Pictured, left to right: Victory Angeli, Rebecca Quilty and Alex Torrealba.
From youth mental health and paediatric rheumatology to environmental research, the recipients of the 2025 C. David Naylor Fellowships are committed to making a real difference in their communities.
Victory Angeli (they/them) is a health systems research student dedicated to increasing accessibility to youth mental health resources. Rebecca Quilty (she/her) is a clinical epidemiology and health care research student focused on improving outcomes for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. And Alex Torrealba (he/they) is a master of environment and sustainability student studying the effects of climate change.
These fellowships foster research that will have a huge impact both on the work being done at U of T and in the greater community.
Angeli, Quilty and Torrealba have all been selected for the prestigious award that recognizes outstanding students with a connection to Atlantic Canada.
These fellowships foster research that will have a huge impact both on the work being done at U of T and in the greater community.
“The three fellows are doing important work at the U of T, and we know they will go on to make a huge impact in their fields of study. We are extremely grateful to the Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation for their continued support,” says David Palmer, vice-president, advancement at U of T.
The C. David Naylor Fellowships were created in 2013 by the late Arthur Irving and his wife Sandra (MA 1996) through the Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation to recognise bright young minds from the East Coast with strong academic and leadership skills.
Named after U of T’s 15th president C. David Naylor, the awards empower students and support groundbreaking research.
“These fellowships foster research that will have a huge impact both on the work being done at U of T and in the greater community,” says Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.
Valued at $30,000 each, the fellowships allow students to focus on their studies while easing the financial burden.
“As well as the financial support, Victory, Rebecca and Alex will also benefit from being part of a distinguished network of Naylor scholars. We have no doubt they will make us proud in their future careers, just as the previous fellows have,” says Joshua Barker, vice-provost, graduate research and education and dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
Angeli knows firsthand how important it is to have access to mental health resources.
As a first-generation immigrant from China, and a queer and transgender person, Victory faced various forms of abuse and discrimination while growing up. Not being able to find the support they needed, it led to them experiencing a long history of mental health struggles.
They are now focused on improving these resources, especially for people belonging to equity-seeking communities.
“I really wanted to be the change that I needed to see in the world and by speaking out I was hoping first to build up my own confidence but also most importantly, help other people in my situation have a better outcome and not need to wait as long to have effective mental health interventions as I did.”
After completing their BA at St. Francis Xavier University and MA in sociology at Dalhousie University, Angeli chose U of T’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) program because of its focus on community engagement, promoting social justice through rigorous research. Their PhD thesis centres on integrated youth services, which leverages scientific evidence to make mental health programs more equitable and accessible for young people of all backgrounds.
Outside of school, Angeli is collaborating with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto and Jack.org, a Canadian charity that provides youth with mental health education.
They are incredibly grateful to the donors for this opportunity that allows them to continue their important work while lessening the financial strain.
“This really makes it possible for me to direct my energies towards community engagement, giving back to the people around me and enjoying my time at U of T.”
Quilty, who hails from Marystown, Nfld., first became interested in paediatric rheumatology during her paediatric residency at Memorial University in St. John’s through her clinical interactions with children with arthritis and where she was involved in research on validating a rapid test to diagnose Lyme arthritis. It showed her how research can have a direct impact on patients and inspired her future path.
After graduating from medical school, Quilty came to U of T for a paediatric rheumatology fellowship, which she completed in June.
Now in the clinical epidemiology and health care research program, also part of IHPME, at U of T, her graduate work will provide her the skills and tools to combine post-academic research with clinical practice in her future career.
“There are so many questions that we see in day-to-day patient care that we don’t necessarily have the perfect answers to, and being able to study that to get closer to answers and improved patient care is the backbone of why I wanted to do this.”
As well as pursuing her master’s in clinical epidemiology, Quilty is also doing an extra clinical fellowship year in autoinflammatory diseases in the rheumatology division at SickKids. She hopes to learn more about systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and why this autoinflammatory disease has poorer outcomes and more complications
Quilty is very grateful to the donors for supporting the Naylor Fellowships, which provides her and other students from the East Coast an opportunity to study at the top university in Canada.
“I think having this opportunity for people from this part of Canada really just opens doors,” she says, adding that the financial support is beneficial as she’s going through the final stages of her studies.
“It further motivates and inspires me and validates my decision to do extra training.”
Torrealba graduated from Dalhousie University with a BSc Honours (Co-op) in Environment, Sustainability & Society and Psychology in 2024 and received both the Deborah Buszard Prize and ESS Thesis Prize that same year. He was working for a renewable energy company in Halifax when a program at U of T piqued his interest.
It was the Master of Environment and Sustainability (MES), an intensive 12-month research program that would allow them to build on the work they did on climate vulnerability (how climate change impacts people and the environment) during their undergrad.
But the native of Cole Harbour, N.S., says making the decision to leave his job and move to an expensive city like Toronto was a difficult one – until he got the news he had received a Naylor Fellowship.
“When I got this Naylor Fellowship, I knew I couldn’t pass this up. I wanted to do a master’s at some point in my life, and I was really passionate about this research, so it got me excited about a future potential career in academia,” says Torrealba.
Their current research is focused on how climate change will affect wind energy, a timely area of study. Torrealba says they are interested in environmental research because it is connected to so many aspects of society including racial, social and financial inequities.
“All of these things are heavily connected so that’s something that’s very interesting to me. And in a program like this, where it’s interdisciplinary, I get to work with a lot of different folks who are taking different approaches to address some of these challenges.”
Torrealba is extremely grateful to the donors for giving them this opportunity to take the leap and pursue their research aspirations.
“This has made my decision to come to U of T and return to grad school so much easier and more comfortable, knowing I will be able to live in Toronto without having to worry about all of the financial implications that come with that.”
Since 2013, the Naylor Fellowships have supported 27 outstanding scholars. Victory Angeli, Rebecca Quilty and Alex Torrealba join a distinguished group that also includes Katie O’Shea, Jared Crane, James Johnson, Nathan Doggett, Shuya Kate Huang, Neal Callaghan, Amanda Loder, Kenneth Holyoke, Vincent Auffrey, Cara Locke, Seshu Iyengar, Joel Goodwin, Kayla Preston, Nicholas Fernandez, Jad Sinno, Carly MacEacheron, Lauren Squires, Damilola Iduye, Nayani Jensen, Jill Downey, Kate Mitchell, Charlotte Clarke, Jake Dow and Lauren Williams.
Are you interested in pursuing a graduate program at U of T? Apply now for the prestigious C. David Naylor Fellowship through your prospective graduate unit. Applicants must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada with strong ties to Atlantic Canada.