Two University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) doctoral students have won International Peace Scholarships.
The international Philanthropic Education Organization (PEO) has awarded Christiana Onabola and Hooi Xian Lee a combined total of $23,500.
International Peace Scholarships were first launched after the Second World War to support women from other countries; they were given to recipients who wanted to study in North America and then return home to work in their own country.
“The Prince George PEO chapter is part of this large international network with close to 6,000 chapters,” says Beth Quesnel, president of the Prince George PEO in a news release.
“We enjoy fun and fellowship while working toward our main goal — supporting women to pursue educational goals. We are thrilled that a significant amount of the PEO funds are flowing into our community.”
Onabola, a first-year PhD health sciences student from Nigeria, was awarded $12,500 while Lee, a second-year PhD health sciences student from Malaysia received $11,000.
Onabola has a background in health and is interested in the intersection of health and its broad determinants in the environment.
Her research is under the supervision of Dr. Margot Parkes — a UNBC Canada Research Chair in health, ecosystems and society and associate professor in the School of Health Sciences and Northern Medical Program.
“As a winner of the PEO Women International Peace Scholarship, I am gratified that the scholarship will provide a financial cushion to support me in seeing the PhD program to a brilliant completion and in following a path that altogether keeps me emotionally motivated, intellectually and personally challenged,” says Onabola in the release.
Lee’s PhD research is focused on searching for small molecule inhibitors of cancer cells, under the supervision of biochemistry and molecular biology professor Dr. Chow Lee.
“I am glad to be one of the recipients of the International Peace Scholarships as it provides me with financial support for my PhD study in Canada,” she says, adding it’s always been her dream to embark on a PhD program.
Onabala and Lee are among the 220 women from 70 countries who were awarded a total of $2,300,000 this year.
