At Applied Health Sciences, we’re proud to be part of your story
I’d like to share a story with you.
It’s about one of our alumni, Christina Hassan (BSc ’14, Health Studies; MPH ’16), who spent a co-op work term at a maternity clinic in Uganda, where she learned real-life applications of what she’d studied at Waterloo.
While there, she became painfully aware that too many mothers and babies were dying from lack of simple medical supplies we take for granted every day in Canada.
Determined to change this, Christina returned to Canada where she and her husband, Hyder (BA ’12, Liberal Studies), founded a not-for-profit organization called FullSoul. FullSoul equips Ugandan hospitals with badly needed medical supplies to help protect the health of medical practitioners, mothers and their babies.
This term, Christina and Hyder are hiring an Applied Health Sciences (AHS) co-op student to work in Uganda.
Alumni like you are making a difference, all over the world
Hearing these and other stories of how AHS alumni are making the world a better place is one of the great pleasures I have as Dean of this Faculty.
In another example, I visited Hong Kong last year as part of the UWaterloo delegation to that territory. A highlight of the trip was meeting Nana Lui (BA ’95, Recreation and Leisure Studies), who shared the story of how her AHS studies launched what is now a distinguished law career in Hong Kong. See Nana's alumni profile in this issue of News To You.
I was also pleased to meet Tai Toh (BSc ’01, Kinesiology) soon after I became Dean. Tai offered me generous and timely advice on how to build our alumni family into a strong, powerful network and has kept in touch over the last 18 months in various ways, including visits to campus. His current work is as Director of Product Design at tech start-up Nulogy, and it is inspiring to see his career follow such an interesting path.
Your stories are our inspiration
We’re continuing to celebrate AHS’s 50th anniversary in 2018, and hearing and sharing your stories is a big part of what makes this milestone so special.
Please know that we always want to hear from you. We want to know where your AHS studies have taken you, what you’ve learned since you left, and what you’re doing today.
But you don’t have to wait for a special event like a reception or an official delegation to your city. If you have a story to share, please reach out to us any time.
Until then, I hope you enjoy the stories we’ve gathered for you here in our special anniversary issue of News To You.
Keep in touch.
James W.E. Rush
Dean, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
To share your story or become more involved with AHS, contact Karry Kwan, Alumni Advancement Officer, karry.kwan@uwaterloo.ca | 519-888-4567, ext. 32610.
Photo: Dean JAMES RUSH, flanked by former deans BOB NORMAN (left) (1991–1997) and ROGER MANNELL (2005–2010), at the kickoff event for AHS’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Top photo courtesy of University of Waterloo Library. Special Collections & Archives. University of Waterloo Archives. 88-0006-263
