Faculty of Health Sciences

Dr. Julia Hanes is a founding member of the Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities' Trainee Group, advocating for medical trainees and physicians with disabilities. Through this group, she has contributed to various initiatives including the development of documents outlining how to obtain accommodations for medical students, and the broad adoption of the accessibility policy by medical student societies from across Canada. Dr. Hanes is also a decorated athlete. She was awarded two gold medals at the 2017 Canada Games for Seated Shot Put and Discus. At that competition, she also became the Canadian National Record Holder for Discus Throw, Javelin Throw, and Shot Put. She has also won three silver medals at the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association World Games in the events of Shot Put, Discus, and Javelin.

Faculty of Engineering

Salma Hindy is a first generation Egyptian-Canadian Comedian and a graduate from McMaster’s electrical and biomedical engineering program. She experienced a fast rise to popularity as a comedian after beginning standup comedy during the pursuit of her Master’s in engineering. Salma has opened for Maz Jobrani, Ken Jeong, Beth Stelling, James Adomian, performed at JFL NorthWest, the SF Sketchfest, the Women in Comedy Festival in Boston, the Chicago Women Funny Fest and the Arab-American New York Comedy Festival. Salma has been featured on the CBC, Globe and Mail, CityNews, Refinery29 and more. She has a taping for CBC Gem's "New Wave of StandUp". Salma also gave a Tedx talk about her emotional journey in comedy titled "Why People Pleasing is Hurting You."

Faculty of Social Sciences

Arati Sharma (she/her) is the co-founder of Ghlee, a ghee-based skincare company based in Toronto, Canada. She recently left Shopify where she was the Director of Product Marketing, having established the craft and discipline from the ground up. Arati spent almost a decade at the tech giant where she was responsible for go to market strategy and campaigns for Shopify's products to a global audience of thriving entrepreneurs. Arati is an active angel investor, having backed over 30 companies with two thirds led by diverse founders. Her focus is on supporting Canadian women and BIPOC founders, often leaning towards underestimated founders without access to family and friends’ capital. She also advises and consults brands and leaders on brand, go-to-market, and team building.

Faculty of Humanities

Since graduating from McMaster in 2016 with a Master’s in Philosophy, Marla Sharp earned a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Epidemiology from NYU, and has used her unique multidisciplinary background to apply a holistic lens to contemporary bioethical issues, healthcare policy, and clinical research management. She is currently the Director of Clinical Research at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, where she supports cutting-edge human subjects research aimed at informing best practices through continuous improvement of clinical quality, safety, and patient satisfaction. A long-time advocate of the interconnectedness of physical and mental health, Marla was the inaugural Vice President of 'Mission for Mental Health (MMH)', a student-led organization at NYU that has facilitated wide-reaching and engaging presentations, seminars, and trainings regarding mental health policy, education, and stigma reduction since its inception in 2018. She also supported the development and expansion of 'The Blu Matter Project', a not-for-profit organization which connects young adults coping with mental health concerns to partnering yoga studios in major Canadian cities, offering research-based membership programs designed to promote physical and psychological wellbeing, free of charge.