Outstanding Scholars students, friends and family gathered to celebrate the 2025/2026 graduating cohort.
The third annual Outstanding Scholars Gala celebrated the program’s hallmarks: curiosity, courage and community.
Nicole Vanier won the Outstanding Scholar Leadership Award for her contributions to the Outstanding Scholars Committee, academic excellence and work as a research assistant in the Rondeau-Gagné Group lab.
— Published on May 13th, 2026
Outstanding Scholar Victorieuse Sambao, a Law and Politics major and recently elected the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance (UWSA) president. (Photo courtesy of Victorieuse Sambao/ University of Windsor)
By Lindsay Charlton
Victorieuse Sambao wants to see the world become a better place.
A natural people person, the Law and Politics major was recently elected and started her term as the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance (UWSA) President, and that connection with others drives much of what she does.
— Published on May 4th, 2026
Second-year student Will Conlon is continuing a family tradition in physics. (SARA ELLIOTT/University of Windsor)
By Sara Elliott
The passion for physics runs strong in one University of Windsor family.
Second-year student Will Conlon is continuing a family tradition in physics, following his maternal grandfather, John A. Giffen (BSc ’62, MBA ‘72), who graduated from physics in 1962.
— Published on May 6th, 2026
Jane Simanovski (left) and her team of colleagues and students stand with their research poster at the WE-SPARK conference in March, highlighting a cross-border study on caregivers supporting lung transplant patients. (SUBMITTED BY EDWARD CRUZ/University of Windsor)
By Sara Meikle
It takes more than medical expertise to support a patient after a lung transplant.
As April marks Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month, a new cross-border study examines an often-overlooked part of the transplant journey — the family members and friends who provide care after surgery.
— Published on Apr 21st, 2026
Avery Ng has been a violin teaching assistant for the past four years in Windsor's The String Project. (REBECCA NG/University of Windsor)
By Sara Elliott
Offering free violin lessons to children is a “bright spot” in Avery Ng’s life.
The fourth-year integrative biology student has been involved with Windsor’s The String Project since its inception four years ago. Volunteers teach violin to pupils in grades 3 to 8 at Frank W. Begley and Marlborough.
— Published on Apr 7th, 2026
As part of the University of Windsor’s Outstanding Scholars program, nursing student Anna Papanastassiou gains hands-on research experience in a neuroscience lab, contributing to Alzheimer’s-related genetic testing. (ROGERS KOBOJI/University of Windsor)
By Victor Romao
Anna Papanastassiou spends most days in her nursing classes learning how to care for people.
But in a quiet neuroscience lab at the University of Windsor, she is also learning how to study the brain through hands-on genetic testing.
The second-year nursing student is part of the university’s Outstanding Scholars program, a competitive initiative that pairs high-achieving undergraduates with faculty-led research projects.
— Published on Mar 13th, 2026
Simona Brezeanu won big at the 21st Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Healthcare. (JOEL GUERIN/University of Windsor)
By Sara Elliott
Third-year biomedical sciences student Simona Brezeanu’s undergraduate health-care research turned heads at a national student research conference this winter.
In January, Queen’s University in Kingston hosted the 21st Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Healthcare (CUCOH). The student-run conference brought together more than 150 students from more than 10 Canadian institutions to present their research.
— Published on Feb 18th, 2026
Undergraduate student Krista Abdel Sater gains hands-on research experience through Outstanding Scholars, shaping resources for future business students. (SUBMITTED BY KRISTA ABDEL SATER/University of Windsor)
By Victor Romao
When Krista Abdel Sater walked into her first-year classes at the University of Windsor, she never imagined her business degree would lead her into academic research — or to a high-impact co-op role at one of the world’s leading professional services firms.
— Published on Jan 22nd, 2026
Biochemistry undergraduate Nicole Vanier is in her third year of research placements in Dr. Simon Rondeau-Gagné's lab. (VICTORIA OLGA KIS/University of Windsor)
By Sara Elliott
The journey to becoming a leader and a researcher began when biochemistry major Nicole Vanier was in high school.
Having learned about the Outstanding Scholars program from her older sister, Jeannette Vanier (BSc ’23), she began to consider research, unsure of what to expect but open to the opportunities the program offered.
— Published on Jan 6th, 2026
Mina Pairawan at the rock-climbing gym. (Photo courtesy of Mina Pairawan)
By Sara Elliott
Mina Pairawan’s brain rarely takes a break, even when she is relaxing.
During her scarce downtime, the biomedical science major goes bouldering at a local rock-climbing gym with her friends.
— Published on Dec 10th, 2025
