Parvin Bolourani, the Outreach, Alumni Engagement, Postdoctoral Fellows & Project Coordinator in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, was recently awarded a President’s Staff Award for Enhancing UBC Experience!

“Parvin brings passion and dedication to the many roles she serves in the department and UBC” shares Department Head, Dr. Michael Murphy. “Among the more visible is Parvin’s excellence in coordinating our seminar series, symposiums, and the many other events that bring us together.  More behind the scenes, Parvin brings the same attention to supporting our postdoctoral scholars and outreach to alumni.  Throughout her work, she demonstrates care for well-being and equity for all.”
 

[From UBC] 

Truly inspiring leaders have a truly inspiring ripple effect. Parvin Bolourani demonstrates solid and inspiring leadership in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology (MBIM) by solving complex problems, promoting wellbeing, and motivating and supporting her teams, colleagues and students.

Parvin facilitates growth and change for students and postdocs by building community and partnerships, and embodies this approach in her work as well. She designs, coordinates, pilots, evaluates and refines a range of engagement opportunities, events and initiatives that cross department and disciplinary boundaries. She also assesses needs and reaches out to students and postdocs beyond MBIM who would benefit from participating in these events.

Parvin goes above and beyond to recruit the best facilitators, panelists, and speakers, in order to ensure that students and postdocs have the breadth and depth of knowledge they need for their education and career. Some examples of events she organizes include the MBIM/Computer Science Career Night and Networking Event, the MBIM Undergraduate Research Symposium, and Life Sciences Research Night, as well as many other panels, seminars, talks, and workshops.

She is also heavily involved with Day of Immunology, an outreach event for high school students to come to UBC and learn all about immunology at the Life Sciences Institute. This not only has the opportunity to positively impact prospective UBC students, but it also gives grad student volunteers an opportunity to lead and inspire others.

We are very lucky to have such an inspiring leader on our team. Join us in congratulating Parvin!