MSS Swab The World

Club week video

About the club

Stem cell transplants represent hope, and often, a second chance at life for patients with a wide variety of hematological and metabolic diseases such as blood cancers. However, the diagnosis of blood cancer means something drastically different depending on your ethnicity or the colour of your skin. Patients are most likely to find a compatible stem cell donor who shares their ethnicity and ancestry; however, our stem cell donor registries lack diversity. 70% of the Canadian registry is Caucasian, while it is only 15% Asian, 2% Arab, 1% Black, and less than 1% Métis —greatly reducing the odds that a non-Caucasian Canadian will find a compatible stem cell donor. MSS Swab The World aims to make blood cancer a fairer fight for all Canadians by building awareness for the critical need of stem cell donors; in particular, in underrepresented ethnic groups, and recruiting informed and committed individuals to register to become stem cell donors at McGill University and in the greater Montreal community.

Contact information

RolePersonContact
Co-PresidentMatthew Homa, class of 2028matthew.homa@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-PresidentGulraaj Kaur, class of 2028gulraaj.kaur@mail.mcgill.ca
Past-President AdvisorLilly Groszman, class of 2025lilly.groszman@mail.mcgill.ca
Past-President AdvisorSophie Zhu, Dentistry class of 2025sophie.zhu2@mail.mcgill.ca
Vice-PresidentVerina Takla, class of 2028verina.takla@mail.mcgill.ca
VP Finance & SIS RepJonathan Hubermann, Graduate Experimental Surgery 2025jonathan.hubermann@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Communications DirectorSascha Azoulay, class of 2026sascha.azoulay@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Communications DirectorSeoyoung Park, Anatomy and Cell Biology 2026seoyoung.park3@mail.mcgill.ca
Communications Team MemberSophie Wang, class of 2028sophie.wang3@mail.mcgill.ca
Communications Team MemberAaron Samuels, class of 2026aaron.samuels@mail.mcgill.ca
Communications Team MemberErica Prager, Anatomy and Cell Biology 2024erica.prager@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-High School / CÉGEP Talk LeadNoémie Laurier, class of 2026noemie.laurier@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-High School / CÉGEP Talk LeadBoaz Loar, class of 2026boaz.laor@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Swab Talk LeadSarah Mashal, class of 2026sarah.mashal@mail.mcgill.ca
Arts RepMorgan MacEachern, Political Science 2025morgan.maceachern@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Talk Team MemberGabriel Trottenberg, class of 2025gabriel.trottenberg@mail.mcgill.ca
Fundraising LeadSarah Bensemana, class of 2026sarah.bensemana@mail.mcgill.ca
Fundraising Team MemberMegan Israel, class of 2025megan.israel@mail.mcgill.ca
Fundraising Team MemberTaylor Kravitz, class of 2027taylor.kravitz@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Interprofessional Collaboration LeadAndrea Rizk-Flores, Graduate Student in Family Medicine 2026andrea.rizk-flores@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Interprofessional Collaboration LeadRaquel Suissa, Graduate student in Family Medicine 2026raquel.suissa@mcgill.ca
Dentistry RepMicaela Buchbinder, Dentistry Class of 2025
Med-P RepNicolas Demers, class of 2029nicolas.p.demers@mail.mcgill.ca
Neuroscience RepZoe Harrington, Neuroscience Class of 2025zoe.harrington@mail.mcgill.ca
SSMU RepElysa Xu, Physiology 2026yixuan.xu3@mail.mcgill.ca
Graduate Student OutreachAlessio Cusmano, Graduate Student Biochemistryalessio.cusmano@mail.mcgill.ca
Donor/Recipient CoordinatorHan Halyssa Hohan.ho@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Swab Talk LeadYaman Zarour, class of 2025yaman.zarour@mail.mcgill.ca
MSS RepMarie Sun, class of 2025marie-xinyi.sun@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth LeadLayane Elfiky, Physiology Class of 2026layane.elfiky@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberAidan Cheema, Neuroscience Class of 2027aidan.cheema@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberMatthew Mazzarello, Anatomy and Cell Biology 2027matthew.mazzarello@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberCarolyn Steinberg, class of 2028carolyn.steinberg@mail.mcgill.ca

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