Student-Led Initiative Forges Interdisciplinary Connections

Student-led initiative forges interdisciplinary connections

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto is a large and diverse faculty, but when it comes to having a strong sense of community, they lead the way.

A small group of students from the department of pharmacology and toxicology, having participated in their own department’s research day, started to wonder what students were doing in other departments across the faculty. Graduate students regularly participate in research days, where they have an opportunity to come together as a department or program, to showcase their research and findings. Less common however, is the chance to meet with and learn from students whose research is housed in other departments within Temerty Medicine.

Why would students in the department of pharmacology and toxicology be interested in what’s happening in other departments, such as physiology, biochemistry, or medical biophysics? Co-lead and fourth-year PhD student in the department of pharmacology and toxicology, Sierra Codeluppi explains that the more you engage in research, the more you realize that, “everything kind of intersects.” She goes on to say that everyone, at some point in their research journey has, “hit a wall.”

This event, according to Codeluppi, provides an opportunity for collaboration across different departments in Temerty Medicine. According to Justin Nodwell, vice dean, Research and Health Science Education (RHSE), whose office serves students and scholars in Temerty Medicine, “The most innovative ideas often occur in the interfaces between disciplines and involve many investigators working collaboratively.”

Co-lead Alaa Alsaafin, who recently completed her PhD in the department of pharmacology and toxicology, describes the primary goal of the event as facilitating a, “social and cohesive network within the Temerty Faculty of Medicine so that people across different departments can get to know each other…and can share their exciting research.” After some intense brainstorming, this group of eager students decided they would host a faculty-wide research day that not only gave students across Temerty Medicine a chance to meet with each other, but also provided a safe place to ask questions, troubleshoot, practice their oral presentation skills, share their research, and network with academic and industry professionals.

Director of clinical research and translation, Antonio Strafella, describes it as a day that, “emphasizes interdisciplinary and translational research across Temerty Medicine. This first event of its kind will allow graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty to connect across disciplines and learn about research breakthroughs outside their own departments.”

This would be no small feat; there are 56 different life science programs and nearly 17,000 students studying within Temerty Medicine. Not to be dissuaded, Alsaafin and Codeluppi organized themselves into a small committee. To help them, Ehab Bakbak and Nidhi Kulkarni, fourth- and third- year PhD students in pharmacology and toxicology, took the lead on marketing the event. Third-year PhD student in pharmacology and toxicology, Evianne Rovers, handled logistics and data organization, and Alison Jee, also a PhD candidate in pharmacology and toxicology, oversaw the finances.

They met for months to plan and coordinate the event and spent countless hours reaching out to faculty, staff, industry professionals and students, to garner support and participation. They pitched their event to departments, engaged in marketing and secured funding (provided by RHSE, the Division of Student Life – Student Initiative Fund, the School of Graduate Studies and the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union).

As part of the Research Showcase, students had a chance to present their research to small groups, allowing them to gain confidence in their presentation skills. At the same time, spectators learned more about the various areas of research being undertaken across Temerty Medicine. There were also sessions where participants could learn about the various methods and techniques used across the faculty, as well as ask questions and troubleshoot with each other. These workshops were led by faculty, core facility staff, postdoctoral fellows and senior graduate students with expertise in specific procedures. Over 30 academic and industry professionals also spent time talking with participants in small groups, giving students a chance to learn about different career pathways.

Numerous student volunteers helped to ensure that the day ran smoothly for the nearly 250 participants and attendees. This unique, entirely student-led event successfully brought together faculty, staff, students, and working professionals for a day of networking, sharing, and discussion across multiple departments and workplaces. This was a day that fostered community building, facilitated interdisciplinary connections across a large and diverse faculty, and emphasized the power of translational research.