Simran Dhillon Email & Phone Number

Through this position, I am supporting over a thousand amazing youth entrepreneurs across the country pursuing their passions and revolutionizing their industries.This is a new portfolio within the League of Innovators team and I am excited to strategize and create ways to accelerate community engagement nationally. I look forward to building our partnerships, working with founders to develop their unique and game-changing companies, and contributing to the largest network of amazing youth entrepreneurs.

▪The mission of FentaGone is to reduce the amount of fentanyl-related overdoses occurring on the street level. The basis of our product is a fentanyl-detecting technology embedded in a syringe to test for the presence of fentanyl contamination within substances in order to prevent accidental overdoses. ▪We are currently working with two University of Alberta research labs to conduct clinical research on our prototype. We are working in collaboration with two laboratories to run research trials on the FentaGone innovation hoping to operate as a viable solution to better address street-level drug testing to prevent opioid overdoses.▪Received: World's Challenge Challenge, Global Education program at the University of Alberta ($10,000); Telus Innovation Challenge ($100,000)▪Programs: League of Innovators Batch 6; Upgrader University of Calgary

▪We are conducting a systematic review to examine the prevalence of neurological manifestations in HHT patients with PAVMs▪In progress for publication: Neurologic Complications in Patients with Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations and Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia: A Systematic Review▪Supervisor Dr. Dilini Vethanayagami

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪ Representative member of the University of Alberta’s General Faculties Council (GFC) and the GFC Committee on Student Affairs, where I work with students, professors and the dean of students to create greater support for individuals attending our university. This includes the protection and recourse for students in experiential learning and expanding alternatives for examinations.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪ Member of the University of Alberta Policy Committee which works to create policies to ensure quality education and support for students (includes the student poverty and student with dependents policies). I am currently working on the Policing policy, health and wellness policy, and the Student Financial Aid policy.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪ Grateful for the experiences I’ve had as a councillor at the University of Alberta Students Union to contribute and advocate for the needs of students. Through this opportunity, I have fought for an increase of experiential learning grants and have also negotiated a $1.2 million insurance plan to cover approximately 31,000 students.

▪Representative member of the University of Alberta’s General Faculties Council (GFC) and the GFC Committee on Student Affairs, where I work with students, professors and the dean of students to create greater support for individuals attending our university. This includes the protection and recourse for students in experiential learning and expanding alternatives for examinations.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪Interim chair of the University of Alberta Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation committee, through this initiative I had been arduously working to assist in the SU's implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Through this position, I have spearheaded the creation of the ASC vs ARRC Navigation handbook and refined their outreach approach to better address supports for Indigenous students on campus.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪Member of the Alberta Public Interest Research Group’s Board of Directors where I work towards supporting student/community-based research and social activism and mentor student groups to transform social concern into action.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪I am collaborating with the StopOverdose app and Engaged Communities Canada, which is a national nonprofit organization, to establish naloxone training and distribution events offered in Punjabi for the greater Edmonton community. We will be working with these organizations to create awareness and resources in Punjabi so it is available to those who may not communicate in English. We will also be working with various community organizations to target substance abuse within the Edmonton Punjabi community.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪Founding member of the TugBoat initiative, an innovation that works to connect those in need with potentially life-saving resources in times of panic. The basis of our product lies in the creation of an online resource where individuals are able to write their questions; from key words identified, individuals will gain immediate access to resources/information that can create opportunities to gain grants and much more. My team and I were finalists for the United Way Elevated Futures competition.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪Founder and President of a community-wide organization called Sangat Yeg that works towards minimizing the stigma behind the Sikh identity within greater society by creating educational resources, presentations, and organizing awareness events including the Sikh Heritage exhibit. In order to promote inclusivity, it is important to advocate for those whose voices are not always heard and to expand awareness and education to reduce stigmas and ignorance.

▪Founder and president of a national youth-lead initiative, F.L.Y Youth Engagement Initiative, that works towards giving children across Canada educational support and mentorship. Our main focus is to keep these children on track with the standard academic requirements for each age group; the hope is that these bright minds of tomorrow fulfill equitable educational opportunities. Not only do we teach children the importance of education but we teach them the importance of themselves and aid in creating a positive outlook on their futures. During the COVID-19 pandemic our students needed us more than ever and my team and I established a local free online tutoring/mentorship platform for students to access. We also raised over a thousand dollars to fund an underfunded school within our community to ensure that all students were able to have personal protective equipment including reusable masks, sanitizers, and other sanitation supplies.

▪ Understanding Albertans’ Access to Rehabilitative Care during COVID19 ▪Rehabilitation Robotics Lab▪The overarching goal in my research is to better understand Albertans’Access to Rehabilitative Care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tele-Rehab2.0 project has been working since the start of 2019 to bridge this gap in care that rural Albertans see, and we have expanded our project to provide support to seniors in cohort living situations until a vaccine becomes available. The final aim of this project’s efforts is to provide high-quality, specialist rehabilitation assessments via technology, that would otherwise be a great burden or health risk for the patient to access.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪I have sat on the Health and Dental Plan committee where I have advocated for the needs of more mental health supports and negotiated a $1.2 million insurance plan to cover approximately 31,000 students.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

▪Targeting the calnexin protein in brain endothelial cells for the treatment of multiple sclerosis▪Within my research at the lab I have been focusing on molecular analysis of wild-type, calnexin deficient and FABP5-deficient bEND.3 cells. I am utilizing two key techniques of proteomics and RNAseq analysis. Focus of my investigation is on molecular pathways affecting T-cell transmigration across brain endothelial bEND.3 cells.▪Our long-term goal is to understand ER stress and ER signaling events and to use this information to devise pharmacological and genetic therapies for the treatment of human disease. This research holds the potential to show key impacts in providing treatments for certain Cancers, Multiple Sclerosis, and congenital heart disease. I was a speaker at the Undergraduate Neuroscience Conference 2019, the Alberta MS Students Network Event, and displayed my research at the 2019 MS connect conference▪Supervisor: Michalak Lab

Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta

Certificate In Innovation And Entrepeneurship

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Education record