Amrit Thandi

Biography

"We rise by lifting others"

As a Health & Society student and second-generation immigrant, Amrit is passionate about achieving health equity for marginalized populations through her commitment to community. She founded OneHeart, a non-profit organization, upon recognizing the disproportionate rate of cardiovascular disease among Punjabi immigrants. OneHeart addresses financial and language barriers to healthy living in a culturally-sensitive manner through workshops, care packages, community partnerships, and a podcast.

Further, Amrit gives back to her community by advancing health knowledge as a student researcher. She is investigating the Health Information Seeking Behaviour of Punjabi immigrants, the optimal design of a healthy food prescription program that addresses financial barriers to healthy eating, and the relationship between the built environment and community health.

Amrit believes that meaningful mentorship can have immense positive impact. Thus, she mentors young immigrant girls about healthy living and education at Big Brothers Big Sisters, and advocates for them as a member of the National Youth Mentoring Advisory Council. She also empowers vulnerable groups as a distress line responder and by providing social support for ICU patients at her local hospital.

Within the campus community, Amrit is passionate about fostering commitment to global and local health among students. She founded and is President of the Friends of Doctors Without Borders chapter which fundraises for the international humanitarian efforts of Doctors Without Borders. She is also President of the Health Sciences Students' Association and formerly the President and now the Advisor for the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research student chapter.

Awards

• Academic Awards & Achievements
• Eric Lahoda Memorial Scholarship
• Sprout Fellowship for Leadership
• TakingIT Global Award for Community Service
• Invited Judge, Global Community Challenge YYC
• Global Community Challenge YYC First Place award
• O'Brien Centre Award
• Leader in Health Sciences Scholarship
• President's Admission Scholarship
• IB Diploma Entrance Scholarship
• Chancellor's Scholarship (declined)