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

Executive RoleName (first, last)Graduation YearMcGill Email
Co-PresidentMatthew HomaMedicine Class of 2028matthew.homa@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-PresidentGulraaj KaurMedicine Class of 2028gulraaj.kaur@mail.mcgill.ca
Vice-PresidentVerina TaklaMedicine Class of 2028verina.takla@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Communications DirectorSascha AzoulayMedicine Class of 2026sascha.azoulay@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Communications DirectorSeoyoung ParkAnatomy and Cell Biology 2026seoyoung.park3@mail.mcgill.ca
Communications Team MemberSophie WangMedicine Class of 2028sophie.wang3@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Swab Talk LeadSarah MashalMedicine Class of 2026sarah.mashal@mail.mcgill.ca
Fundraising LeadSarah BensemanaMedicine Class of 2026sarah.bensemana@mail.mcgill.ca
Fundraising Team MemberTaylor KravitzMedicine Class of 2027taylor.kravitz@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Interprofessional Collaboration LeadAndrea Rizk-FloresGraduate Student in Family Medicine 2026andrea.rizk-flores@mail.mcgill.ca
Co-Interprofessional Collaboration LeadRaquel SuissaGraduate student in Family Medicine 2026raquel.suissa@mcgill.ca
Med-P RepNicolas DemersMedicine Class of 2029nicolas.p.demers@mail.mcgill.ca
SSMU RepElysa XuPhysiology 2026yixuan.xu3@mail.mcgill.ca
Donor/Recipient CoordinatorHan Halyssa HoMedicine Class of 2028han.ho@mail.mcgill.ca
MSS RepMarie SunMedicine Class of 2028marie-xinyi.sun@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth LeadLayane ElfikyPhysiology Class of 2026layane.elfiky@mail.mcgill.ca
Neuroscience RepAidan CheemaNeuroscience Class of 2027aidan.cheema@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberMatthew MazzarelloAnatomy and Cell Biology 2027matthew.mazzarello@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberCarolyn SteinbergMedicine Class of 2028carolyn.steinberg@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberCylia BourenaneMedicine Class of 2029cylia.bourenane@mail.mcgill.ca
Biology RepChiara FerriBiology and Mathematics Class of 2026chiara.ferri@mail.mcgill.ca
Nursing RepMelanie XieNursing Class of 2027melanie.xie@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberLayla GobeilMedicine Class of 2029layla.gobeil@mail.mcgill.ca
Med-P RepAdam KriskoMedicine Class of 2030adam.krisko@mail.mcgill.ca
Engineering RepAndrew HabelrihEngineering Class of 2027andrew.habelrih@mail.mcgill.ca
PT/OT RepChelsea Chung-WingPhysical Therapy Class of 2027chelsea.chung-wing@mail.mcgill.ca
Dentistry RepIoanna ArgitisDentistry Class of 2028alexa.argitis@mail.mcgill.ca
Arts RepSydney Chung-WingPsychology Class of 2027sydneychungw@gmail.com
Graduate RepLauryn GreenMasters in Family Medicinesydneychungw@gmail.com
VP CommunicationsEmma NeamtuBiochemistry Class of 2027emma.neamtu@mail.mcgill.ca
VP CommunicationsShubhreet PaddaOccupational Therapy Class of 2028shubhreet.padda@mail.mcgill.ca
Med-P RepMing Hao SunMed-P Class of 2030ming.h.sun@mail.mcgill.ca
Education RepMarilena Sahlas-RoyKinesiology Class of 2028marilena.sahlas-roy@mail.mcgill.ca
Med-P RepAlice MokrousovMedicine Class of 2029alice.mokrousov@mail.mcgill.ca
Arts and Science RepAline ZhuCognitive Science Class of 2028aline.zhu@mail.mcgill.ca
Management RepSamyar RafatzandComputer Science and Biologysamyar.rafatzand@mail.mcgill.ca
Stand Up for Diversity LeadSotiria AthanasiouKinesiology Class of 2028sotiria.athanasiou@mail.mcgill.ca
AmbassadorMarie-Philippe CôtéMed-P Class of 2030marie-philippe.cote@mail.mcgill.ca
VP CommunicationsDina SaghanejadBiological, Biomedical & Life Sciencesdina.saghanejad@mail.mcgill.ca
AmbassadorErica PragerAnatomy and Cell Biologyerica.prager@mail.mcgill.ca
VP FinanceFarah AbudawwasDesautels Class of 2029farah.abudawwas@mail.mcgill.ca
Med-P RepVivian ChuiMed-P Class of 2030wing.k.chui@mail.mcgill.ca
VP Stand-Up For DiversityFatima MesrefMedicine Class of 2029fatima.mesref@mail.mcgill.ca