LMPRC 2025

The LMP Research Conference (LMPRC) 2025

Abstract submissions and registration is now closed

Please contact your program administrator or the organizing committee at lmp.rc@utoronto.ca if you have any questions.

A day where we celebrate and share the research conducted in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology.

The day will consist of:

  • Graduate student poster presentations

  • Postgraduate research poster presentations

  • Winning LMP 3-minute thesis competition presentation from Melissa Suma, MSc

  • Keynote speaker Dr. Michael Laflamme

  • Workshops on skills and techniques

  • Lots of networking

When and where

Thursday, April 17, 2025 all day

The Arcadian,
401 Bay Street, Simpson Tower 8th floor, Toronto, ON M5H 2Y4

How to register

Registration is now closed.

If you have any questions, contact us at lmp.rc@utoronto.ca.

Important dates

  • 19 February, 2025 at 11:59 pm: abstract submissions close
  • 20 March, 2025 (approx): oral presenters will be announced
  • 1 April, 2025: registration closes

Information for attendees

The agenda

This agenda may be subject to change. The event takes place in several rooms at the Arcadian.

Time Event Location
08:30 - 09:15 Registration, breakfast and poster set-up for morning presentations Main Lobby
09:15 - 09:30 Welcome address and land acknowledgement Court
09:30 - 10:15 Oral presentations I, including the winning LMP 3-minute thesis by Melissa Suma. Court
10:25 - 11:40 Poster session I Lofts 1 and 2, and Gallery
11:50 - 12:40 Workshops Various rooms
12:40 Lunch Court
13:50 - 14:40 Keynote speaker: Dr. Michael Laflamme "Heart regeneration with pluripotent stem cells" Court
14:50 - 16:05 Poster session II Lofts 1 and 2, and Gallery
16:05 - 16:15 Coffee break  
16:15 - 17:05 Oral presentations II  
17:05 - 18:00 Awards and social Lofts 1 and 2

 

Workshops

You can choose to attend a workshop on one of the below topics:

  • AI for Biomedical Researchers: Practical Tools for Medical Image Analysis and Data-Driven Discovery - Dr. Pascal Tyrrell, Director, Data Science, Department of Medical Imaging
  • Writing Grants that Glow - Sandy Marshall, writing instructor, U of T
  • Science with Patients, Not Just for Patients: Why Patient and Community Engagement Matters - Andrew Sedmihradsky, Translational Research Program instructor
  • Hospital-based approaches to risk management - Dr. Gino Somers, Chief, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, SickKids

AI for Biomedical Researchers: Practical Tools for Medical Image Analysis and Data-Driven Discovery

Pascal Tyrrell: is an accomplished data scientist and the Director of Data Science at the University of Toronto's Department of Medical Imaging, within the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He also holds appointments in the Institute of Medical Science, where he serves as Director of Equity, Diversity, Indigeneity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, and in the Department of Statistical Sciences as an Associate Professor. His research focuses on applying cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence to medical image analysis, driving improved health outcomes globally. Additionally, Pascal is a serial entrepreneur with expertise in computer software, medical devices, and agri-tech.

Writing Grants that Glow - Sandy Marshall

Come discuss strategies for building beaming biomedical grant proposals that reviewers will be dazzled to fund. Learning from common reviewer comments, we will address questions important to the three key aspects of a successful funding application: impact, feasibility, and clarity. 

Sandy Marshall: is a medical communicator who has been contributing to biomedical research for 20 years. After a BScH in Life Sciences (Queen's University) and an MSc in Medical Science (U of T), Sandy conducted basic science research at St Michael’s Hospital and Sunnybrook Research Institute. As a freelance medical writer and editor since 2013, Sandy helps some of Canada’s top biomedical researchers fund and publish their research. She also teaches the Grant Writing module at LMP’s Translational Research Program. Over her career, Sandy has co-authored over 20 publications, has been acknowledged for her editorial contribution to over 50 publications, and has contributed to approximately 60 funding applications.


 

Photography and videography

We will be taking photographs and recording some videos for departmental purposes. 

If you do not wish to be in any of the photos or videos, please make yourself known to the person taking pictures or videos.

