When Vincent Wong (’21) first heard he had been selected as a 2025 Rhodes Scholar, he thought he was dreaming.
“I had to pinch myself to believe it was real. My heart was racing, and I screamed out loud, not knowing that I was on speakerphone with the entire selections committee. It was a surreal experience, reminiscent of the call I received for the Loran Award in 2021.”
One of 11 Canadians to be selected, Vincent is the 25th Loran Scholar to earn the prestigious award, which will allow him to pursue a fully funded postgraduate education at the University of Oxford.
Growing up in Vancouver, Vincent frequently enjoyed hiking and camping on the coastal mountains. Inspired by his passion for the outdoors, he joined Scouts Canada when he was five, and over the next 13 years, Scouts fostered his passion for community service and leadership. Scouting expeditions to remote regions of British Columbia also inspired his desire to serve rural communities in the future.
Currently living in Montreal and studying at McGill, Vincent is wrapping up his undergraduate degree in honours neuroscience. On campus, Vincent has devoted more than 400 hours as a volunteer first responder with the McGill Student Emergency Response Team, a student-run team of 80+ volunteers offering free and accessible first aid services to the McGill community. In addition to his responding duties, Vincent has played an integral role in leading mental health initiatives and providing one-on-one peer support to his fellow first responders. He has also served on the editorial board for the McGill Journal of Global Health as the Outreach Editor since 2023.
Loran’s summer work experiences were instrumental in sparking Vincent’s interest in research and global health. In 2022, he completed a community fellowship at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research (ICHR) in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. His project—a collaboration with McMaster University’s Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research—titled Strategic Research Agenda for Inuit Health, saw him collaborate with Inuit elders, youth, and community members to identify healthcare priorities in northern Canada.
“Working directly with several Indigenous communities throughout the territory, I deepened my understanding of where I fit in the health and wellness narrative for Indigenous peoples. As someone who aspires to work in rural medicine, this internship was an eye-opening experience.”
The next year, Vincent conducted research for a summer at the University of British Columbia in the Rosin lab as a 2023 NSERC USRA Award recipient. There, he investigated immune processes that govern proper development of the embryo, specifically craniofacial development.
“Loran has encouraged me to take meaningful risks throughout my undergraduate degree,” he says. “The Rhodes community will also push me to explore new challenges and engage with complex global issues.”
Besides taking the time to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship, Vincent’s recent focus has been on lab work for his honours research project. In September 2023, eager to find a laboratory in a field related to his previous research experiences, Vincent connected with Dr. Jo Anne Stratton, whose lab conducts neuroimmunology research on multiple sclerosis (MS) at the Montreal Neurological Institute.
“This research topic is relevant to my interests in neuroscience, but I also have a personal connection to MS. My close friend was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS two years ago. Her diagnosis attaches meaning to my work at the Stratton Lab, challenges me to ask hard questions, and pursue rigorous research for a cure to the disease.”
Looking ahead to the fall of 2025, Vincent plans to use the Rhodes Scholarship to combine his scientific research skills and his passion for public health by pursuing an M.Sc. in global health science and epidemiology and an M.Sc. in health service improvement and evaluation.
“The Rhodes community, much like Loran’s community, is an incredible opportunity to engage with talented individuals with diverse expertise but a common desire to create positive change. At Oxford, I will grow as a global citizen—one who tackles complex world issues with humility, collaboration, and a sense of collective responsibility.”
Following his studies at Oxford, Vincent intends to return to Canada for medical training, in order to serve his communities as a physician, researcher, and advocate for equitable health care, to meet the needs of underserved populations in Canada.
“I feel immense gratitude for everyone who has shaped me into the person I am today—family, friends, teachers, the Loran Scholars Foundation, its staff, volunteers … this achievement would not have been possible without their belief in my potential and the support they have provided along the way,” Vincent says.
“And I want to say a special thank you to Prof. Christopher Buddle, my Loran mentor, for his thoughtful and compassionate guidance over the past few years. Chris has not only supported me in my academic journey but has also helped me grow as a well-rounded individual with passions that transcend my academic pursuits.”
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Vincent also joins a community of Loran scholars who went on to study as scholars at Oxford University.