15 doctoral students receive Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowships

The 2025-26 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellows.

by Emily Cloutier

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, which 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 2025-2026 Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellows:

Oluwatobiloba Michael Ajayi, Department for the Study of Religion, Faculty of Arts and Science

Mai Ali, The Edward 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, 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

Emmanuel Taiwo, Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences

Ashique Thuppilikkat, Faculty of Information

Shereen Xavier, Department of Biological Sciences