The McMaster Health Forum is pleased to announce that Padmaja Sreeram and Malcolm Hartman have been selected as Forum Fellows for the 2016-17 academic year. The Forum Fellows program is part of our commitment to prepare action-oriented leaders in addressing pressing health challenges creatively. Each student will receive $4,000 and have the opportunity to support various Forum initiatives and interact with regional, provincial and international health system stakeholders.

Padmaja Sreeram and Malcolm Hartman have both been involved in a number of university-based research projects and community initiatives that have sparked their interests in health systems reform and strengthening.

Padmaja’s interest in global health stemmed from her realization that health disparities within health systems can be addressed by targeting factors that extend beyond a medical setting. Her passions lie in encouraging the consideration of socioeconomic factors and multidisciplinary areas of research in shaping health-system frameworks, particularly in regards to women’s health.

She gained a deep appreciation for health policy research and health-systems strengthening in the past year as a Research Assistant at the McMaster Health Forum`s Impact Lab.

This summer, Padmaja will explore her interests in chronic kidney disease as a research student in the Department of Renal Transplantation Research at St. Michael’s Hospital to better understand the complexities in preparing health systems for chronic-disease management.

Padmaja is entering her third year in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program, specializing in global health. She hopes to use the Fellowship to better understand the inner workings of health systems to shape upstream interventions to address today’s pressing global challenges.

Malcolm is a fourth year student in the Bachelor of Health Science program. His interest in health systems and policy stems from taking the courses HTHSCI 3E03 (Economics & Healthcare), HTHSCI 3GG3 (Health Systems & Health Policy) and attending multiple McMaster Health Forum events.

Over his time at McMaster University, Malcolm has assisted with research in various areas including bone biomechanics, chronic-pain management, care-delivery models and cardiology. He has enjoyed learning about these fields of healthcare research, and hopes to have a career that involves working as part of an interdisciplinary team.   

Malcolm is passionate about generating ideas that address the health-system challenges affecting older adults. He has been involved with several projects aimed at improving health outcomes in this population, and has spent the past summer working as a research assistant for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. As he enters his final year, Malcolm will be completing a thesis focused on the health-system changes needed to meet the current and future needs of the senior population in the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network.

Malcolm is thrilled to work with the Forum team and through this Fellowship he hopes to further his understanding of how research evidence is translated to policy decisions.

Padmaja and Malcolm will act as the co-chairs for the student subcommittee during the duration of their fellowships. Both students have diverse leadership experiences with student-based organizations and hope to engage McMaster students in the vast number of opportunities offered by the Forum, including student-led events, courses, and simulation activities.

The fellowships begin in September 2016 and will culminate in a summer internship on the front lines of health system decision-making, working at an organization such as a provincial or federal government, or the World Health Organization.