ISI staff
Ali Candib
Ali supports the development and growth of large-scale, interdisciplinary, multi-unit research initiatives. Prior to joining the ISI portfolio, she was the Data Projects Officer in the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation where she worked across the University’s three campuses on new initiatives and projects on a variety of issues related to data- and […]
Magdalena Sabat
Magdalena Sabat supports the development and growth of large-scale, interdisciplinary, multi-unit research initiatives. She has 15 years of research experience in the post-secondary sector including in research management, strategic planning, partnerships building as well as program design and evaluation. Before joining the ISI team, Magdalena was a research lead of the Future Skills team at […]
Steven Hermans
Steven supports the development and growth of large multi-stakeholder research initiatives by supporting strategic proposal planning and development for external funding opportunities. Before joining the ISI portfolio, Steven was the Partnership Development Officer in the Research Services Office at the University of Toronto, where he supported the development of large-scale collaborative and partnership-based research programs. […]
Stephanie Lim
Stephanie supports the Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI) team by organizing high priority meetings, updating information on digital platforms, determining logistical details and activities for programs, and offering general clerical guidance to staff. She is a graduate of Simon Fraser University, where she completed her B.B.A. in Marketing and Human Resource Management. She also completed a […]
Nicole Kuchinsky
Nicole supports the development and growth of large-scale, interdisciplinary, multi-unit research initiatives. She has 12 years of experience driving major strategic and operational initiatives in both the commercial and academic sectors. Prior to joining the ISI portfolio, Nicole was Business Operations Lead at CCRM. In this role, she worked to secure strategic funding and develop […]
Derrik Leach
Derrik provides operational guidance and supports partnership building for strategic initiatives. Previously, as a Business Development and Partnerships Lead at the SOSCIP Consortium, he worked with companies and academic researchers to uncover opportunities, build partnerships, and identify relevant resources to drive innovation and commercialization of AI, data science and quantum computing technologies across various sectors. […]
Kohila Kurunathan
Kohila is a graduate of the Art and Art History joint programme at UTM and Sheridan College. Prior to joining ISI, Kohila worked with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), to design and develop material to support the implementation and promotion of provincial and national research, education and public health initiatives, such as GetAKit.ca, Black […]
Arij Al Chawaf
Arij provides leadership and guidance during the development and scaling of high priority strategic initiatives, develops partnerships with industry, public sector research institutes and innovation and commercialization government agencies, and establishes and directs the administrative and organizational structures required to support these initiatives. Before joining the ISI portfolio, she served as Director of Strategic Alliances and […]