Jeeshan Chowdhury - Recipeint

In 1979, Tofael and Nadira Chowdhury moved from Bangladesh to Calgary so that Tofael could obtain his Master’s degree in Psychology, and also to offer their family better opportunities than were available in the native land. It worked. Their third son, Jeeshan, was born in 1983. Twenty-two years later, the double-major MD/PhD student became the University of Alberta’s 23rd Rhodes Scholar.

To call Jeeshan Chowdhury an over-achiever is rather like noting Wayne Gretzky had a decent hockey career. Like all ASTech’s Leader of Tomorrow Award Finalists, he excels at every facet of his life. His parents have preached to him and his brothers, Rezwan, Raiyan, and Sheehan, that along with the privilege of living in Canada comes responsibility; to be truly successful, one must give back through active citizenship and be involved in myriad activities.

A graduate of Edmonton’s McNally High School, Jeeshan was always interested in science, particularly biology, and participated in the WISEST program, where his passion for research was truly ignited. Once he started at the U of A, he quickly realised that as drawn as he was to lab coats and microscopes, he was just as fond of human interaction. And then came the moment that turned him on to medicine and the daunting challenge of the MD/PhD program. “I was at the wedding of the sister of a close friend,” he remembers. “They started their vows, and the phrase, ‘in sickness and in health’ kind of jumped out at me. I suddenly understood that health comes first and everything else follows. You don’t start with, “for richer or for poorer.’” He has never regretted his epiphany, enjoying every minute devoted either to research or to helping people.

It may seem redundant to note that a Rhodes Scholar has achieved a lot for someone so young. But consider that in addition to publishing a new article in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics about a micro-fluidic tool whose use in patient care Jeeshan has demonstrated, the 24-year-old has: run the Cape Town (South Africa) half marathon; attended the California-based NASA Academy; been invited to France to conduct research on human physiology and micro-gravity at the European Space Agency; and, raised $20,000 to support a small local hospital in Bangladesh. Is it any wonder he’s one of our Finalists?