Graduate Diploma in Health Research (GDipHR) 2024 Announcement

We are excited to co-fund Graduate Diploma in Health Research (GDipHR) student Ariana Petrazzini, who will be supervised by TDRA investigator Dr. Sanjeev Kumar. The GDipHR program, offered by the University of Toronto’s MD Program, is a 20-month longitudinal program designed for first-year medical students to gain research experience alongside graduate-level coursework.

Ariana’s research will focus on developing novel biomarkers and treatment interventions for neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia. First she will examine management of neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as agitation, in Alzheimer’s disease using both non-pharmacological (e.g., Virtual Reality and music therapy) and pharmacological interventions. Secondly, she will analyze multimodal data—including clinical assessments, physiological measures, and brain imaging (MRI)—to identify biomarkers of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease.

Ariana is a first-year medical student at the University of Toronto and a graduate of McMaster University’s Bachelor of Health Sciences program. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in initiatives like McMaster’s Black Student Success Centre, promoting inclusivity for Black students, and McMaster Smiling Over Sickness, where she supported pediatric patients and their families. Fluent in French, Spanish, and English, and with basic ASL skills, Ariana is committed to equitable healthcare, especially for underserved populations. Her Argentine and Jamaican heritage also drives her advocacy for diversity and representation in medicine.

Ariana will work closely with her supervisor, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, a scientist, staff psychiatrist, and the medical head of geriatric clinical research within the Adult Neurodevelopment and Geriatric Psychiatry Division at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

We thank all the TDRA investigators who submitted dementia research projects to the GDipHR program during this application cycle. We encourage the TDRA community to continue to be active in GDipHR as we continue to co-fund successful candidates.

For more details on the GDipHR program, please visit the GDipHR webpage.