by Kyla Trkulja, Iciar Iturmendi Sabater and Sarah Topa

In the fall of 2023, Dr. Mingyao Liu, director of the IMS, contacted us–the Editors-in-Chief of the IMS Magazine–to share an idea. He suggested that we work on a special edition showcasing the wide range of student initiatives in our community. With the collaboration of Sarah Topa, Senior Partnerships and Communications Officer, as a guest Editor-in-Chief, this idea has become a reality. This special edition not only aims to celebrate student life at IMS, but also to motivate prospective and current students, faculty, alumni, and staff to actively engage with and make an impact on our inspiring community.

Promoting student-led initiatives has been a top priority for Dr. Liu since becoming Director of the IMS in 2015. His commitment to supporting student leadership and student well-being is  evident in his spotlight article, which opens this issue, and in the subsequent IMS strategic plan infographic. Since 2015, the IMS Students’ Association (IMSSA), IMS Magazine, and UofT Talks have flourished, and three new student groups have launched with the support of the IMS: Raw Talk Podcast, the Peer-2-Peer Mentorship Program, and the IMS International Community. Our wonderful design team has worked on a timeline illustrating these milestones for this issue.

Our team of writers have enthusiastically interviewed past and current student leaders of each IMS student group, providing an overview of each group’s trajectory, accomplishments, and its student leaders’ invaluable learning experiences and unique perspectives. These articles reflect how IMSSA, the Peer-2-Peer Mentorship Program, and the IMS International Community foster a sense of belonging and support in our IMS community by organising student events and mentorship opportunities to help new students navigate and succeed in graduate school. Raw Talk Podcast, UofT Talks, and the IMS Magazine meaningfully contribute to this feeling of community by showcasing and disseminating the scientific achievements conducted within and beyond the boundaries of the IMS.

To illustrate the broad reach and diversity of the research conducted by IMS students, we provide a map of Toronto highlighting all research sites where IMSSA has representatives with  individual student perspectives from each site. Our diverse community–spread across the city of  Toronto–comes together every year at IMS Scientific Day and at the Ori Rotstein Lecture in Translational Research, which in recent years have been planned and co-led by IMS students themselves. Our writers have interviewed past leaders of these events, as well as IMS’ youngest-ever graduate student, Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis, whose involvement in several student groups is a great example of how incoming students can immerse themselves in the student life experience while thriving in their research. 

We have also interviewed students who have spearheaded novel initiatives with the support of the IMS and the Jay Keystone Memorial Award for Innovation in Scientific Communication. These include features on the development of the IMS Career Mentorship Program, promotion of graduate student wellness initiatives, and student contributions to graduate education  through the creation of a new virtual reality modular course. Finally, we reflect on the pathways our IMS alumni follow after graduation through the last infographic.

As we welcome all incoming IMS students joining us in September 2024, we hope that these stories can inspire all readers—students, faculty, alumni, and staff alike—to engage more deeply with our community and to recognise the profound impact that collaborative student-led efforts can achieve. 

Kyla Trkulja

Kyla is a PhD student studying the mechanism of action of novel therapies for lymphoma under the supervision of Dr. Armand Keating, Dr. John Kuruvilla, and Dr. Rob Laister. 

Twitter: @kylatrkulja_

Iciar Iturmendi Sabater

Iciar is a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai and Dr.Hsiang-Yuan Lin. She investigates social adaptive behaviors in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Twitter: @iciar_itur

Sarah Topa

Sarah is the Senior Partnerships & Communications Officer at IMS. She co-chairs the Student, Staff, Alumni and Faculty Engagement Committee and the Student Recruitment Committee. Sarah also advises and supports the IMS Students’ Association and other student groups. She loves spending time with her kids, cycling around Toronto, and listening to the latest true-crime podcast.