When Roseli Melo came to Canada in 2008 from Brazil, her goal was to give her then-teenaged daughter an international education. A single mom from the age of 25, Roseli was no stranger to overcoming challenges when it came to providing for her daughter. “I was proving to myself and to her every single day: we can do it,” Roseli says. Now, Roseli works in the Centre for the Advancement of Simulation and Education (CASE) and The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. She likens her work in...

When he first landed in Toronto, ON after a flight from his home city of Belgrade, Serbia, Milos Popovic’s main concern was where he was going to sleep that night. “My situation was a little bit nuts,” recalls Milos, now a senior scientist and the associate director at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. “I received the call from my supervisor telling me that my student visa is in the embassy and I should go and take it and come to Toronto in the next 24 hours or 48 hours. “So I went, got...

It was a shared love for the 70s rock band, Dire Straits, that first formed a friendship between Dr. Nigil Haroon and UHN’s Dr. Robert Inman. At the time, Dr. Haroon was finishing up his rheumatology training in Lucknow, India. Dr. Inman was visiting the country for a rheumatology conference and when Dr. Haroon told him he had no strong plans for his next move, Dr. Inman asked him to consider coming to Canada. “Now, our labs are together,” says Dr. Haroon, who is currently a scientist at...

For Sia Maro, Canada is a land of freedom and opportunity. Now an administrative assistant in the Toronto Western Management Office, Sia originally came to Canada for university. She saw something unique in this country, and eventually made it her home. “You are the captain of your ship and you drive that ship to your own success,” Sia says. “You define what your own success is and Canada gives you that opportunity to do that. I like that.” You are listening to UHN Home, where we're...

Xavier Revelo arrived to Canada in the midst of the Canada Day parade in 2012. What stuck out to him about his new home was its diversity. “I remember driving into downtown Toronto, and there was a huge parade,” he says. “And I remember all these people out on the street. And what struck me was all kinds of people, the different types of people - ethnicities and backgrounds – and being born in South America, and then spending about 10 years in the States, I was not used to that.”   You...

Joanna Vautour considers her home to be Serpent River First Nation, located midway between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. There, amongst the sounds of the highway, the sights of the cedars, raspberries and orange lillies, and the Thunderbird painting on her grandparents’ home, Joanna feels most at peace. Now the Aboriginal Patient Navigator serving the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and other Toronto-region hospitals, Joanna grew up in Toronto, ON. Her mother, who hailed from Serpent...

Veronica Marcos has worked at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre for nearly as long as she has been in Canada: more than 40 years. After immigrating to Canada from a small town in mainland Portugal in 1968, Veronica’s dream was to work in healthcare. A few years later, she landed a position in Nutrition Services at the Princess Margaret on Sherbourne St., and has worked at the hospital ever since. You are listening to UHN Home, where we're telling stories to celebrate Canada's 150th...

Dr. Diego Delgado has travelled all around the world, but Canada is the only place he wants to be. Now a cardiologist specializing in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Dr. Delgado immigrated to Canada from Argentina in 2000 to take a position at the world-renowned cardiac centre. You are listening to UHN Home, where we're telling stories to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. Every week, we'll tell you the stories of people who came from...

Mojgan Nemati, a web developer at the University Health Network, left her home in Tehran, Iran 13 years ago. She talks about the realities of being an immigrant in Canada, and how finding home in a new nation means remembering your past but focusing on the future. You are listening to UHN Home, where we're telling stories to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. Every week, we'll tell you the stories of people who came from all around the world and stories of people whose families have called...

You are listening to UHN Home, where we're telling stories to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. Every week, we'll tell you the stories of people who came from all around the world to work at the nation's largest research hospital: the University Health Network. Produced by: Ana Gajic and Andrew Berthiaume Cover art by: Jose Ongpin Editing, production and storyboarding support for the series: Jarrett Churchill, Brianne Tulk, Danielle Pereira, Jessie Park, Jolson Lim, and Erica...