It is with great pleasure that we announce Kalpana Chaudhary as the recipient of the 2025-2026 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research. Kalpana’s commitment to public health research has been shaped by nearly two decades of experience addressing health inequities affecting women and children in Nepal. Her journey began in 2007 with undergraduate training in public health in Kathmandu, where she developed foundational skills in epidemiology, program evaluation, and health systems research. Early independent research on adolescent reproductive health revealed the powerful influence of social norms and gender inequities on access to care, setting the stage for a career focused on translating evidence into equitable, community-responsive interventions. Following graduation, Ms. Chaudhary held leadership roles within national health system, strengthening initiatives at JSI Research and Training Institute, including the scale-up of chlorhexidine cord care across six rural districts of Nepal. This work strengthened her expertise in implementation, coordination, and maternal–newborn health policy.

Ms. Chaudhary next enrolled in a Master of Science in Public Health (Epidemiology) at Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences. Her Master’s thesis, a randomized controlled trial evaluating a social media–based health education intervention to improve postnatal care knowledge among pregnant women, addressed a critical gap in maternal health, where postnatal care utilization remains below 40% despite high antenatal care coverage. By delivering culturally tailored educational videos via Facebook Messenger, her intervention led to significant improvements in postnatal care knowledge and was published as a first-author paper in PLOS ONE. Concurrently, her internship with One Heart Worldwide deepened her engagement with implementation science, contributing qualitative research that informed the expansion of nurse mentorship programs to strengthen maternal and neonatal care in underserved regions of Nepal.

Building on this foundation, Ms. Chaudhary joined the Institute of Implementation Science and Health as a Research Associate, where she has played a central role in multiple large-scale studies evaluating real-world interventions across the maternal and child health continuum. Her work spans longitudinal birth cohorts, mobile health and telemonitoring interventions for gestational diabetes, and advanced quantitative and qualitative analyses addressing cardiometabolic outcomes, workplace violence among healthcare workers, and implementation barriers in primary care. She has published as both first and co-author in leading journals, including Journal of Diabetes and Metabolic Disorder, PLOS Global Public Health, and BMJ Public Health. Alongside her research, she remained actively engaged in teaching, mentorship, and graduate supervision at Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences.

Ms. Chaudhary’s joined McGill University as a PhD Candidate in September 2026. Her doctoral research project focuses on sleep-disordered breathing during pregnancy and its long-term consequences for maternal cardiovascular health, mental health, and offspring cardiometabolic outcomes, leveraging the longitudinal 3D Cohort Study in Quebec. Following her doctoral training, Ms. Chaudhary plans to return to Nepal to pursue a research-led academic career, with the long-term goal of establishing a Center of Excellence in Respiratory Epidemiology. This centre will bridge research and implementation, strengthen local research capacity, and advance equitable, evidence-based solutions for respiratory health among women and children in Nepal and other high-burden settings.

About the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship

The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation and the MUHC Respiratory Division are proud to support the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. She also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries. Beginning with the inaugural award for 2020-21, the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year as they conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Recipients are chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. This fellowship will help us train the next generation of respiratory researchers and specialists in areas of the world where the need is greatest.

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It is with great pleasure that we announce Dr. Fajri Gafar as the recipient of the 2023-2024 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research. Their interest in tuberculosis (TB) research began during their Master’s research project on TB treatment in children in Indonesia – after witnessing the suffering of TB patients and the significant burden caused by the disease. Dr. Gafar’s PhD project focused on optimizing the treatment of TB in children and adolescents. Their initiatives go beyond research, impacting education, mentorship, and policy. They have supervised MSc students, taught human physiology and pharmacology in Indonesia, and actively contributed to scientific communities such as the WHO Child and Adolescent TB Working Group. Dr. Gafar’s research has directly influenced TB policy and sparked hope for more equitable and effective treatments for children worldwide. Their career aspirations reflect a deep dedication and a clear vision to transform TB research and treatment, especially in high-burden settings like Indonesia.

Dr. Gafar’s current postdoctoral project, under the guidance of Dr. Dick Menzies, focuses on optimizing high-dose rifampin treatment for TB infection and disease. Drawing from their PhD experience conducting large-scale meta-analyses of anti-TB drug pharmacokinetics in children, Dr. Gafar is now applying similar methods to adult TB patients. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at McGill, Dr. Gafar plans to return to Indonesia, which bears the second-highest TB burden globally, and join the Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) as a faculty member dedicated to the clinical pharmacology and epidemiology of TB.

About the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship

The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation and the MUHC Respiratory Division are proud to support the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. She also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries. Beginning with the inaugural award for 2020-21, the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year as they conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Recipients are chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. This fellowship will help us train the next generation of respiratory researchers and specialists in areas of the world where the need is greatest.

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(Time on podcast: 29:20). Everglad Mugutso is completing her Master’s degree at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ezer. She was awarded the prestigious Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in respiratory research. Her project focuses on improving the long term survival and quality of life of patients with lung cancer all the while having a more personalized approach to their care. Her project will use data and artificial intelligence to analyze existing data to come up with better predictive models – to stratify patients according to their risk, or their treatments, to better improve outcomes. The concept of prehabilitation in lung cancer patients before they go for surgery is also a focus of the project. If patients go into their surgery more fit, they can then recover faster. Biomarkers will also be examined to identify which biomarkers predict outcomes in these patients.

Listen to the Podcast

Join us on World Cancer Day. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. February 5, 2023.

Web: https://bit.ly/3CvxdMb
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

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(Time on Podcast: 20:00). Kriti Agarwal is a recipient of the 2022-2023 Margaret Becklake Fellowship. She came from India to pursue her PhD at McGill University. The Montreal Chest Institute has a long history in Montreal and has been treating patients with respiratory diseases for over a century. The Margaret Becklake Fellowship is a prestigious award bestowed to students to pursue respiratory research at the Montreal Chest Institue and the RI-MUHC. Rehabilitation science is about physical and occupation therapy to provide the physical rehabilitation to patients. The research project will focus on virtual rehabilitation in patients with long COVID. This is an intervention study on patients currently living with long COVID. A team of professionals will work with patients up to 3 times per week and develop personalized plans that are offered virtually. This program offers a flexible program for patients that they can complete in the comfort of their homes.

About the Margaret Becklake Fellowship: https://meakinsmcgill.com/margaret-becklake-fellowship/

Listen to the Podcast

Helping young health care professionals thrive. The MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters. December 11, 2022.

Where to listen:
Web: http://bit.ly/3aQfvVQ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/32HFxrc
Apple: https://apple.co/35NvItS

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It is with great pleasure that we announce Everglad Mugutso, MD as the recipient of the 2022-2023 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research.

Dr. Everglad Mugutso moved to Canada from Zimbabwe a year ago. A physician by training, she is pursuing a Master’s degree at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ezer, while seeking recertification to practice medicine in Canada. During her medical program at the University of Zimbabwe, she took a year off from the mainstream to pursue basic sciences research in cardiovascular physiology. For the remainder of her medical degree, she involved herself in community research with a particular interest in improving healthcare access and preventive strategies.

After her internship, she worked in pediatric oncology at a tertiary hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. She noticed how most of the patients she used to see presented to the hospital with advanced cancer and how lack of resources impacted the quality of care they were able to provide. This aroused a desire in her to pursue ways to improve patient outcomes and healthcare utilization, hence her proposed research. 

During her year as a Becklake Fellow, Dr. Everglad Mugutso will study ways to provide better quality of care and quality of life for patients with lung cancer. Using existing real-world data and artificial intelligence, she aims to determine which patients will benefit the most from specific treatments. This will help ensure the best treatment is chosen for each individual.

