s support, guidance, and confidence in me that I can pursue this M.Sc. and therefore, receive this award. I am also grateful to my lab colleagues, Amara Rasool and Dr Joshua Krupp, for their continued assistance and mentorship.
 

Congratulations Imaan Jeewa and Prof. Joel Levine!