Aleksandra Marakhovskaia and our PharmTox community

The Department would like to congratulate Aleksandra “Sasha” Marakhovskaia for her outstanding contributions to leadership and service to the UofT community!

Sasha was recently awarded a prestigious and competitive award from The Graduate Community Development Fund (GCDF). The GCDF was created in partnership with the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies (SGS) in March 2017 to provide merit-based equity awards recognizing exceptional students on campus for their contributions to the graduate student experience. Sasha has shown exceptional commitment to her peers and we are pleased to see her recognized with this award.

The Committee was extremely impressed with Sasha's application and contribution to the betterment of our graduate community.

In 2019, Sasha in collaboration with the Pharmacology Graduate Students Association (PGSA), applied for and secured funding for Mental Health workshops through the SGS event fund to facilitate a conversation around mental health in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Her efforts brought much needed attention to the problems facing many. “My academic path has never been a straight line, which taught me how important it is to have good means of navigation without a clear path ahead. Due to the learning difficulties I experienced, I always wanted to help others to overcome similar challenges."

Along with other fundraising and social initiatives, Sasha also co-initiated with another graduate student – Martino Gabra – the creation and piloting of Principles for Transparency Agreement. This document has helped to facilitate open and fair conversation between graduate students and their supervisors, with a clear aim to increase communication and overall satisfaction in our programs for both students and supervisors.

Giving back to her community is part of Sasha’s philosophy. “I was fortunate to work with incredible colleagues in the community, who have supported me in leading philanthropy initiatives, contributing to community building initiatives within the Department. After each milestone I had achieved I was able to support others with the knowledge I gained. This is the way that I found to support myself by giving back to the community.”