Shyla Gupta, a second-year on-campus BHSc student, has been awarded one of the “Have a Heart” Bursaries from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS).
Each year, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Academy (CCSA) funds a number of promising Canadian medical students, graduates, post-graduate trainees, and basic scientists-in-training to attend the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress through the Have a Heart Bursary Program.
“I became interested in cardiovascular health when I realized the depth in which this organ system works in conjunction with almost every system in the body to keep a person healthily functioning,” says Gupta. “Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world, so learning about the intricacies and physiology of this system has always been really engaging to me.”
Have a Heart Bursary awardees are invited to learn more about their future through participation in the annual Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. The CCC is the largest gathering of cardiovascular health professionals in Canada, drawing physicians, researchers, trainees, medical students and other cardiovascular professionals from across Canada and around the globe.
One of the projects that Gupta is currently working on focuses on the impact of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) on the heart.
“These diseases impact over 1 billion people globally, and often occur in areas with limited access to medical resources,” explains Gupta. “Our goal is to spread awareness and research about the impacts of NTDs on the heart, to develop better strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation.”
Gupta’s recent work titled Malaria & the Heart was recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, on which she is the first author.
“The BHSc program has taught me vital skills that I have most definitely applied to research including an in-depth understanding of physiological mechanisms, microbiology, and biology statistics,” says Gupta. “I have been able to translate my knowledge from courses and disseminate this understanding through the papers I have taken apart in. This experience will help me by giving me exposure to some of the work that leading medical experts are conducting in the field, and broaden my horizons surrounding what research has to offer!”
Congratulations Shyla!