LMP holds largest ever research day
On May 30th, the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology held its annual research day, LMP Research Conference and Product Show (LMPRC).
With over 375 registrants and 132 research presentations, it was the largest display of LMP research to date.
Graduate students in MSc, PhD, Laboratory Medicine and Translational Research Programs presented their research projects alongside Postgraduate trainees. Eleven vendors took part in the product show where they showcased their services and products and the team from The Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM) were also there talking to attendees about the Centre and the Health Data Nexus.
Alison Foo, LMP alumna, took part in judging Brain and Neuroscience posters, “I was impressed how prepared the students were. Not only was the research interesting and novel but they were very good at communicating it - their presentation skills were excellent. I was struck by how comprehensive their research projects were and what they’d managed to achieve in such a short period of time”.
“It was a great experience – I heard about research I have never encountered before such as inflammatory bowel disease, pain resources and accessible footwear – really fascinating,” said Dr. Michael Ohh after judging posters from the Translational Research Program (TRP).
Dr. Khalil Udwan, PGY3, presented his research on diagnosing adults with Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (known as FSGS – characterized by scar tissue in the filtering unit of the kidney) at the conference: “It’s such a great opportunity to get together and see how all our research projects are progressing throughout our residencies. What made it extra special today was hearing how the Anatomical Pathology residents passed their Royal College exams just before we presented our posters!”
Invited speakers covered topics related to Precision Medicine: Dr. Joon-Yoon Yoon, Assistant Professor in LMP and Staff Pathologist at St. Michael's Hospital, talked about "Design and validation of a custom NGS panel assay for cancer genetic testing". Dr. Purna Joshi, LMP Alumna and Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator, Stem Cell Research Laboratory, University of Texas at Dallas presented on "Immature Mesenchymal Cells in epithelial tissues: roles in tissue regeneration, obesity and cancer".
Dr. Joshi was delighted to return to LMP and see how much it had changed, having been part of the first ever class in the undergraduate Specialist Program in Pathobiology, then completing an MSc and PhD in LMP.
The day was rounded off with an awards ceremony and networking social event.
Dr. Rita Kandel, Department Chair, commented on closing the event, “It was a spectacular day. The science was amazing, all the presentations were wonderful, and the organization was flawless. An all-round great day that yet again demonstrates what makes LMP special: the people and the extraordinary work they do. Thank you very much for being part of this day.”
Award winners from the LMPRC 2023
Oral presentation
Anders Erickson for his presentation on “The Lazy Piggy Transposon Identifies Cancer Maintenance Drivers”
Poster presentations
Postgraduate poster: Alex Oberc “Correlation of CDKN2A Status with MTAP: Association with Molecular Subtype and Clinical Outcomes of Muscle Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma”
Brain & Neuroscience: Seojin Lee “Neurodegenerative disease-specific dysregulation of iron homeostasis in the human brain”
Cancer, Development and Aging: a tie between Irene Xie, “High-throughput organoid drug screening to identify molecular vulnerabilities in metastatic pancreatic cancer” and Rupal Hatkar “Characterizing the Genetic Landscape of Radiation-Associated Cutaneous Angiosarcoma in Breast Tissue”
Cardiovascular, Physiology, and Metabolism: Anca Maglaviceanu “Elucidating the effects and mechanisms of action of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on osteoarthritis”
Infectious Diseases, Inflammation, and Immunology: Melika Loriamini “Drug Discovery for Inhibitors of Phagocytosis for Use in Immune Cytopenias”
Translational Research Program: Jessica Jenkins (and team) “Translating Through a Commercial Lens: Improving Methods for Urinary Tract Infection Detection”
MHSc in Laboratory Medicine: a tie between Hannah Paquette “Assessment of Metabolic Response to Ploidy by NMR” and Meghan Biggar “Evaluation of the Vaginal Microbiome in Patients Undergoing ART with Long-Read Metagenomic Sequencing”
Awardees from the LMPRC 2023
We would like to say thank you to:
All the faculty, learners and alumni who volunteered to speak, moderate and judge.
Dr. Joon-Yoon Yoon and Dr. Purna Joshi for delivering the Precision Medicine Talks.
All the vendors who took part in the Product Show, including the team from T-CAIREM.
All the learners who presented their research.
Everyone who attended and made it a great day.
And the committee who made it all happen:
