Nadia Chaudhri passes away: Canada-based neuroscientist Dr Nadia Chaudhri passed away after battling ovarian cancer on October 5. Chaudhri had chronicled her struggle to beat the disease on social media. Last year, one of her posts detailing how she broke the news of her impending death due to stage three ovarian cancer to her son went viral on social media.
Chaudhri, who migrated at the age of 17 from Pakistan, was a professor at Concordia University. Speaking about the news of her passing, Concordia President Graham Carr said, "Nadia was a force of nature. She was an incredibly talented researcher with a passion for teaching and student success matched only by her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion."
Who was Nadia Chaudhri?
Chaudhri completed her Bachelor of Science degree from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania on full scholarship. She went on to become the first woman to receive the college’s Williamson Medal, which is awarded for outstanding academic and extracurricular achievement to a member of the senior class.
In 2005, she completed her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, following which she became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of San Francisco. Chaudhri joined Concordia University as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, in 2010.
Chaudhri gained close to 148,000 followers on Twitter after she opened up about her cancer battle, raising awareness among women to pay more attention to their bodies. In May this year, Dr Nadia Chaudhri shared a picture with a son revealing that she was about to tell him that she was dying. "Let all my tears flow now so that I can be brave this afternoon. Let me howl with grief now so that I can comfort him," she wrote.
Despite her sickness, Chaudhri continued to champion the cause of raising funds to support underrepresented scholars. She managed to raise $615,000 from a record 8,600 donors, launching Nadia Chaudhri Wingspan Award at Concordia University- an annual scholarship that will support neuroscientists from underrepresented backgrounds and will enable diverse scholars to achieve their full potential, while also helping to shape future neuroscience research.
Chaudhri is survived by her husband Moni Orife and their six-year-old son.
Image Credit: CBS News
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