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
Vice-PresidentVerina Takla, class of 2028verina.takla@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
Co-Swab Talk LeadSarah Mashal, class of 2026sarah.mashal@mail.mcgill.ca
Arts RepSydney Chung-Wing, Psychology Class of 2027sydneychungw@gmail.com
Fundraising LeadSarah Bensemana, class of 2026sarah.bensemana@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 RepIoanna Argitis, Dentistry Class of 2028alexa.argitis@mail.mcgill.ca
Med-P RepNicolas Demers, class of 2029nicolas.p.demers@mail.mcgill.ca
Neuroscience RepAidan Cheema, Neuroscience Class of 2027aidan.cheema@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
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 MemberCylia Bourenane, class of 2029cylia.bourenane@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberCarolyn Steinberg, class of 2028carolyn.steinberg@mail.mcgill.ca
Swab Booth Team MemberLayla Gobeil, class of 2029layla.gobeil@mail.mcgill.ca
Biology RepChiara Ferri, Biology and Mathematics Class of 2026chiara.ferri@mail.mcgill.ca
Nursing RepMelanie Xie, Nursing Class of 2027melanie.xie@mail.mcgill.ca
Med-P RepAdam Krisko, class of 2030adam.krisko@mail.mcgill.ca
Engineering RepAndrew Habelrih, Engineering Class of 2027andrew.habelrih@mail.mcgill.ca
PT/OT RepChelsea Chung-Wing, Physical Therapy Class of 2027chelsea.chung-wing@mail.mcgill.ca

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