Dr. Damian Manzone, Dr. Élyse Comeau, Jordan Fairlie, Davood Dadkhah, Lianna Montanari and Tasnia Nabil pose with their awards.
The trainees earned awards for knowledge mobilization, contributions to KITE, and best posters and presentations at the SOAR conference.
Seven trainees from UHN’s KITE Research Institute took home awards at the recent SOAR conference, celebrating their achievements in research, knowledge mobilization, and leadership.
The SOAR (Showcasing Outstanding Achievement in Research) event celebrated the impact of trainees at UHN’s KITE Research Institute, and included a mentorship breakfast, three- and seven-minute talks and poster presentations. It was capped off with awards for the best presentations and posters at SOAR, and for general work at KITE in ensuring research translates to real-world impact and contributing to the growth of the KITE community.
Tasnia Nabil, Jordan Fairlie and Davood Dadkhah win SOAR awards
Jordan Fairlie, an undergraduate student, won the best poster award for his poster on the Effects of Aging on Spatial Navigation and Gait During Motor-Cognitive Dual-Tasking in the MIVE lab.
Tasnia Nabil, a PhD student, won the award for the best three-minute talk for her presentation on learned representations of peripheral nerve signals via dimensionality reduction in the Adaptive Neurorehabilitation Systems Lab.
PhD student Davood Dadkhah won an award for his seven-minute talk on investigating fall risks on ice and improving winter footwear rating methods under the Engineering Health Team.
Melissa Biscardi and Dr. Élyse Comeau win KITE Trainee Research Impact and Knowledge Mobilization Awards
Melissa Biscardi, a graduate student at KITE, received one of these awards for her work on concussion rehabilitation, with a focus on vestibular and oculomotor dysfunction. Her work has included helping develop and evaluate a virtual reality–based oculomotor rehabilitation intervention through her 2022–2025 Mitacs Fellowship in collaboration with NeuroFlex.
She has presented more than 15 posters on her work, given talks to clinician groups, and been interviewed on over 20 podcasts on concussion and neuroscience. She also led the development of an evidence-based mobile application, Brain Tool Kit, for oculomotor and vestibular rehabilitation that was part of KITE Creates.
The other went to Dr. Comeau, a post-doctoral researcher at KITE, who won for her work on accessibility in school transportation and taxi services.
Dr. Comeau ensures that her work, which includes six peer-reviewed journal articles, translates into real-world applications in a variety of ways. One is by including key stakeholders, like people with disabilities, school boards, educators, paratransit providers, and non-profit organizations, in her research.
She also helped organize the Accessible Air Travel Forum and increased its impact by creating short, two- to three-minute videos highlighting key messages. Plus, she’s supporting the development of a standard for Accessibility Standards Canada focused on improving accessibility in healthcare services for people with disabilities.
Lianna Montanari and Dr. Damian Manzone win KITE Trainee Leadership & Community Impact Awards
Montanari is a PhD student at KITE who was nominated for her dedication to trainee engagement and professional development. She is vice-president of Communications for KITE’s Trainee Executive Committee (KITEC), which includes organizing trainee events, facilitating peer-to-peer mentorship, showcasing trainee achievements on social media, and collaborating with KITE’s Communications team.
She played a key role in creating the inaugural SOAR (Showcasing Outstanding Achievements in Research) conference, helping shape the vision for this important trainee-focused event and handling the hands-on planning and execution. Plus, she’s the KITE Ambassador for the UHN STEM Pathways program, and she has authored three peer-reviewed journal articles and delivered 21 conference presentations.
Dr. Manzone hosts the Jousse Lecture series at KITE, which highlights spinal cord injury research; has co-led Ontario Graduate Scholarship application writing workshops; and is a peer-to-peer mentor at KITE.
He has presented his own work in augmented reality for hand therapy at many venues, including the National SCI Conference and ICAIR (winning awards at both), RehabWeek, and KITE Creates events. He also maintains strong links across University Centre and Lyndhurst, actively collaborates with the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology, and has been featured as a speaker at the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute.