Meet the newest RHSC Internal Award Winners: Rebeca Hernández Gamboa (Louise McGregor), Melika Kangarani-Farahani (Margaret Hood), and Himani Prajapati (Jane Hudson).
Each year, the Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation Sciences distribute financial awards to deserving students. This funding includes bursaries, scholarships and prizes and fellowships. In most cases, these awards are judged by faculty members of the Rehabilitation Sciences Graduate Program.
Rebeca Her
nández Gamboa
Rebeca is a PhD student supervised by Dr. Theresa Liu-Ambrose.
Rebeca’s lab studies how physical exercise can improve the health and quality of life of older adults, particularly those who are most vulnerable to physical and cognitive decline. Her doctoral research is focused on refining exercise recommendations to promote cognitive and brain outcomes. Specifically, Rebeca wants to understand key moderators and mediators of exercise efficacy to allow precise and evidence-based exercise recommendations for older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
The Louise McGregor Memorial Scholarship in Neurorehabilitation will support her doctoral studies and enhance her curriculum for future opportunities, as it is a recognition to her productivity and effort thus far in the program.
Rebeca is a big music fan and is currently learning to play the guitar. Rebeca also enjoys spending time outdoors and exploring Vancouver’s amazing food scene.
Melika Kangarani-Farahani
Melika is a PhD student supervised by Dr. Jill Zwicker.
Melika’s research focuses on understanding brain correlates and neuroplasticity in children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as developmental coordination disorder (DCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the Zwicker lab, they use MRI and explore brain changes following occupational therapy interventions in these populations and provide neuroscientific evidence to convince policymakers to fund occupational therapy treatments.
Melika will utilize the Margaret Hood Scholarship to advocate for children with ASD and this potential treatment approach for them. Her ultimate goal is to disseminate the results of her study and target not only researchers in the field of neurorehabilitation but also families of children with ASD and clinicians who work with these children. Melika’s work has the potential to change practice by providing neuroscientific evidence for the CO-OP approach and improve motor skills of children with ASD after this intervention.
Outside of academia, Melika loves nature and you can find her hiking and kayaking. She also loves cooking and baking and enjoying trying new foods!
Himani Prajapati
Himani is a PhD student supervised by Dr. Bill Miller.
In Himani’s research, she brings her perspective as a neurophysiotherapist to the knowledge of yoga philosophies and how yoga could be made accessible for people with spinal cord injuries.
Himani is honoured to be accepted for Jane Hudson Scholarship in Physical Therapy award. This award is rewarding her to maintain her motivation, passion and curiosity in the field of rehabilitation.
Himani is passionate about learning how the human brain works and learning the concepts of neuroplasticity. So in her free time, you can find her nourishing and rewiring her neurons. She loves to do Yoga, play badminton and go for a long walks.