Announcing the Ottawa Region’s Cardiovascular Research Trainee of the Year 2021

May 4, 2021
Adil Rasheed, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. Ottawa Region’s 2021 Cardiovascular Research Trainee of the Year.
Adil Rasheed, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow. Ottawa Region’s 2021 Cardiovascular Research Trainee of the Year.

Congratulations to Adil Rasheed, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, selected as the Ottawa Region’s Cardiovascular Research Trainee of the Year! Dr. Rasheed is recognized for his exceptional productivity in research and outstanding leadership in the community. His postdoctoral research (under the tutelage of Katey Rayner, PhD) is centred on a novel role of a protein known as MLKL (Mixed Lineage Kinase Domain-like protein) in regulating atherogenesis, the formation of fatty plaques in the arteries.

Dr. Rasheed has made outstanding contributions to cardiovascular research at this early career stage. Since joining the Rayner lab, Adil has contributed to establishing a new research direction – in investigating, and uncovering, a novel role of MLKL as a critical immune regulator with implications for atherogenesis. His scientific acumen in guiding this work resulted in a prestigious CIHR Project Grant on which Dr. Rasheed is a Co-Investigator. With this project, Dr. Rasheed was awarded a Fellowship supported by the University of Ottawa Cardiac Endowment Fund at the Heart Institute.

Dr. Rasheed published, in this past year alone, two first-authored original research papers, one of which was in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, a prestigious journal of the American Heart Association and the other was a feature article with an accompanying press release by Stem Cells Translational Medicine. He recently authored a ‘state-of-the-art’ paper invited by Endocrine Reviews.

Dr. Rasheed is recognized for his outstanding leadership in the research and trainee communities. He was recently accepted as a member of the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Early Career Editorial Board. Closer to home, Adil holds the position of Co-President of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine’s Postdoctoral Association. In this role, Adil shines in his capacity for high-level leadership, working closely with executive members of the Faculty to develop programs enhancing postdoctoral training. He is a founding member of Trainees in Metabolism (@MetabTrainees), an online community that hosts seminars and workshops focusing on trainee development ranging from scientific communication to mental wellness. Additionally, Dr. Rasheed is a Part-Time Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa, teaching ‘Seminar in Genomics’ to undergraduate students. Most recently, Dr. Rasheed received the Faculty of Medicine’s Leadership Award and Michael McBurney’s Postdoctoral Fellow Award in recognition of his contributions.

These are remarkable achievements – research excellence, dedication to the community and outstanding leadership. Dr. Rasheed exemplifies the next generation of research leaders.