Windsor student wins top science prize, recognized as Canada’s best

A local girl won four awards at the National Science Fair in New Brunswick. CTV Windsor’s Stefanie Masotti has her story.

A Windsor student has been named top youth scientist in Canada.

Trisha Haldar, a grade 8 student at Ecole Bellewood Elementary School, took home four awards at 2025 Canada-wide Science Fair in News Brunswick where she earned multiple awards including the prestigious Platinum Award, recognizing her as “best-in-show” for her age category.

“I’m kind of in disbelief,” said Haldar in an interview with CTV News Windsor. “Honestly, it was really surprising.”

Her project titled ‘Visual Drug Interaction Checker’ was inspired by her grandmother. https://partner.projectboard.world/ysc/project/visual-drug-interaction-checker

She wondered what the possible dangers her grandmother could face while taking multiple medications at once, a practice which is known as polypharmacy.

“The more medications you take, the higher the risk of developing an adverse drug interaction,” she explained. “If not managed properly, this can lead to potentially dangerous interactions such as increased bleeding risks.”

Her ‘Visual Drug Interaction Checker’ helps medical professionals, researchers and people at home assess how different drugs interact.

“For example, patients like my grandma who take multiple medications can use my tool to basically quickly input their medications and check if they have interactions. And they can use this information to have more informed conversations with healthcare professionals,” she added.

She says winning the top prize in New Brunswick was an experience she will never forget.

“I got to meet multiple people from all across Canada and see what amazing solutions they have developed to problems that you and me we face every single day.”

Haldar is going to Vincent Massey high school in September. Long-term she plans to attend university for Biotechnology.