Nov 9, 2020

40th Annual Frontiers in Physiology Symposium a Great Success

screen shot of planning committee co-chairs in a zoom meeting

screen shot of planning committee co-chairs in a zoom meetingThis year’s Frontiers in Physiology (FIP), the Department of Physiology’s annual student-run research symposium, was originally scheduled for the Spring as per usual. When the pandemic shut down labs, forced courses online, and brought in-person gatherings to a halt, the FIP Planning Committee faced the huge challenge of running an online symposium for the first time in its forty-year history. They met that challenge with enormous success.

FIP2020 took place on October 22nd and highlighted research done in each of our four platforms: Cardiovascular & Respiratory, Neuroscience, Reproduction & Development, and Endocrine & Diabetes. Planning Committee Co-chairs, Michael Dewar, Xavier Lee, Yasaman Mostafaie, and Theresa Tam were thrilled with the outcome of the symposium.

“We were most pleased with both the event turnout (peaking at 180 attendees) and the overall smoothness of its proceedings,” said Lee.

“The main challenge was how we could fit 40 poster presentations, twelve oral presentations, and three keynote talks into a single day whilst allowing attendees to seamlessly move from oral sessions, to poster sessions, and back,” the committee explained. 

A student doing a poster presentation Q and AThe team’s solution was to create a website that served as a central navigation hub through which attendees could navigate between “conference rooms” just like an in-person conference.

For the poster presentation component, organizers cleverly “flipped the classroom,” posting pre-recorded videos of the presentations on the website a week before the live proceedings. Attendees and judges viewed the presentations ahead of time, then tuned into live Q and A sessions the day of the symposium to discuss the research at hand. 

“As we popped in and out of Q and A’s throughout day, it was clear the environment was exceptionally constructive,” the committee recounted. “Presenters had many of their lab members providing support in their ‘rooms’."

“The pandemic has caused a drought of such conferences and social events for all of us. FIP2020 meant an opportunity to reconnect with the incredible trainees and faculty in this department.”

 

screen shot of Professor Stephen Matthews' keynote talkWhile FIP typically features an external keynote speaker, this year’s symposium showcased three prominent faculty members -- Professors Brubaker, Jia, and Matthews -- whose work the Planning Committee was proud to highlight.

“The Physiology community is filled with brilliant people both in and out of the lab,” the Committee said. “FIP2020 was a big success thanks to our faculty keynotes, attendees, and judges. For their help and support we are also grateful to Professors Heximer and Prescott, staff supporters Jenny Katsoulakos, Paula Smellie, and Rosalie Pang, our fellow Committee Members and the Graduate Association of Students in Physiology, as well as our sponsors, the CReATe Research Program and the SickKids Research Institute.”

Department Chair, Scott Heximer said "I'd like to extend the Department's congratulations to our outstanding student planning team who made the 40th year anniversary of FIP a highly enjoyable and memorable event.

 

oral presentation competition winners

 

poster presentation competition winners

Maria Medeleanu
Emma McIlwraith
Falak Shoaib

 

 

 

 

 


 

Meredith Foley
Leon Chi
Song-Yang Zhang
Prashanth Velayudhan
Andreea Obersterescu
Frank Mazza
Zahra Danaei
Wenyuan He
Heng Kan Yao
Mahshad Kolahdouzan
Christopher Casciaro
Eric Salter
Jordan Mak
Rayan Saghian