People are what makes LMP: celebrating our excellence
The Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology in the Temerity Faculty of Medicine usually gets together every June to mark the end of the academic year and celebrate successes at their annual awards banquet.
With the global pandemic, as with many other things, LMP was forced to switch online.
Although missing the rare chance for so many to get together in person (and having to all supply our own food and drink), the live-streamed event opened other possibilities.
Due to the format, more could attend from far and wide. Rather than mainly faculty, as with the in-person event, many students, trainees and alumni joined the celebrations too.
“I am so delighted we could still manage to connect in some way and celebrate our successes, in what has certainly been a challenging year,” commented Dr Rita Kandel, LMP Department Chair. “It was particularly pleasing to be able to share these moments with more of our students, trainees and alumni. I particularly enjoyed seeing the engagement on Twitter which meant I could still get a glimpse of how some of us were celebrating, even though we couldn’t physically be in the same room.”
“I am always extremely proud of the LMP community,” continued Dr Kandel, “and this year has shown, yet again, that the caliber of our people is outstanding. Congratulations to all our graduates, awardees and those promoted this year.”
As part of the evening the LMP Community joined a discussion to celebrate the launch of the new institute: The Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).
Tackling the question of ‘How will Artificial Intelligence affect the delivery of healthcare?’, a lively debate between experts Dr Bo Wang, Dr Laura Rosella and Dr Muhammad Mamdani was moderated by Dr Rahul Gopal Krishnan. Including questions posed by the audience, the panel discussed areas such as ethics and safety, training and AI’s influence on decision-making in healthcare.
- You can watch the AI talk on the T-CAIREM website (or the whole event at the bottom of this page).
Celebrating our graduates
We were delighted to mark the graduation of so many talented students and trainees. Many of whom joined to watch the event live.
Our graduates include:
- 13 from the undergraduate Arts and Sciences Pathobiology Specialist Program;
- 14 in our Translational Research Program – the MHSc in Translational Research;
- 26 who successfully obtained their MSc; and
- 19 new PhD graduates who successfully defended their research.
We took a moment to remember Amin Jebelli, MHSc in Translation Research, whom we sadly lost in January 2020. Muhammad Ibrar Mustafa, his friend and colleague, talked us through some fond memories of Amin to mark what would have been his graduation.
Our students and trainees: celebrating their achievements
The excellence shown across our undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs is outstanding.
Several students and trainees were nominated for awards:
Negin Khosraviani, a third year PhD candidate in Dr. Karim Mekhail’s lab, is this month’s ‘Spotlight On’. Find out how she felt about being recognized through the Norman Bethune Award.
Excellence in teaching, research and leadership
We recognized accomplishments in leadership, service to LMP and research and innovation, as well as our most outstanding mentor.
Our teaching awards recognized excellence in teaching across all our programs, including an award voted for by current residents.
Dr Carlo Hojilla spoke to us about being awarded The John B. Walter Prize for Course Design and Development.
We also took time to celebrate our senior promotions in 2020 and give thanks and recognition to those retiring this year.
Celebrating together
Despite being physically separated, the event and powers of social media connected us all.
Some tweets from the night:
Kathryn Tinckam @umtinckaThis virtual fireside chat has an actual virtual fireside!! #LMPExcellence hosting a discussion on “How will AI affect the delivery of healthcare?” @UofT_TCAIREM @uoftmedicine 
| Maria Pasic @mariapasicA lovely way to honour our staff and students in the @LMP_UofT department, including a lifelong mentor for me Dr Khosrow Adeli. Cheers to all the recipients!!! #LMPExcellence #Awards @CStreutkerMD 
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Joseph Hanna, MD, MSc @josephatefEnjoying the @LMP_UofT Annual Celebration of excellence, so many accomplishments and many more to come. Proud to be part of LMP and looking forward to the session on AI #medtwittter #pathtwitter 
| Catherine Wang @CatherineWangTOExcited to be part of @UofT Lab Medicine Program's Annual Celebration of Excellence (virtually)! Dr. Rita Kandel's (Chair) opening remarks: Science and Medicine will get us to the finish line...LMP faculty are front and centre in the fight against COVID. #LMPExcellence 
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