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Sarah Toay ’23 has been awarded a C$10,000  MacBain Regional Award for graduate study at any public university in Canada. The scholarship recognizes students who have demonstrated exceptional character, community engagement, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, academic strength, and intellectual curiosity. 

With her interests in rural healthcare inequity, health education, and mental health, Toay will be attending the University of Alberta for a two-year Master of Public Health (MPH) starting August 2025. 

“I am deeply appreciative to the McCall MacBain Foundation for their support in pursuing my interests in public health,” said Toay. “I view my time in Canada as a growth opportunity, both in leadership and personally, as I pursue my future plans to establish community-driven, science-backed health curricula for education in rural areas.” 

“I anticipate that this experience will help me further unify my trifecta of passions for accessible healthcare, rigorous science, and public health education,” she continued. “Again, I express my heartfelt gratitude to the foundation and everyone who has supported and encouraged me in this pursuit.”

In May 2025, Toay will be completing her two-year postbaccalaureate research fellowship studying oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) at the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD. Toay researches mutation variants of tyrosinase using computational methods as a part of the Opthalmic Genetics and Visual Function Branch with Yuri Sergeev, PhD, Chief of the Biochemistry and Molecular Modeling Group. She also takes courses through the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences and attends seminar series offered by the NIH Library. While living in Bethesda, Toay volunteers with the Red Cross as a breast clinic chaperone providing physical and emotional safety for female patients, and provides grant writing and research development support for individual and community health with A Healthier You, Inc. 

“Sarah has a history of seeing needs and working to meet them,” said Ann Landstrom, Assistant Dean and Director of Global Fellowships and Awards, �ֲ���ý���. “She is resolute in her goals to contribute to the care of others through public health, medicine, research, and policy advising.”

Toay’s interest in healthcare and science stem from her youth growing up in rural Wisconsin. She became a certified nursing assistant with Mineral Point Health Services at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. While studying biological chemistry at �ֲ���ý���, Toay performed biochemistry research for a summer and two academic semesters under the direction of Elizabeth Trimmer, professor of chemistry at �ֲ���ý���. 

Toay conducted research at The Hormel Institute/University of Minnesota in Austin, MN for two summers. The program, called the Molecular Interactions Virtual REU, offered her the opportunity to conduct independent research with advisement by Jarrod French, associate professor and section leader of the Nucleotide Metabolism and Drug Discovery lab. Her performance as a leader and researcher led to the invitation to return as a peer mentor for the second summer.

In addition, Toay served as treasurer of the �ֲ���ý��� Student Government Association, managing the annual student activity fee and building a financial framework for future students. She also played basketball as an NCAA Division III Athlete, served as a community advisor in Residence Life, and mentored students at the local middle school. 

“The college congratulates Sarah for this award and opportunity to study for a Masters of Public Health at the University of Alberta as part of her professional education,” continued Landstrom.

Following the completion of the Master of Public Health at the University of Alberta, Toay plans to apply to medical school to study at the intersection of psychiatry and neuroscience with expertise in public health issues, research, and initiatives.

“Ultimately, I will apply my education and training to develop research and community-based educational programming, in which I intend to involve rural communities in their development to address concerns specific to them,” shared Toay.

The McCall MacBain Scholarships are the result of a landmark C$200 million gift in 2019, then the largest single donation in Canadian history, by John and Marcy McCall MacBain. 

Applications will open in June 2025 for the 2026 cohort. More information about the McCall MacBain Scholarships can be found at ; and for �ֲ���ý��� advising and endorsement please communicate with Ann Landstrom at landstrom@grinnell.edu.