Dr. Everglad Mugutso applied to do a Master’s program at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Nicole Ezer. Her research will focus on the concept of prehabilitation. Most of us are familiar with rehabilitation, the process of recovery after surgery. Prehabilitation flips this idea on its head, helping patients improve their health status before they have surgery to remove cancer to ensure they have an easier recovery. This technique has the potential to improve or even save the lives of patients. Dr. Everglad Mugutso’s long term goal is to become a clinician-scientist so that she may help people in Zimbabwe and other countries in that region.

About the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship:

The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation and the MUHC Respiratory Division are proud to support the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. She also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries. Beginning with the inaugural award for 2020-21, the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year as they conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Recipients are chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. This fellowship will help us train the next generation of respiratory researchers and specialists in areas of the world where the need is greatest.

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It is with great pleasure that we announce Kriti Agarwal as the recipient of the 2022-2023 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research. Kriti Agarwal is a licensed physiotherapist from India. After completing her master’s from Jamia Hamdard University, she attained her specialty in cardiopulmonary physiotherapy. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy at Galgotias University in India. During her bachelor’s and master’s, Kriti conducted research in the field of cardiorespiratory physiotherapy with elderly individuals as well as with patients who have undergone coronary bypass surgery.

In the past year, Kriti has worked as a physiotherapist at the Max Super Specialty Hospital and provided physiotherapeutic treatment for individuals in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and coronary care unit. She also treated several patients with COVID-19 infection in the acute care setting and patients post-COVID in a rehabilitation setting. Kriti’s excellent work with these patients during that time was recognized by her colleagues which awarded her the title of “Corona Warrior”.

With the support from the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship, Kriti Agarwal plans to start her doctoral studies at McGill University in Fall the 2022 under the supervision of Dr. Tania Janaudis-Ferreira. She will arrive with clinical, research and teaching experience from India. Kriti aspires to continue working in the field of physical therapy and rehabilitation and pursue research that can improve the lives of individuals with long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Her doctoral studies will evaluate a virtual home-based rehabilitation program following COVID-19 hospitalization. If proven effective, results from her research will support an accessible and evidence-based rehabilitation intervention for patients with post-COVID-19 conditions across Canada and other countries. With appropriate cultural adaptation and measures to address inequities in access to internet and electronic devices, this model of care may be implemented nationally and can target remote locations, low/middle income countries and Indigenous communities. This research model further hopes to support patients affected by future infectious outbreaks.
We are proud to honour Dr. Becklake’s legacy and immense contributions through this Fellowship, and we wish Kriti Agarwal every success in her research career.

About the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship:

The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation and the MUHC Respiratory Division are proud to support the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. She also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries. Beginning with the inaugural award for 2020-21, the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year as they conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Recipients are chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. This fellowship will help us train the next generation of respiratory researchers and specialists in areas of the world where the need is greatest.

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Ben Geboe, LMSW, PhD, is an Indigenous postdoctoral fellow in the Translational Research in Respiratory Diseases Program at the Research Institute of the MUHC and the 2021-2022 recipient of the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research.

Ben Geboe, tiospaye wakankdiduta (family unit Redlightning) is an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, which has affiliations in the Dakota First Nations of Manitoba. Ben worked with Dr. Nicole Ives at the McGill School of Social Work to complete his PhD conducting a qualitative research project interviewing Indigenous Healthcare providers (RNs and MDs) across Canada using Indigenous research methodologies and constructivist grounded theory. Ben is a member of Indigenous Access McGill (IAM) at the School of Social Work, Stop TB Canada Network and the International Indigenous Peoples’ Working Group on HIV and AIDS (IIGWHA). Ben will be working as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Faiz Ahmad Khan. Ben has many years of experience working with Indigenous community organizations in rural and urban settings in Canada and the United States focusing on identifying barriers to Indigenous health services and advocates for Indigenous participation in all levels of healthcare services. Ben, like many community healthcare workers helping Indigenous peoples and refugees, was exposed to TB (ppd+) while working at an Indigenous community centre and underwent prophylaxis. Ben participates in many Indigenous spiritual and cultural activities including drumming, and recently organized a drumming observance of mourning in Montreal at Jeanne Mance Park in response to the announcement of the 215 children found in a mass grave at the Residential school in Kamloops, BC. Ben published two policy briefs for the McGill Institute for the Study of International Development focusing on Indigenous reconciliation and community development. Additionally, Ben is working on an Indigenous student paper focusing on Indigenous TB for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in July 2021.

