Celebrating Black identity, community and excellence at Temerty Medicine

This fall’s Temerty Medicine Community Connection (TMCC) event will centre the experiences of Black community members at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and partner hospitals.

“Be. Belong. Become.: A Celebration of Black Identity, Community and Excellence” will take place in person on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, on U of T’s St. George campus.

“This event provides Black learners, faculty and staff a space to engage in meaningful dialogue, share lived experiences and collectively envision pathways for growth, belonging, and leadership within Temerty Medicine and beyond,” says Corrine Bent-Womack, EDI advisor with the office of inclusion and diversity (OIH) and co-chair of the Black at Temerty working group.

Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with Black learners, faculty and staff from across Temerty Medicine.

“These connections help us share experiences, celebrate successes, and support one another through challenges,” says Rukevwe (Rukkie) Inikori, an MD Program student at U of T’s Mississauga Academy of Medicine and co-host for the evening.

The event will also be co-hosted by Mark Dennis, an outreach coordinator with the office of access and outreach at Temerty Medicine.

The evening will include networking opportunities, a panel discussion and roundtable conversations about mentorship.

The panel discussion will explore the Black journey in health sciences education across generations, roles and experience.

“A variety of perspectives will be represented,” says Nifemi Adeoye, an MD student and panel moderator. “It will be an excellent way to learn from the experiences of our colleagues and garner honest reflections on what it means to be Black at Temerty.” Adeoye is an outgoing co-president of the Black Medical Students’ Association and co-chair of the Black Learner Experience working group at Temerty Medicine.

Panelists will include learners and faculty with clinical and research  backgrounds in the medical and rehabilitation sciences.

Zainab Abdurrahman is the past president of the Ontario Medical Association and a practising allergist and clinical immunologist in the Greater Toronto Area. She serves as an assistant clinical professor at the School of Medicine at Toronto Metropolitan University, and an adjunct assistant clinical professor in pediatrics at McMaster University.

Renee Boney is a second-year speech-language pathology student at Temerty Medicine. She has clinical experience in acute care, acquired brain injury rehabilitation, geriatrics, and school-based settings, and is passionate about health equity, mentorship, and improving access to communication and dysphagia care.

Jamal Depradine is a staff geriatrician with University Health Network (UHN), physician lead for geriatric medicine and co-chair of the geriatric steering committee at UHN’s West Park Healthcare Centre. He is also the Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) lead for Black health at Temerty Medicine.

Matilda Essandoh Laar is an assistant professor (teaching stream) in the department of nutritional sciences at Temerty Medicine. She is a public health nutritionist with extensive research and practice experience in low‑resource settings across North America and sub-Saharan Africa.

Mireille Norris — an internist and geriatrician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, an associate professor of medicine and former faculty lead for Black and Indigenous medical learners at Temerty Medicine — will introduce the mentorship roundtable portion of the evening.

TMCC is a community support and engagement series developed by community and for community, which aims to create safer spaces for participants to connect with each other and build culturally relevant networks and supports within Temerty Medicine.

“Be. Belong. Become.” is the seventh event in the series.

“This event is not only the latest installment in our Temerty Medicine Community Connection series, but also a vital forum for accountability as we reflect on the progress made toward recommendations advanced by the Black at Temerty working group in 2022,” says Saba Khan, manager of OIH.

“Black faculty, learners and staff have emphasized the importance of an in-person gathering to celebrate achievements, discuss ongoing needs and future priorities, and establish meaningful connections with one another as we continue this important work,” Khan says.

The event will run Wednesday, September 16, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., in person at Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto.