Meet Student Leader Lisa Truong

Nipissing University is pleased to have recognized Lisa Truong with the Dave Marshall Leadership Award, one of it's most prestigious accolades. 

Annually, 25 full-time students are recognized with a Dave Marshall Leadership Award. These students have made an outstanding extracurricular contribution to their academic program, to the campus, or to the greater community. They have demonstrated leadership, initiative, commitment, and an ability to motivate and influence others toward the betterment of Nipissing University.

This award is a prestigious, non-monetary award in recognition of the dedication and leadership Dr. Dave Marshall demonstrated during his 18 years of consecutive service as the Dean of Education and President and Vice Chancellor of Nipissing University. Dr. Marshall’s tenure at Nipissing University is a reflection of his commitment to higher education, vision for the future, and leadership in external community service. These were all characteristics reflective of Dr. Marshall’s position at Nipissing University and are qualities embodied in the students chosen for this award.

Lisa Truong

Lisa is working towards a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the Scholar Practitioner Program.

Lisa has demonstrated her community leadership by advocating for, and educating others about, the need for bone marrow transplant donors in Canada.

During her practicum, Lisa became aware of the silent crisis occurring in the bone marrow transplant community. Through research, Lisa discovered that only 2% of Canadians were registered to be a donor and that there is a particular need for more ethnically diverse stem cell donors. Certain bone marrow transplant recipients have an even lower chance of finding a donor due to the lack of donor diversity. As a result, Lisa became passionate about advocating for greater awareness and education surrounding stem cell donation and donor registration in Canada.

Lisa took the initiative to conduct research, and apply knowledge from her degree program to create educational resources on the topic. She then requested to have these resources displayed at Princess Margaret Hospital to raise awareness. Lisa also reached out to Canadian Blood Services and One Match to inquire about the possibility of facilitating donor drives to increase donor registration and education. Currently, there are no such programs in Canada. Lisa hopes to be able to work towards making donor drives as easily accessible as those in the United States.

Upon graduation, Lisa hopes to begin her nursing career at Sick Kids within the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in Toronto. She plans to specialize in pediatric oncology and the care of bone marrow transplant patients.

The university community congratulates Lisa on her Dave Marshall Leadership Award in the Community Category!