Manish Mishra and Shuchita Tiwari pose with Carrisa Piercey from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society

BioMed students win national bursary

Manish Mishra and Shuchita Tiwari were recently awarded the Have a Heart Bursary from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Academy

By Marg Sheridan

Highlighting some of the great student research being done at the CoM, two BioMedical students were recently awarded the Have a Heart Bursary from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Academy.

Manish Mishra and Shuchita Tiwari, both PhD students working with Dr. Joseph Fomusi Ndisang, an associate professor in Cardiovascular Physiology, were invited to the conference in Toronto in recognition of their ongoing research relating to diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular complications.

 “My stream is in cardiometabolics,” explained Mishra. “I’m working on Type-1 diabetes induced pancreatic and cardiovascular injuries. I’m using animal models of Type-1 diabetes and looking at what the diabetes causes in terms of pancreatic and cardiac function, and health.

“We’re using a drug called Hemin, because this drug has been shown in a number of papers to improve diabetic-induced complications.”

Tiwari is also looking at the effects of diabetes on cardiac tissue health and functions - but her focus is instead on Type 2 Diabetes. She is also using Hemin, and has found that it has had a beneficial effect.

“My stream is cardiometabolic complications,” explained Ms Tiwari. “I am working on obese animal model of Type-2 diabetes where increased conditions of inflammation and oxidative stress not only induces cardiovascular injuries, but also suppresses the cardiac functions.

“We are also evaluating direct and indirect mechanisms through which it has beneficial effects,” Tiwari continued.

“The conference was very focused on the basic and clinical aspects,” Tiwari said when asked whether they’d enjoyed the conference. “But we had the chance to network with so many great clinicians, and most of the things we are working on are related.”

The bursary, which was awarded to 15 students from across the country, included a trip to the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, which this year was hosted in Toronto in October – though this wasn’t the first time that Tiwari has been recognized by the CCSA. She was also awarded the Have a Heart Bursary last year, but was unable to attend at the last minute.

Tiwari and Mishra are also both recent recipients of the CoM’s James Regan Cardiology Scholarship.