Nadia Chaudhri was a neuroscientist who died of ovarian cancer in 2021, and she spent her final months raising awareness of this cancer.
What follows is an email interview with her friend, Kristen Dunfield.
Golda Arthur
How did you and Nadia meet, and become friends?
Kristen Dunfield
Nadia and I met when I interviewed for my job at Concordia. She said she loved the fact that at my interview I looked like any other wanna-be professor in my polished business look but then showed up on my first day of work with a full sleeve of tattoos proudly on display. I get the impression she always thought we got away with something a little naughty.
One thing most people don't know about becoming a professor, is that you'll often spend most of your 20's and 30's packing up your life and moving away from the people you know and love. After undergrad, you'll (hopefully) get into graduate school, after graduate school you'll move to complete a post doc, after your post doc, you'll move again if you are lucky enough to get a job. You'll often apply to a number of locations and sometimes you'll have a choice about where to go next, sometimes you take the one opportunity that was offered. Nadia lived an extreme version of this - moving internationally three times - but we've all done some version of this. As a result, I think some academics get really good at treasuring the people who are close when they are close.
My father had cancer the year before Nadia got sick. My step-mother and I spent a month in the hospital trading off shifts to ensure my father wasn't alone. Nadia was diagnosed during the peak of the Covid pandemic. I was haunted by the thought of her having to go through all the physical and emotional challenges of cancer treatment while the borders and hospitals were closed to visitors. As a result, I started meeting Nadia and walking her to her appointments and it was through these regular walks and discussions about the most mundane and normal things as well as our fears and hopes, that our friendship found new depths.
Golda Arthur
Those of us who didn’t know Nadia, got to know more about her through her tweets, or read about her in the media. As her friend, you knew her in a different, more personal way. What was she like? What mattered to her?
Kristen Dunfield
Nadia was brilliant, fierce, stubborn, and warm. She was a vocal advocate for what she thought was right and did not abide bias or inequity. Nadia was a valued mentor who had a lasting impact on the students who found their way into her classroom or lab. Nadia amplified the voices of individuals - from students to small businesses - who are often dismissed or downplayed. If Nadia thought the right thing was obvious, she had little patience for entertaining alternatives. I find I frequently replay some of our blunter conversations because I find her strength of conviction makes me brave.
Golda Arthur
What do you think most people don’t know or understand about ovarian cancer?
Kristen Dunfield
That one of the hardest parts about getting diagnosed is getting a doctor to believe that there is a problem. That countless women die unnecessarily because women's suffering is routinely downplayed or ignored. That there is rarely an option to treat early because the symptoms of ovarian cancer are incredibly non-specific until it is too late.
Golda Arthur
She did so much in terms of raising awareness about ovarian cancer, but I’m sure her legacy transcends this. Can you say a little about this?
Kristen Dunfield
To me, and most of the people who knew her, Nadia will always be an outstanding scientist, professor, and scholar. She has left an indelible mark on The Department of Psychology, Concordia University, and the field of addiction science. As a scientist, her work on what makes nicotine so addictive (it is reinforcing while also making other things like drugs and alcohol even more reinforcing) continues to impact the field of addiction science. As a mentor, she instilled confidence and fostered skills in her undergraduate and graduate students, that have propelled them to continue her legacy of applying scientific curiosity to real world problems. As a colleague she has amplified and accelerated efforts to ensure that we not only identify but also support members of our community who have historically been excluded from participation in higher education. Her bravery and stubbornness - not just in the face of cancer, but in the face of life's many injustices - are a constant reminder that the Lorax was right; "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."
Golda Arthur
What led to the creation of the Wingspan Award?
Kristen Dunfield
Nadia was not ready to close her lab and one of the hardest parts of doing so was the knowledge of all the students she would not meet, let alone mentor. She wanted to be sure that the funds she had remaining in her research grant were used to support the students she would have if she had had more time. Although turning those grants into student scholarships directly was not possible, she did something so much bigger. Every year, in September her colleagues, friends, and mentees, walk together to remember Nadia's legacy. Since the start of the award, our group has grown to include the students who never had the opportunity to know Nadia but were nonetheless amplified by her fierce advocacy.