Shaan Baig - Dissertation du lauréat, 2022
I want to become a neuroscientist-neurosurgeon as it is a profession which studies, embodies, and preserves the integration of a scientific brain pumped by a philanthropic heart. My desire to pursue translational neuroscience research traces back to when I completed my first science fair project at 13-years-old where I developed a design for a hockey helmet to prevent concussions at Bauer.
This initial research experience along with the learning of my grandfather’s diagnosis of vascular dementia captivated me by the notion that dysfunctions at the cellular level in the brain severely compromise an individual’s cognitive and motor abilities. Throughout high school, my research spanned developing diagnostic urine tests for cancers to identifying how exercise can prevent Alzheimer’s.
I developed a novel carbon dot-bound bispecific antibody for the early, minimally invasive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s which displays optical properties suitable for detection via fNIR-spectroscopy. I published this work, won best overall project at the 2019 International Science Fair in Taiwan (55,000$) and receive the Patent and Trademark Office Society Award for outstanding originality. After speaking around the world from TEDx to panelling with Chris Hadfield, I founded an organization to offer STEM opportunities to youth which got me selected as a 2020 Global Teen Leader by WAFF.
Being a varsity hockey and lacrosse player, I now study Honours Kinesiology & Clinical Exercise Physiology at Concordia University (Montreal). This fall I will be studying at the University of Oxford where I have been accepted to read for an MSc/PhD in Clinical Neuroscience.