Sara Moghaddamjoo hopes her biomedical engineering master’s degree research at Simon Fraser University will help to better predict heart attacks before they happen.

And to ensure the commercial success of a non-invasive wearable device that she has developed she concurrently pursued a master’s degree in financial risk management (MFRM) at SFU’s Beedie School of Business.

Moghaddamjoo, a North Shore resident, is the first student at SFU to earn two master’s degrees simultaneously. She completed both in just one year while also working as a financial risk-management intern  – and serving on the senate and student appeals board.

She also served as chief operations officer for the Beedie School’s student investment advisory service, Canada’s largest student-run investment fund, managing a $10.8-million SFU endowment.

But despite her unexpected financial prowess – she never took a finance course before her MFRM – Moghaddamjoo’s first love is biomedical research. Her undergraduate engineering honours thesis was so comprehensive she was able complete her MASc thesis in a year instead of the normal two years.

Her research is focused on a wearable device that uses lasers and lights to non-invasively monitor levels of a protein that increases in the blood about 30 minutes before a heart attack. That prompts the device to send a wireless signal to the wearer’s cellphone to alert emergency medical personnel.

The Iranian native says her business degree has given her the knowledge, contacts and network she needs to fund a possible spin-off company based on her research.

Moghaddamjoo received her MASc in June and will collect her MFRM on Oct. 7. She’s now completing a PhD in biomedical engineering at UBC and is negotiating for a job on Wall Street.

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Tags: biomedicine, financial risk, investment, Master of Financial Risk Management, Sara Moghaddamjoo, Student Investment Advisory Service