“I think having this opportunity for people from this part of Canada really just opens doors...It further motivates and inspires me and validates my decision to do extra training.”

Quilty, who hails from Marystown, Nfld., first became interested in paediatric rheumatology during her paediatric residency at Memorial University in St. John’s through her clinical interactions with children with arthritis and where she was involved in research on validating a rapid test to diagnose Lyme arthritis. It showed her how research can have a direct impact on patients and inspired her future path.

After graduating from medical school, Quilty came to U of T for a paediatric rheumatology fellowship, which she completed in June.

Now in the clinical epidemiology and health care research program, also part of IHPME, at U of T, her graduate work will provide her the skills and tools to combine post-academic research with clinical practice in her future career.

“There are so many questions that we see in day-to-day patient care that we don’t necessarily have the perfect answers to, and being able to study that to get closer to answers and improved patient care is the backbone of why I wanted to do this.”

As well as pursuing her master’s in clinical epidemiology, Quilty is also doing an extra clinical fellowship year in autoinflammatory diseases in the rheumatology division at SickKids. She hopes to learn more about systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and why this autoinflammatory disease has poorer outcomes and more complications

Quilty is very grateful to the donors for supporting the Naylor Fellowships, which provides her and other students from the East Coast an opportunity to study at the top university in Canada.

Read more about the U of T’s 2025 Naylor Fellows committed to making a difference in youth mental health, paediatric care and the environment