Heyu Ni, MD, PhD

Heyu NiGraduate Teaching Award – Graduate Student Mentorship

Affiliation(s):
Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology; Medicine; and Physiology
St. Michael’s Hospital, Division of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine
Canadian Blood Services

Context(s) for Award:
Outstanding supervision of 30+ graduate students most of whom received awards/scholarships; 30+ high quality papers and 80+ abstracts co-published with students.

Dr. Ni received his M.D. (eqv.) and M.Sc from Anhui Medical University (China), his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Manitoba, and his postdoctoral training at Harvard University. He established his research group at Canadian Blood Services and St. Michael’s Hospital in 2001. His current research interests include cardiovascular diseases and immune diseases. Dr. Ni’s research team studies the mechanisms of thrombosis using a state-of-the-art confocal intravital microscopy suite, proteomics, and gene targeted mice. By directly monitoring molecular/cellular events in vivo, they hope to uncover a novel mechanism of platelet aggregation to enrich our knowledge of heart attack and stroke. His team also works on identifying and defining mechanisms of platelet destruction that occur in auto- and alloimmune disorders.  He has many high impact publications and has received numerous awards in both research and teaching. Dr. Ni is a reviewer for over 20 scientific journals, sits on various committees and granting agencies, and lectures locally, nationally, and internationally.

Reflection
“I am really encouraged by my students. They’re young, energetic, and creative and I feel fortunate to have them working here. I understand the challenges that graduate students face. I want them to realize that there’s competition in the job market and teach them how to make themselves stronger competitors. It’s also important to be a substantial contributor to society and the community.”