Search Website
QUICK LINKS:
Researcher receives Minister’s Award of Excellence for equity work in sport
By Ali Shahan Butt
Ontario’s Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn visited Western on June 25 to honour higher education leaders across the province.
The ceremony recognized recipients of the Minister’s Awards of Excellence, including postdoctoral scholar Olivia Ghosh-Swaby, PhD, who recently completed her doctorate in neuroscience at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
“The Awards of Excellence allow us to recognize the remarkable work taking place on campuses across all of Ontario. It’s work that’s shaping the future of our workforce, our communities and our economy,” Quinn said. “These awards honour individuals who go above and beyond for our students, driving positive change in the classroom, on campus and in communities.”
There were 170 nominations and six winners of the Minister’s Awards of Excellence this year, including professors, researchers and post-secondary leaders.
An everyday hero
Ghosh-Swaby, BMSc’18, PhD’25, was honoured in the “Everyday Heroes” category, which acknowledges a faculty or staff member who has gone above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of students, colleagues or the community.
Now a postdoctoral researcher in Western’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Ghosh-Swaby said she was shocked but pleased to receive the Minister’s Award of Excellence.
“It’s refreshing. It’s nice to be re-motivated to do the work I’m doing every day,” she said.
As a member of the Exercise, Mobility and Brain Health Lab in the School of Kinesiology, led by professor Lindsay Nagamatsu, PhD, Ghosh-Swaby studies the role of exercise and drug therapies in improving brain health.
“Working in exercise and seeing the benefits on my own mental health on a daily basis, it’s really important to me to be able to apply it in an academic sense as well, with individuals who are more at risk for dementia or cognitive decline," she said.
A pillar in the student athletics community, Ghosh-Swaby is a former quarterback and captain of Western’s flag football club. She founded the Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association in 2017, creating space for women to compete in flag football, and now works with Football Canada as the manager of flag football development for Ontario, overseeing all levels and encouraging young women to get involved in the sport.
“It was really cool seeing that pipeline, as the young girls that I’ve helped support through their own football journey come to Western,” she said.
Ghosh-Swaby has also been at the forefront of championing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives within football and academia. She sits on Football Canada’s diversity and inclusion committee, aiming to promote the sport amongst women and athletes from diverse backgrounds.
At Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, she created a comprehensive EDI survey and equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization training module for incoming graduate students. During her PhD studies, she was also a graduate representative for BrainsCAN’s EDI committee.
Ghosh-Swaby’s academic achievements and advocacy have earned her widespread recognition. In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her research on the impact of exercise and anti-diabetic drugs on neural stem cells, memory and mood in the context of obesity. Two years later, she was honoured with a Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada Award
Quinn said selecting Ghosh-Swaby and the other award recipients “was not an easy task.”
“That speaks volumes about the talent and dedication that exists across Ontario’s world-class post-secondary institutions,” he said. “From educators who support students with personal challenges, to leaders preparing the next generation of teachers changing the world, your work continues to inspire us all.”