Healthcare Innovation with a Harvard Grad: Interview with Imtisaal Mian

Welcome to the Invite Health newsletter. This is a newsletter for those figuring out what to do with a life sciences / health sciences degree. We share stories of students pursuing careers in healthcare, and the experiential learning opportunities they've had. From dentistry to queer health research to product management, my goal with this newsletter is to introduce you to the various pathways that students can pursue in healthcare (and beyond)!

Whether you’re reading this on a commute, during your study break, or from the comfort of your own home, I hope you enjoy reading today’s newsletter.

- Sachi

This week, I invited one of my friends, Imtisaal, to share her story. Imtisaal is a recent Harvard graduate, with an impressive portfolio as a researcher, award-winning writer, founder, and more. Today’s highlights include:

• Advice for international students interested in studying at Ivy league schools in the US

• Her experience founding and directing NOVA Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to equitable access to healthcare and education

• Her clinical research experiences from top ranked medical institutions in US and Canada, from Massachusetts General Hospital to SickKids Hospital- and how she obtained these positions!

Healthcare Innovation with a Harvard Grad: Interview with Imtisaal Mian

First off, tell us about your journey so far. Where do you study, what inspired you to pursue this, and what’s next? What else do you like to do outside of studying?

Hi Invite Health readers! My name is Imtisaal Mian (she/her). This past spring, I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in English from Harvard University. While my areas of study surprise people sometimes because they see a stark distinction between the precision of engineering and the creativity of writing, I personally enjoy their intersection and am a huge proponent of interdisciplinary learning. I believe that it’s vital for STEM-focused students to be able to critically analyze what they read, and to possess strong writing skills. My high school career was littered with science fairs and wet lab experience, which anchored biology into my academic compass early on: I was confident that this would be my major in university. In fact, if you told me in high school that I’d end up majoring in engineering I wouldn’t have believed you. Candidly, I didn’t enjoy high school physics: I found it uninteresting and tedious. It was in university where I actually gained exposure to hands-on engineering and ultimately decided I wanted to study it. 

At Harvard, students officially declare their majors in the fall of their second year. This gives them a chance to take different kinds of classes in their first year and truly narrow down their interests. This approach is different from what happens in Canada, where students must apply to a specific program, and different programs have different acceptance rates. I appreciated Harvard’s format because it gave me a chance to immerse myself in research and extracurriculars on campus that pushed me to pursue my chosen major. During my first semester at Harvard, I continued my wet lab research aspirations as a research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital. While I had a passion for science research and enjoyed what I was doing, I felt like something was missing. 

It wasn’t until I started working with engineering and medtech nonprofits on campus that I actually felt like I was doing work that was meaningful to me. I was on the Engineering team of an engineering nonprofit, Harvard Global Alliance for Medical Innovation, and was able to work on various projects with real world impact. Harvard GAMI worked towards healthcare equity through engineering and medical innovation. Through this nonprofit, I was able to work on projects such as working on a digital screening platform to diagnose neurodegenerative disease, automated text messaging systems to improve postnatal maternal healthcare, and smartphone-based, noninvasive diagnosis tools to detect anemia. From here, I also developed an interest in women’s health and participated in the Innovation to Action global health conference where I helped research solutions to different neural tube defects for children living in impoverished regions. In these two experiences, I found confirmation that my career interests lied at the junction of healthcare and engineering, and specifically focused on systematically addressing obstacles that impede access to quality healthcare for vulnerable populations.

The challenges we face in healthcare today demand innovative solutions, and I believe that through interdisciplinary approaches, creative problem solving, it is possible to revolutionize healthcare and make it more equitable and accessible for all. Now that I have graduated, my goal is to work in the biotech and engineering spaces for a few years before possibly pursuing further education. I am interested in medical devices, diagnostic tools, and innovative surgical interventions and I am working to gain experience with different technological solutions and contribute to the development of projects that address critical healthcare challenges. 

As for personal hobbies, I enjoy fiction writing and often submit work to different literary magazines, small or large. I started learning how to play the piano a few years ago and also write short songs for fun; I’m not an expert in any of these areas. I read a lot: anything from nonfiction works on psychology to sociological text on political frameworks to poetry.  I also haven’t seen a lot of movies, so one of my recent goals during my free time is to broaden my cinematic horizon and watch more movies! I’m open to suggestions of any genre.

What advice and insight can you offer for readers who are considering applying to study in the US (especially as a Canadian high school student or an international student)? 

