Muhammad Anas Ansar
HBSc
As a McCall MacBain Regional Award (2024) recipient, Muhammad completed his honors Bachelors of Science (HBSc) with High Distinction at the University of Toronto where he double majored in neuroscience and psychology, with a minor in biology.
Passionate about bridging the gap between science and real-life health problems within the community, he is excited to be a part of the Translational Research Program (TRP) as a Master of Health Science (MHSc) student.
Muhammad is a Rising Youth Program (2021-2022) and Sprout Ideas Fellowship (2023-2024) alumnus, which are currently home to over 7000 and 120 Canadian community leaders respectively, and was also nominated to attend the United Nations COP28 Conference in Dubai from a pool of over 100 youth social innovators. He has been recognized at municipal, provincial, and national levels for his community leadership, recently received the Mississauga Civic Award of Engagement (2023), and was also featured in Canada's National Observer.
With a strong passion for education equity and mental health awareness, Muhammad is a committed volunteer and currently serves as Co-Executive Director at Starts With One (SWO) Canada, a federally incorporated not-for-profit focused on providing free virtual tutoring to low income, immigrant and refugee students. Muhammad also co-founded Human Nature Projects Canada, an environmental not-for-profit, that has involved 10,000+ youth in environmental education, protection, conservation, and restoration across the globe since 2020.
Outside of academics and extracurriculars, Muhammad loves to cook, read, and spend time with his family and friends. He is excited about his time in the TRP and is looking forward to meeting his peers.
Research interests
- Learning and memory
- Destigmatization of mental health
- Neurodegenerative diseases and dementia
- Environmental Sustainability in health
- Education equity for marginalized populations