“There is extraordinary ability in every corner of this city, and young people are already using it to build businesses, solve problems and serve their communities. Our job is to make sure Ottawa sees them, opens doors for them and gives that potential somewhere to go,” says Jesse Card, executive director of Youth Ottawa.
The 21 Under 21 Awards were formerly known as the Spirit of the Capital Awards. The awards gala, presented by RBC and hosted by Youth Ottawa, will take place November 10 at the Canadian Museum of History. But The Gee has a sneak peek here for you! It's easy to forget just how young these students were when they already had achieved so much.
Una Bilcar
Biomedical sciences student | Health-care advocate | Researcher | Community leader
In 2022, when she was in Grade 11, Una Bilcar, now a second-year biomedical sciences student, founded Comfort in Cards, a community initiative that gets children and youth to make cards with meaningful, handwritten messages for hospital patients experiencing loneliness and emotional distress. To date, children at more than 150 schools across the Ottawa region have created over 2,000 cards for patients in multiple languages.
Una also works at the Skills and Simulation Centre of the Ottawa Civic Hospital, has volunteered in the Civic’s emergency department and has done research at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). Named a 2025 Loran Scholar finalist, Una hopes to go into neurosurgery, become a professor and, ultimately, minister of health.
“Be scared, but do it scared anyway. You’re never going to get anywhere if you don’t do it scared,” says Una, a national karate champion with a second-degree blackbelt.
“Don’t be afraid to be the youngest in the room, because the youngest in the room can make a difference.”
Una Bilcar
— Second-year biomedical sciences student
Jack Mansour
Human kinetics student | Student-athlete | Researcher | Community leader
Jack Mansour, a fourth-year human kinetics student, grew up with a ball at his feet and loved playing soccer. When he was 18 and in first year at uOttawa, however, he faced significant physical and mental health challenges. He went through many tests, saw doctors and tried medication, but nothing seemed to help. Then, at what he describes as one of the lowest points of his life, he went for a short, two-kilometre run.
That was the moment that began to pull him out of a very hard place. He started running regularly. Slowly but surely, it gave him the mental resilience to work through his health complications. From that first two kilometres, he has gone on to complete five races, including full and half marathons.
Running also fuelled Jack’s drive to help others. He founded a community run club that has grown to more than 100 members and volunteers as a guide runner with Achilles International’s Ottawa chapter, supporting athletes with disabilities, including those with visual impairments. He’s also completing an internship at CHEO, where he leads physical activity sessions for patients in the mental health and eating disorder units.
At uOttawa, Jack, now 21, is a volunteer campus first responder, a Residence Life community adviser and a student mentor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, all while competing his honours thesis in exercise physiology.
“Everything is going to be okay. Know your strengths and go for it. There’s nothing to be scared of.”
Jack Mansour
— Fourth-year human kinetics student
Shreya Pal
Biomedical science student | Health-care advocate | Researcher | Youth leader
After moving from India to Canada in Grade 8, Shreya developed an appreciation for how culture and lived experiences shape access to health care. Now a third-year biomedical science student, she is passionate about making health care more accessible, equitable and responsive to diverse communities.
As an access line responder with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, Shreya supports individuals navigating reproductive and sexual health decisions, emphasizing autonomy and informed choice. Her commitment to community care extends to clinical research at CHEO, emergency medical response and volunteering at domestic violence shelters across Ottawa.
Outside of health care, Shreya is a longtime Bharatanatyam dancer and painter. She hopes to pursue a career in women's health policy and reproductive medicine.
“People always say to think outside the box. But I’ve rewired my thinking to believe there is no box in the first place.”
“You have the freedom to shape yourself into whatever you envision.”
Shreya Pal
— Third-year biomedical science student
Laila Burns
Engineering student | Entrepreneur | Accessibility innovator | Community leader
Laila Burns was a first-year computer engineering student and 19 years old when she co-founded Sielo Robotics, a startup which develops AI-powered wheelchair-mounted robotic arms for people with severe mobility limitations.
The project began as part of uOttawa’s Faculty of Engineering GNG 2102 engineering design course, with support from the University’s entrepreneurial and experiential learning ecosystem.