As an international applicant, you will have to seek out a lot of resources on your own. Make a list of target schools early and learn about them: what kinds of programs and research facilities they have, what the city they’re located in is like, who the professors are. Some schools, such as Brown University, have open curriculums and do not compute traditional GPAs. Some schools have a Pass/Fail curriculum for first-years. Some schools have combined BA/BS/MD programs which allow you to fast track into medical school. You don’t have to have everything figured out, but you should have a good idea of what you would be comfortable with. If you can’t visit the campuses before applying, you can search Reddit and other forum sites to find resources. You can also try to connect with current students online to ask them about their experiences. 

One thing I was misinformed about as an international applicant was cost: most people believe these schools are out of reach for them due to their high tuition, but top schools in the US often have very strong need-based financial aid programs, so don’t be afraid to apply. You can even go to their websites and try out their tuition calculator to get an estimate of what you may qualify for. This isn’t everyone’s approach, and I laugh about how Type-A it is now, but I personally wrote out a long Google Doc detailing a plan with specific goals that would guide me to my dream school. 

Regarding finances, scholarships can be a bit tricky to navigate. As a Canadian citizen, you are not eligible for most US scholarships as they require American citizenship. In contrast, many large Canadian scholarships require that students use the scholarship to attend school in Canada, and cannot be used to study abroad. This can make the search for scholarships quite daunting. What I learned is that it is more helpful to apply to smaller scholarships from private organizations and companies. Many of these scholarships have fewer requirements, or are flexible with their requirements. I’d suggest starting with the companies your parents work for and then working up from there. If you were a part of any club chapters in high school that were extensions of larger organizations, such as FIRST Robotics, you can also look into their scholarship funds. 

In the US, I ended up getting accepted to Harvard, John Hopkins, Cornell, Duke, Brown, Vanderbilt, UC San Diego, and Notre Dame University. I wrote out an outline of what most of these schools were looking for in terms of test scores, course rigor, extracurriculars, and even personality. I think many prospective students understandably make the mistake of wanting to apply to as many schools as they can, or all the top schools. I want to remind them that beyond numbers, these schools are inclined to accept students who fit in with the culture of their current student body, and the school’s overall niche. For example, Stanford University is in the heart of Silicon Valley. They have a prominent start-up scene and value entrepreneurship and tech innovation. If you fit into this category, you may be better suited for Stanford as opposed to Yale or Columbia, and should not feel disappointed if you don’t get into the latter two schools. I don’t think everyone’s approach has to be as defined as mine was, and even if it is, remember that you will most likely change your mind a few times along the way. I do recommend having some level of structure for yourself during the semester though, so that you can track your progress and achievements as a student and so that you’re not overwhelmed when application season rolls around. 

If you’re still in the early stages of your high school career, my main advice is to focus on really figuring out your extracurricular niche. As an international applicant, you’ll have to stick out on the world stage, and one way to do this is through accolades and experiences received on large scales. For example, if you realize that you enjoy participating in science fairs, don’t just stop at regional competitions. Apply for provincial and national roles, and push yourself out of your comfort zone. 

Essay writing skills are often overlooked until application season rolls around. However, your common app essay is one of the most important parts of your application. It is always good to start going over successful essays alone or with a guidance counselor to determine what makes the writing strong. Practice presenting yourself in your essays: after all, schools use them to get a sense of what your personality is like and what your personal goals are outside the classroom. 

The best thing I can recommend to any student but especially an international applicant to seek out is mentorship. A mentor can be anyone: a teacher, a research or extracurricular advisor, a coach, an older friend. There are most likely youth mentorship programs available in your city that you can join as well, but you can also reach out to people yourself. My mentors made a huge difference in my journey to Harvard, which is a large part of why I’m so involved with youth mentorship myself now. You will also get a lot of advice indirectly through your volunteering and extracurriculars, which is why it's great to get involved early.

A lot of your work experience has been focused on clinical research. What drew you into clinical research, and can you explain some of the projects that you have worked on? How did you obtain these opportunities?

Clinical research at the undergraduate level typically involves working as a part of a research team under the guidance of more experienced researchers, such as professors or senior scientists. Over the years, I’ve been responsible for a variety of tasks, such as data collection, literature review, data analysis, observational experiments, and aiding in the execution of clinical trials. Clinical research gave me the opportunity to delve into different areas of study and allowed me to explore and discover what I liked. For example, you might learn that you don’t enjoy wet lab research and are instead more interested in ethnographic scientific studies, or that you are more interested in neuroscience research than oncology. 

