This year’s Honour Society Recognition went virtual but nothing would stop Trafalgar from recognizing the academic accomplishments of its Upper School students. On September 24 we recognized students who were on the Honour Roll (85%+ average) for the 2019-2020 Academic Year. This included current students in Grades 10 to 12 who were last year’s Grade 9, 10 and 11 students. At the celebration we were pleased to welcome alumna, Dr. Roopan Gill, Class of 2003.
Dr. Roopan Gill is an obstetrician gynecologist with expertise in family planning. She is Clinical Assistant Professor at both University of Toronto and University of British Columbia. She received her MD from the University of Toronto, completed residency at the University of Ottawa, fellowship in Family Planning from the University of British Columbia and holds an MPH in Global Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Gill is Women’s Health Advisor for Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders and has worked as an emergency obstetrician gynecologist in Northern Nigeria and recently in Northern Yemen. In addition, Dr. Gill has worked in various global settings including Lesotho, India, Malawi and Uganda. She is a consultant with the World Health Organization Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health Research. More recently she is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of a social enterprise, Vitala Global Foundation that is focused on developing digital solutions to empower women living in challenging contexts to self-manage their sexual and reproductive health needs.
Dr. Gill is a recipient of various grants as primary investigator including Grand Challenges Canada OPTions Grant, Saving Lives at Birth and Society for Family Planning. She has published in peer-reviewed journals on topics to better understand the challenges and needs of women and girls accessing reproductive and sexual healthcare needs. Her most recent work includes building a digital tool using user-centered design to support Venezuelan women to self-manage their sexual and reproductive health needs.
Apart from her many accomplishments, Dr. Gill also shared that her path was not a straight line and that it was the people she surrounded herself with at Trafalgar and later mentors at University and post-graduate studies that encouraged her to follow her dreams. A special thank you to Dr. Gill for sharing her story and inspiring our current Trafalgar girls! #sisterhood