It is with incredible sadness that we inform you that Mohammad Asadi Lari, STEM Fellowship’s co-founder and former Managing Director, and his sister Zeynab, who created our HR team, passed away on the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 late Tuesday night. (1/14) 
Mohammad’s role in helping create & grow our organization cannot be understated. He worked tirelessly to develop the organization’s mission & vision, served as the first Chair of the SF Journal’s Student Editorial Board, expanded the scope of our Big Data challenge,...(2/14)
& spearheaded our policy outreach work. Not only was he a visionary, but he was also a compassionate leader who went above and beyond - fostering a strong community, developing others’ potential, & inspiring them to unite around a common cause w/ his humanitarian ethos. (3/14)
In addition to his role with SF, Mohammad co-founded the Canadian Association of Physician Innovators & Entrepreneurs, was the pre-health sciences course director for NextGenU, & a published researcher in the fields of nanoscience, neuroscience, and cancer immunology. (4/14)
He led youth engagement initiatives in the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Canadian Red Cross, & the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, among many other contributions. Mohammad was an MD/PhD candidate at UofT; he received an Honours degree in CAPS from UBC. (5/14)
Mohammad was a compassionate, driven, intelligent, & inspirational young man whose potential knew no bounds. He was a tireless advocate for human rights, global health, equitable STEM education, meaningful youth engagement, and social innovation. (6/14)
Mohammad was a motivational leader who personified charisma, humanitarianism, and respect. As a friend, he was thoughtful, caring, and truly empathetic. His unique ability to connect people together empowered them to improve themselves and our world. (7/14)
Zeynab was a creative, hard-working, committed young leader who made invaluable contributions to STEM Fellowship. She created our HR Department and developed many policies and procedures that have formed a foundation for our organizational strategy to this day. (8/14)
Driven to create opportunities for her campus community to develop STEM skills, she also founded a STEM Fellowship branch at UofT, Mississauga. In her leadership of the branch, she displayed passion, creativity, and enthusiasm, which were warmly welcomed by her community. (9/14)
She was a patient and encouraging mentor, always willing to lend a hand and support those around her. Much-loved by her branch members and friends, her interest in people was sincere. Zeynab was completing an Honours Bachelor of Science at the University of Toronto. (10/14)
She demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering equity in medicine & global health, increasing community involvement and tackling stigma surrounding mental health. She served as Mental Health Network Coordinator for the Youth Mental Health Association,... (11/14)
a Youth Member at Young Canadians Roundtable on Health, an Executive Board Member at the Iran University of Medical Sciences Medical Student Association for Cancer Research, and previously interned with the World Health Organization. (12/14)
It was an honour for us all to work with Mohammad & Zeynab over the past few years. During their lives, they touched many people with their tireless altruism and advocacy, and with their deep care for the people around them. (13/14)
Their passing is an unimaginable loss for their family, friends and communities they were a part of. May Mohammad and Zeynab rest in peace, and may this tragedy remind us to value each moment of our lives & to continue to work to further their legacies of positive change. (14/14)
