About Us
Meet our Team
Meet our Family
MUSHFIKA CHOWDHURY
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a research assistant as a part of the Mindfully Muslim evaluation study. My experience in community-based participatory action research at CAMH and UofT lends to my involvement in this project. My work with diverse children and youth living with mental health, intellectual and/or developmental disabilities has taught me to take holistic, intersectional approaches to understand barriers to services. I have a keen interest in decolonizing mental health care by reclaiming traditional knowledge and creating culturally tailored resources. My goal for this evaluation study is to ultimately determine the effectiveness, relevance, and feasibility of an Islamic-based Mindfulness Group Therapy program for underserved populations, like newcomer and immigrant Muslims. My hope is to use the results to garner support for more culturally specific interventions for different populations.
Taaha Muhammad
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Taaha is a senior medical student at the University of Toronto, and will begin as a resident doctor in Family Medicine through McMaster University in July. He has served as a peer support counsellor for Naseeha Mental Health through their helpline for 4 years, and now serves as their Research and Development Lead to help build organizational change to best serve the mental health needs of the Muslim community. He has a passion for mental health and social advocacy, and has given numerous presentations at various elementary schools, universities, and community organizations. Taaha also has a fondness for writing, which started when he authored his first self-published book in 2013, "Goalcatcher" as a fundraising project to give back to the community. As a doctor he hopes to provide primary care to his local community, with a focus on mental health, psychotherapy, and end-of-life care. Through Mindfully Muslim, he hopes to integrate his love for mental health and giving back to the community by building on the research, social advocacy, and mental health care provided by the program.
Khedidja Hmamad
CLINICAL COORDINATOR
My name is Khedidja Hmamad. I was raised and born in France and moved to Canada with my family in 2012. I started my Psychology studies in Paris University 8 and pursued a master at the University of Toronto Oise in Counselling and Psychology followed by a Doctorate that I hope to finish soon. Passionate about teaching, I am currently an adjunct professor at York University at Glendon College where I teach several courses in French.
Professionally, I am working at the Community Health Services of Hamilton Niagara as a psychotherapist, as well as the Saint-Cyr Clinic in Toronto as a psychometrist.
Nancy Hamdy
OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Nancy is a neuroscience and physiology researcher at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on the biological basis, as well as the sociocultural, economic and environmental determinants of mental health. She is also a freelance filmmaker and a published writer who maintains an effort to ground mental health research and dialogue in biological approaches through the intersections of science, art, and technology.
MAHDIBA CHOWDHURY
WEBSITE DESIGNER & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
I am a website designer and social media manager for Mindfully Muslim. I specialize in making custom websites and graphics, with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and healthcare industry. My interest in health promotion comes from my role as a Qualitative Research Analyst at UHN. I worked with an interdisciplinary team to investigate the psycho-social, cultural, and religious barriers to accessing living donor kidney transplant (LDKT) in the South Asian community, and create tailored, culturally competent education materials about kidney disease and LDKT. Through Mindfully Muslim, I hope to use social media to educate and reduce stigma on mental health of Muslim women, and especially the younger generation.