I first got involved in research at University of Toronto when I was in high school. This was a paid position in which I reviewed existing literature and collected data for a project about latent sleep analysis, which involves investigating sleep disorders that are not immediately apparent but can impact an individual’s sleep quality. I got involved by going onto the school website and searching for faculty who were conducting research in my areas of interest. I then read up on some of their past work to further my understanding of their work. I ended up finding a few labs I really wanted to join, so I cold emailed them and asked them if I could work with their team. It is normal for you to have to send many emails before you get a yes: professors are busy, and it is also possible that their current projects have no junior positions open. 

A good cold email should be a 60-second read and be very clear about exactly why you are reaching out. Using subtitles helps you to stand out and get your point across quickly as well. Below is a cold email template that I have used to get multiple jobs over the years: 

Feel free to personalize this if you’d like, but in my experience it's best to stick to a simple yet effective format that gets your point across quickly. 

My next research experience was at Massachusetts General Hospital during first year, which I mentioned earlier. At MassGen, I observed and analyzed molecular mechanisms of human disease using mouse models by preparing tissue samples for analysis and documenting experimental findings. My time here was cut short due to the pandemic, during which I lived in the GTA. Something important for international students to note is that on an F-1 visa you cannot work anywhere off campus for the first 9 months of your degree. You can hold only on-campus jobs for pay for up to 20 hours per week. After this time period, you are able to get approval to work off campus. Because of this rule, this was a volunteer role for me. 

I had one of my favourite research experiences during the height of the pandemic, when I had a paid research position in person in the Cardiac Diagnostic and Intervention Unit at The Hospital for Sick Children. I also received this job by cold emailing at a time when the hospital’s official undergraduate research program was not accepting any students. That’s why you should always take the chance and send the email! Because of the unique circumstances, my role was pretty unconventional: I was assisting in data collection and clinical trial documentation like before, but I also had the chance to work on an engineering project using a novel medical imaging software called EchoPixel. The doctor I worked under even allowed me to don medical attire and enter the operating room to watch and record procedures while standing right beside the doctors, which was quite a unique and fulfilling experience at the undergraduate level. I worked at Sick Kids off and on (as I had to go back to Boston in 2021) until summer of 2022. I enjoyed my time here so much that I ended up basing my senior honors thesis on this work. 

During senior year, I was a paid Clinic Assistant at a program called Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. I had the chance to engage with marginalized communities facing healthcare crises and contribute to different levels of need. Along with traditional clinical responsibilities, tasks at this clinic included providing emotional support to patients and deescalating possible conflicts in the clinic. This was a unique opportunity for me to see the tangible impacts of behind-the-scenes intervention methods and made me recognize the importance of adapting practices to the needs of each individual. 

Overall, I’ve had extremely fulfilling clinical research experiences during my time as an undergrad. Although you can always apply to existing programs, don’t be afraid to do your own research and reach out to places on your own.

Aside from your clinical research and STEM-based experiences, you are also a distinguished, award-winning writer! Tell us more about this, and what makes a good writer? 

I’ve been filling up journals and notebooks with personal writing since I was really young, probably elementary school. I feel like that’s how the story starts for a lot of people who like to write. It doesn’t matter when you start though! There are opportunities everywhere, especially online. I first started writing for youth and literary magazines by simply pitching to them with an email one day in grade 9. You can find lots of literary magazines in your area on Google. From there, I applied to essay and short story contests. This really allowed me to explore different writing styles outside a traditional academic environment. 

Some of the places where I have been published in print include My Voice Canada, Facing History, and Ampersand Review. In 2020, I also applied to the Jericho Fellowship from Oxford and received the Essay Prize. At Harvard, I wrote for Her Campus, an online magazine for women in college that has chapters at most schools. 

I have also published non-fiction work. In 2021, my research on neurodegenerative disease diagnoses was accepted to be presented at the Canadian Undergraduate Conference on Healthcare (CUCOH), a two-day healthcare conference hosted by Queen’s University. Through nonprofit work, I have also presented papers at the Harvard Medical School Biennial Cornea Conference  and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Conference.  Recently, I have been enjoying writing for leisure on Substack. 

In 2021, I interned for an education company called Peekapak. I was a paid journalism intern helping to write the social-emotional learning curriculum for K-8 students by interviewing real people and writing human-interest stories based on their lives, kind of like Brandon Stanton with Humans of New York.  I was interested in working in the education space in an official capacity after my time as a paid Education Coordinator at Breakthrough Boston in 2020, where I facilitated an after-school program to help students build strong support networks and created written pieces to act as a curriculum aid for students. 

