June
Dr. Sanjay Patel, BMSc’08, Residency’16 - Dr. Sanjay Patel has been appointed General Surgeon at Bluewater Health. Dr. Patel completed his medical degree at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and general surgery training at Western University, where he also pursued a fellowship in multi-organ transplant and hepto-pancreato-biliary surgery. He most recently practiced at Health Sciences North in Sudbury, and was lecturer and coordinator wit the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
Dr. Oleksiy Zaika, MSc’15, PdD’03 - Vessl Prosthetics, Co-Founded by Dr. Oleksiy Zaika. is a recipient of of Ontario’s Life Sciences Innovation Fund (LSIF). They will receive funding of up to $500,000 through the fund, delivered by the Ontario Centre of Innovation.
Dr. Chris Ciriello, BMSc’02, DDS’08
Dr. Chris Ciriello, BMSc’02, DDS’08 - Founder of Perceptive, the first AI-driven dental technology and first in the world to complete full automated dental procedure on a human. Perceptive’s fully automated robotic dental system enhances speedy, efficiency and patient experience, while aiming to improve the accuracy of dental procedures. The proprietary system aims to complete tasks such as crown placements in just 15 minutes, a major reduction from the current method that requires two office visits of at least one hour each.
Olivia R. Ghosh-Swaby, BMSc’18, PhD’25 - honoured with the Minister’s Award of Excellence 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. As a member of the Exercise, Mobility and Brain Health Lab in the School of Kinesiology Ghosh-Swaby studied the role of exercise and drug therapies in improving brain health. 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. 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.
