Introducing the 2023 MoGen Comms Team: Ishmal Amir

As an undergraduate student in her final year at the University of Toronto, Ishmal seeks out new opportunities that will challenge her and aid in her growth. This is what led her to the Communications Team in the Molecular Genetics Department.

Being a Biology and Psychology double major, Ishmal’s love for genetics started early on and was solidified after taking an Advanced Genetics course in her third year. From this, Ishmal has shaped the rest of her degree to focus on genetics and it’s different aspects. Ishmal hopes to expand on this growing interest by pursuing graduate studies in Genetics in the near future.

Outside of academics, Ishmal has been a Co-Chair for two conferences at UofT, and has been on the executive team of student groups such as the Psychology Undergraduate Students’ Association (PAUSE) and the Mental Health Better Together Movement. Currently, Ishmal volunteers with ClinGen to annotate biomedical literature. These experiences have allowed Ishmal to strengthen and develop her communication and interpersonal skills, while also developing content curation and creation skills.

Ishmal is excited to take from and build on her past experiences and passion for genetics in her new role within the MoGen Communications Team. Within this team Ishmal hopes to bring light to all the exciting and novel work the MoGen faculty, students and staff create through blog posts and various social media content. Ishmal’s goal is to share the research and talents of the MoGen Department with the rest of the community, in a digestible yet informative way to garner interest in the department and its programs.

Lastly, in her spare time, Ishmal attempts to teach herself how to skateboard and play the piano, as well as enjoys watching (very long) YouTube videos on niche topics. She also is prone to rearranging her room at any given moment (however, a change in environment always allows for better content to be made).