MEET OUR NEW SCHOLARS: Dalbir Singh and Victoire Kpadé

Introducing our CMF- Canada-U.K. Scholar : Dalbir Singh

Dalbir Singh hails from Ottawa, and will be undertaking a Masters Degree in Digital Ethics at Oxford University. Sharing his ambitions for his degree, Dalbir says, “ personal information plays an important role in modern day digital economies, and the best ways to achieve potentially huge benefits for society while balancing serious privacy concerns. Jurisdictions have taken different approaches in regulating privacy by balancing a variety of competing policy objectives, including economic development, innovation, and issues concerning public safety. Given the global nature of the internet, personal information routinely flows across borders which presents unique policy challenges, and underscores the importance of international cooperation. New technologies such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse also threaten to challenge traditional notions of privacy, and existing regulatory approaches. As a field of study, regulation requires a multidisciplinary approach as legal, political, and economic issues are interrelated, and each has important implications for understanding the creation, impact, and effect of regulation. It also contrasts the experience of regulatory practice with theoretical ideas about how regulation works. Over the years, whistleblowers, the media, and researchers have identified various harms that the misuse of personal information can have, including on individual self-determination, dignity, and societal freedom. My proposed dissertation topic seeks to examine the role of personal information in influencing thought and behaviour, and evaluate international approaches to determine whether changes to Canadian privacy law are warranted to protect against such influence.”

Introducing CMF Canada- UK Scholar Victoire Kpadé

Hailing from Montreal and in her mid 20’s, Victoire is a recent graduate of McGill University four-year undergraduate medical program, leading to the conferral of an MDCM (Medicinæ Doctorem et Chirurgiæ Magistrum) degree. She is now a CMF scholar doing her Masters in London at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Victoire’s ambition is a career in clinical medicine, working at the intersection of public health and research in a way that empowers marginalized communities. While working as a research assistant at McGill University, she co-authored the systematic reviews that informed the Canadian Homeless guidelines and the World Health Organization’s guidelines on home-based health records.

She says, “Growing up, I was often confused about my role in the community. I was born in Togo and immigrated to Canada as a refugee. I often wondered whether I was Canadian enough for my peers or African enough for my family. Over the years, I have come to realize that these identities are not mutually exclusive. This duality of cultures allows me to identify gaps in healthcare and propose solutions to improve patient outcomes while amplifying marginalized voices. Knowing the impact of my previous leadership contributions, I am confident that my bifocal lens as Canadian and African greatly influences my ability to challenge the status quo, invoke innovation and influence other leaders to do the same. As I strive to become a change- maker in healthcare and society, your investment in me by the means of this award will fund my studies in the UK and help me realize my desire to make people of all backgrounds feel heard, seen and hopeful.”