I find a lot of writing opportunities by being subscribed to and following writing newsletters. One great resource is Freedom with Writing which provides individuals with paid writing opportunities in every genre and also teaches one how to build a successful pitch.

To me, becoming a good writer is a product of being a voracious reader and a critical thinker who has a creative side that they regularly exercise. What I mean by this is you have to consume a lot of good writing in order to produce it: read different genres and read as often as possible. Read analysis pieces of the writing you read to learn how to structure arguments. Read other people’s magazine pitches online and practice writing your own. Make a habit of asking questions when you hear things at school, online, and in books. And remember, feedback is invaluable; seek input from peers, mentors, or writing groups to continuously refine your craft.

You’re the co-founder of NOVA Foundation, a national non-profit that started in 2017 to create access to dynamic, accessible STEM education for youth. Tell our readers about NOVA Foundation, and how readers can get involved?

I was in grade 9 when I started watching streams of large international tech conferences on Youtube: names like the Dublin Tech Summit  come to mind. I thought about how beneficial it was for young people to attend lively networking events and to experience STEM education outside a traditional classroom setting. It wasn’t long after that (February 2017 to be exact) that I approached my friends Chealsie Bains and Sachi Chan and the three of us decided to found our high school STEM club. We started off with smaller events: activity days where we learned about different engineering principles, First Aid demonstrations, and lunchtime speakers. Still feeling inspired by the tech conferences we saw worldwide, we decided to host one of our own. 

Together, we organized our school’s first rising technologies conference: Breakthrough 2019. Attended by 500 students, we organized workshops, speakers, and booths from prominent tech companies. After we graduated from high school, we realized we wanted to continue working in the STEM education space and expand to students across Canada. At this point, NOVA was born. NOVA’s mission has evolved quite a bit over the years. We are now a registered nonprofit foundation working to reduce barriers to healthcare and education through engineering and research programs, mentorship, and advocacy. We realized that there are many existing extracurricular programs for high school students, but that their cohorts are mainly composed of students from well-funded school districts who receive an abundance of opportunities because of their socioeconomic status or parents’ educational background. We want to prioritize students from marginalized communities in our programs to give equitable access to all students, and to ensure that the work we are doing is representative of the communities we are hoping to help. 

We have a team that works on producing written articles, maintaining our social media, and fundraises for our annual Gala, and more. Applications are actually open right now! Our main program is our annual 5-month research fellowship, NOVA FIRE (Fellowship in Innovation, Research, and Education) where students are put into cohorts, given a real world problem to tackle using technology, and paired with diverse mentors to guide them through scientific research. 

Through the fellowship program, we have had the chance to do some really exciting work at NOVA. The projects we’ve seen come out of the program have been amazing. Some past cohort themes have been using music therapy to help diagnose dementia patients, tackling food insecurity and studying food engineering across Canada, developing systemic and scientific solutions to the Indigenous Canadian water crisis, developing technologies to improve accessibility to recreation and to reduce food waste, and more. 

NOVA has also hosted Business competitions, coding contests, art and writing contests, and more. To stay up to date with NOVA’s events, you can check out our social media.

Where can students go if they want to learn more about your experiences ? 

Add me on Linkedin and feel free to reach out there!

Is there anything else that you would like to add for Invite Health readers?

I just want to share some other opportunities I’ve had over the years in case anyone needs additional ideas or resources! 

In March 2020, during the early peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of my friends at Harvard and I decided to start an independent public health policy analysis group called HPAT, or Health Policy Analysis Team. We conducted a data-driven ethnographic study about essential workers narratives under Harvard faculty advisors. We also created a storytelling and writing program titled “Mens et Veritas” for university students. 

I am a 2x MAX Science & Engineering Scholarship winner. MAX is a network of Muslim professionals in Canada and is a great resource for any Muslim readers seeking mentorship, scholarship opportunities, or volunteer experience. 

This year I was awarded a Women who Inspire award by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women which is another great resource and has scholarship opportunities for young Muslim women. 

During the pandemic, I also interned at Easylabs as a paid Medical Writer where I collaborated with board-certified physicians to curate medical test interpretations.

In the Community 👩🏻‍💻

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Invite Health newsletters highlight students pursuing careers in healthcare, and the experiential learning opportunities they've had. Invite Health can also be the start of building a network, learning a new skill, or finding your next opportunity.

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