If you are presenting your research at the conference and would like to highlight it in a video, contact us at lmp.communications@utoronto.ca. See examples on our Youtube channel such as Asnia Shaw and Ain Kim.

Information for graduate students and postgraduate trainees: abstract submissions - now closed

Who should submit an abstract and how

Abstract submissions are now closed

All graduate and postgraduate learners in LMP are invited to present a poster at the conference.

It is compulsory for the following graduate students to submit an abstract:

  • Second-year MSc students
  • Second- and fourth-year PhD students
  • Second-year Translational Research Program students (capstone project presentations)

Not compulsory, but strongly encouraged:

  • Second-year MHSc in Laboratory Medicine students (capstone project presentations)

Postgraduates in LMP are required to submit abstracts and present a poster as below:

  • PGY2, PGY3, and PGY5 Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology residents
  • PGY2 Hematopathology residents
  • Medical Microbiology residents and all Clinical Microbiology trainees - you must present your research with you as the presenter/co-presenter of your work at least once during your training

Not compulsory, but strongly encouraged:

  • Clinical Chemistry trainees 
  • PGY3, PGY4 Hematopathology residents
  • Neuropathology residents
  • all other LMP residents/trainees – we encourage you to present

All LMP residents/trainees must attend regardless as to whether they are presenting research.

When you submit an abstract, you must also register for the conference which is a separate form.

Abstract specifics

Abstracts:

  • should be no more than 500 words
  • should not include figures or graphics
  • may be structured or unstructured, depending on the stage of your research

Preparing for your poster or oral presentation: resources

Do you want help practicing your poster presentation? Contact the Peer Communication Team and access expert coaching and feedback on your presentation.

Poster boards are typically 48 inches tall by 94 inches wide. The poster dimensions should be no greater than 44 inches x 91 inches. You are limited to this surface, however, you do not need to fill the entire board. The recommended minimum size is 42 inches x 68 inches. 

Templates

Download PowerPoint and Publisher templates from LMP

See also:

And from the School of Graduate Studies

Michael Laflamme

Keynote speaker: Dr. Michael Laflamme

Talk title: Heart regeneration with pluripotent stem cells

Dr. Michael Laflamme is the Robert McEwen Chair in Cardiac Regenerative Medicine, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine, Senior Scientist in the McEwen Stem Cell Institute, Staff Pathologist in the Laboratory Medicine Program at the University Health Network (UHN), and Professor of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology at the University of Toronto.

He leads a research program that is focused on developing novel cardiac cell therapies based on human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), and his laboratory has made a number of important contributions in this area including efficient protocols to guide hPSCs into cardiomyocytes, proof-of-concept transplantation studies with hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes in preclinical models, and the first direct demonstration that hPSC-derived cardiomyocytes can become electrically integrated and activate synchronously with host myocardium in injured hearts.

Dr. Laflamme has been the recipient of honors including the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology Young Investigator Award, the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy Outstanding New Investigator Award, and the UHN Inventor of the Year.

He also practices cardiovascular and autopsy pathology and is a founding investigator of BlueRock Therapeutics. Read more in A 20 year path to translation: repairing broken hearts.

Find out what happened at the LMPRC 2024

See who won awards!
A group of people pointing at a poster

LMPRC 2025 Organizing Committee

Research stream students

  • Anca Maglaviceanu
  • Angel Li
  • Cori Lau
  • Courtney Irwin 
  • Gizelle Lionel
  • Kamalben Prajapati
  • Kristen Schulz 
  • Neetu Rambharack

MHSc students

  • Megan McCrae (Clinical Embryology) 
  • Vanessa Vuong (Clinical Embryology) 
  • Amanda Dias (Clinical Embryology) 
  • Mikhail Lobo (Translational Research Program)

Postgraduate trainees

  • Alex Straus
  • Anju Thomas
  • Irene Xie
  • Jaehee Yang
  • Michal Bohdanowicz
  • Narges Ahangari 
  • Patrick Murphy

Staff

  • Beatrice Wong 
  • Debb Yorke
  • Jenni Bozec
  • Jordan Crawford
  • Julie Wei
  • Nelson Cabral
  • Paula Nixon