Faculty of Health Sciences

Ofure Itua believes in the power of collaborating with passionate people to effect meaningful change. At McMaster, she demonstrated this through various roles such as a Clinical Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and Project lead for the ‘Trash to Treasure’ platform.

As Sustainability Officer for the McMaster Science Society, Ofure collaborated with the Academic Sustainability Programs Office to launch McMaster’s first SDG Pitch competition, serving as a judge to award students from a prize pool of $6,000. Recognizing the need for spaces for entrepreneurial-minded students, Itua partnered with the Student Success Center and The Forge to host “A Conversation with Student Entrepreneurs,” a monthly speaker series highlighting peers’ entrepreneurial journeys.

Driven to make active transportation more accessible, Ofure was 1 of 7 students who organized a campaign for a discounted student bike pass, reducing the cost from $192 to $22 + HST annually. This pass will be available in Fall 2024!

Armaan Makhani Kotadia is graduating from the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Program with a double Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability and Community Engagement.

As an undergraduate sustainability teaching assistant for 3 sustainability courses, Armaan has dedicated over 665 hours to the mentorship, inspiration and education of nearly 200 students. He continues this sustainability advocacy work as a leader in the Student Sustainability Ambassadors Program.

This year, Armaan also served as the elected Chair of the Bachelor of Health Sciences Society (BHSS). Throughout his 4 years on the BHSS student council, Armaan has contributed to launching serval initiatives including a notable collaboration with McMaster ReCoat. This initiative aims to repurpose unwanted lab coats by redistributing them to incoming students at no cost, thereby reducing waste and improving access to essential course materials. Additionally, Armaan established the inaugural BHSS Community Catalyst Fund and the BHSS Community Engagement Recognition Scholarship, further illustrating his commitment to advocating for the needs of all BHSc students.

Beyond the campus, Armaan’s leadership has extended into broader Hamilton community engagement, through his lead role in organizing the globally recognized TEDxMcMasterU conferences.

Looking ahead, Armaan plans to pursue a career in healthcare, where he intends to continue advocating for sustainable practices in the sector.

As a midwifery student, Kai Montgomery has been passionate about implementing positive change in obstetrical care to improve maternal and neonatal healthcare outcomes. Kai’s innovative approach to addressing healthcare needs within her community is highlighted by her collaboration with Sheena’s Place to establish a free virtual support group for pregnant clients struggling with eating disorders, inspired by her personal journey with anorexia nervosa.

Kai is dedicated to equal healthcare education access evident in her work with the Foundations in Maternal and Newborn Health, where she created educational content for Inuit midwifery students living in remote communities. She also collaborates on the Nunavik Memo-Perinatology project, a community-led initiative, developing accessible and evidence-based decision support tools for obstetrical care teams situated along the Ungava coast.

Kai is a firm believer that positive change within healthcare systems can start with the passion of just one individual.

Dr. Sean Park is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Education and Innovation, Department of Medicine. He is an instructor in the Integrated Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences program and is the Co-Director of the Health Improvement and Faculty Innovation Leadership Program with the Health Leadership Academy.

Since his start as an assistant professor in 2018, Dr. Park has created a host of new experiential, project-based courses in the field of design thinking. Dr. Park has poured a remarkable amount of creative effort into activities, games, tools, course mentors, assignments, and projects that wake-up students’ fullest range of human capabilities for reimagining and redesigning themselves and the world. He has crafted a community-centric pedagogy that helps students to build trusting, safe teams and to develop the respectful, creative confidence needed to work with community members in exploring wicked challenges.

One of Dr. Park’s former students described the impact of his teaching methods: “It is without a doubt that Dr. Park ignited my curiosity and passion for human-centric design. He taught the concepts of design thinking in a way that allowed us to pair the teachings with real-life scenarios… This partnership allowed us to become invested in the learnings and practice the tools and methods in ways that were meaningful to each individual student. Dr. Park approached teaching with a remarkable ability to connect with each of us, showing empathy and presence in every interaction.”

Dr. Bruce Wainman is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and an Associate Member and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology. He serves as the Director of the Education Program in Anatomy and the Director of the Surgical Skills Laboratory at McMaster University.

Dr. Wainman has displayed an exceptional ability to engage students, fostering a dynamic and inclusive learning environment. Through innovative teaching methods including incorporating AI and virtual reality learning into curriculum at all levels, he has imparted knowledge and inspired a genuine passion for learning anatomy among students. He has played a pivotal role in advancing education through innovations in evaluation and assessment using technology, and he has been invited to speak around various methodologies to revolutionize course evaluation.

Dr. Wainman’s dedication to advancing education through research endeavors has also provided valuable insights that directly inform and elevate our institution’s teaching practices. His research outputs in the realm of education have garnered recognition within the academic community and beyond. Through these scholarly contributions, he has demonstrated unwavering commitment to not only excelling in the classroom but also pushing the boundaries of educational knowledge.

Marnix Heersink graduated from Western University with his MD before pursuing training in ophthalmology at McGill University and Royal Victoria Hospital in Montréal and the Eye Institute in Philadelphia. He founded an initially modest ophthalmology practice in Dothan, Alabama before expanding to meet demand for cataract surgery in particular. He launched and grew Eye Center South into a multi-site clinical complex that provides exceptional care at locations in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Dr. Heersink is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the International College of Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

Building on his experience renting rooms to classmates as a medical student, Dr. Heersink also established a real estate enterprise that now owns dozens of apartment complexes, primarily through Abbey Residential LLC and Monarch Holdings BV.  

Dr. Heersink and his family have a long track record of volunteer service with organizations including Troy University, Wiregrass Museum of Art, STOP Foodborne Illness, the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, Boys and Girls Club of Alabama, the Wiregrass Humane Society and many more. He also founded the Eye Education Foundation, a non-profit educational institute for eyecare professionals. At the same time, Dr. Heersink is building a philanthropic legacy that includes creating scholarships and fellowships at Wills Eye Hospital and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At McMaster, he funded the Jan and Mien Heersink Reading Pavilion and later, The Clinic space, both in the Health Sciences Library. Then, in 2020, he and his wife Mary made a pair of landmark donations, one to what is now called the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and one to McMaster to invest in global health and in the creation of the Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  

An accomplished athlete and member of the Burlington Sports Hall of Fame, Dr. Heersink has received the Netherlands-America Foundation’s prestigious Ambassador K. Terry Dornbush Award.