Ben is honored to join Dr. Faiz Ahmad Khan and the RI-MUHC. As a Becklake Fellow, he will be leading work to understand how TB prevention and care can be delivered in a culturally safe framework for urban Indigenous populations in Montreal. He will also be contributing to CIHR-funded work to incorporate Indigenous educational approaches in the development of training programs for tuberculosis for community health workers.

Read More

About the Margaret R. Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research

Meet Dr. Ben Geboe, the new Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellow. MUHC Foundation. October 14, 2021

Listen to the MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters Podcast

MUHC Foundation’s Health Matters Podcast. August 22, 2021. Ben Geboe is this year’s recipient of the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Learn about his mission to eradicate tuberculosis in Indigenous communities. (Time on podcast: 11:53)

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• Application Deadline: April 1, 2021

DR. MARGARET BECKLAKE: A PIONEERING LEADER IN RESPIRATORY MEDICINE

The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation is proud to honour Dr. Becklake’s legacy and immense contribution in developing generations of respiratory clinicians and researchers by launching the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. This fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year and will pay her or his salary as s/he conducts research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

Recipients will be chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. Dr. Becklake also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries.

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It is with great pleasure that we announce Dr. Mikashmi Kohli as the recipient of the inaugural 2020-2021 Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship in Respiratory Research. Dr. Kohli obtained her PhD in molecular medicine from the AII India Institute of Medical Sciences. Since 2018, Dr. Kohli has been working as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Madhukar Pai. During this time, her research has focused on tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics, and she was involved in an international project to assess the availability and accessibility of diagnostics at primary health care centres in India. To date, Dr. Kohli has contributed to 18 publications, four as first author, including a paper in Lancet Infectious Diseases. She is also lead author on two Cochrane systematic reviews and has been a part of two WHO guideline meetings at which she presented her systematic reviews and meta-analyses on TB diagnostic tests.

In order to formalize her training in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dr. Kohli will start her MSc in the Fall of 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Pai. Her MSc project will evaluate access to TB and other essential respiratory diagnostic tests in India. The project will require field work and will result in the development of a survey tool for use in primary health centres across India. This research will provide a comprehensive national scorecard on access to essential tests, and enable national health authorities to address major gaps and improve access.

Dr. Kohli aspires to continue working in the field of global health and to pursue research that can be used to inform important policy decisions. With support from the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship, Dr. Kohli will be able to continue her training at McGill University. This will allow her to continue her active involvement in the Indian healthcare system. We are proud to honour Dr. Becklake’s legacy and immense contributions through this Fellowship, and we wish Dr. Kohli every success in her research career.

About the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship:

The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation and the MUHC Respiratory Division are proud to support the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship. Over the course of her career, Dr. Becklake had a major interest in respiratory health in lower-income countries, including in childhood asthma and occupational lung disease. She conducted research in this area for many years. She also trained and hosted students in respiratory research from lower-income countries, who then became leaders in research and care in those countries. Beginning with the inaugural award for 2020-21, the Dr. Margaret Becklake Fellowship will be awarded to at least one trainee in respiratory research every year as they conduct research under the supervision of scientists at the Montreal Chest Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Recipients are chosen from low- and middle-income countries as well as from Canadian Indigenous communities. This fellowship will help us train the next generation of respiratory researchers and specialists in areas of the world where the need is greatest.

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