The Faculty of Engineering’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Engineering Design provided access to tools, mentorship and spaces. Makerspace, the Brunsfield Centre and the John McEntyre Team Space, provided labs equipped with 3D printers, computerized numerical control machining, electronics benches and professional-grade tools.
Programs like Startup Garage and MakerLaunch provided the business foundation Sielo needed for growth.
Sielo has grown into a 10-person team supported by more than $600,000 in research and grant funding and $1.25 million in investment, partnering with hospitals across Canada and publishing a series of articles by Laila in Forbes. Through engineering, entrepreneurship, and user-centred design, Laila is developing technology that advances independence and accessibility.
“My message for any young person building a company is survive. We had nothing when we started. Pushing is what got us here.”
Laila Burns
— Fourth-year computer engineering student
Charif Bahloul
Translational and molecular medicine student | Computational biology researcher | Innovator | Community mentor
Curiosity and initiative have shaped Charif Bahloul’s academic journey at uOttawa. Determined to pursue research, he began cold-emailing professors in first year, searching for an opportunity to get involved. Now a third-year translational and molecular medicine student, Charif is the lead author of a research paper on PIGE, a machine-learning model developed at the Faculty of Medicine’s Mer Lab. The model predicts whether and why a given tumour will respond to a drug, so that the right drug can be identified and used for each patient.
Charif, winner of the 2024 D. Aubrey Moodie Award for the highest academic average across all Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high schools, has also received a $100,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship and an NSERC grant for his research. Beyond the lab, he volunteers at CHEO and Ontario Health811, and mentors students to help them reach their full potential. In all these roles, he’s driven to make knowledge and health care more accessible.
“I don’t want to spend my life just going through the motions and passively watching the future unfold. I want to help shape it!”
Charif Bahloul
— Third-year translational and molecular medicine student
Marwan Bakr
Biopharmaceutical science graduate | Cardiac researcher | Health equity advocate | Future physician
Marwan Bakr, a medical student who graduated from uOttawa with a degree in biopharmaceutical science, spent three years researching cardiac genetics at the uOttawa Heart Institute. Realizing that the large-scale genetic data on the heart’s conduction system that he was working with required a computational expertise that most clinicians and researchers didn’t have, he created CCS Atlas, an open-source interactive platform that allows anyone to log on and look at complex cardiac genetic information with no prior experience.
In a second role, at the Heart Institute’s inherited arrythmia clinic, Marwan educates patients and their families and helps them navigate issues that arise with inherited cardiac arrythmias, including the guilt that a parent may carry for passing it on or questions as to why one sibling may have it while the other does not, the mysteries and uncertainties that surround the incomplete scientific knowledge of genetics and rare conditions.
Marwan’s work combines cardiovascular genetics, patient advocacy and health equity, including initiatives addressing language barriers in health care and transitions from pediatric to adult cardiac care.
“Once you start something, you naturally progress into making something that makes a difference.”
Marwan Bakr
— Medical student
Safia Albadry
Health sciences student | Women’s health advocate | Health-care volunteer | Community leader
Safia Albadry spent five weeks on a medical internship in Kenya, gaining clinical experience in several hospital departments, including overnight shifts in a newborn unit.
The experience led her to change her initial ambition of becoming a neurosurgeon. She now plans to pursue a career as an obstetrician-gynecologist and aspires to become a “compassionate” physician.
Safia is passionate about health care, women’s empowerment and wellness. She founded the uOttawa student club HerDefenseUO, which runs women’s self-defence workshops and seminars and hosts talks by law enforcement staff and assault survivors. Safia also started The Golden Synapse, a neuroscience and mental health advocacy platform that raises funds for health care-related causes, and she has volunteered extensively at CHEO.
“Not everything that glitters is gold. Just because you see things other people do that are big and flashy doesn’t mean they’re the best thing for you.”
Safia Albadry
— Health sciences
This content was created through uOttawa’s partnership with Youth Ottawa. Other partners supporting the organization include RBC, Carleton University, OakWood, United Way East Ontario, Fullscript, Sidi.io, Holiday Inn & Suites Kanata, Storm Internet, Enbridge and the Ottawa Business Journal.
Congratulations to all the recipients!