by Kristen Ashworth, Kyla Trkulja, and Nayaab Punjani

Dear IMS,

Happy Fall!

Right now, the falling leaves are definitely drifting by in beautiful colours across Toronto, and whether you’re admiring them from the window in campus library, at the lab, or in the hospital, we can all agree: it’s cozy season. Doesn’t it just make you want to curl up with a blanket, a hot cup of coffee, and something great to read? Luckily, we have the reading material for just that kind of day!

In our Fall 2025 issue of the IMS Magazine, we are excited to present the theme Health in the Margins. This issue shines a light on some of the most pressing challenges facing communities in Canada (and around the world) who have long been underserved or underrepresented in the context of healthcare policy, research, and in the clinical and hospital setting–including women, children, BIPOC individuals, LGBTQ2IA+, and other groups.

In this issue, we feature IMS faculty making significant inroads in this field right now, including Dr. Jenny Lau, who is working to break down barriers to palliative care access for those with substance use disorder; Dr. Sloane Freeman, who founded the Research Equity Advocacy in Child Health (REACH) School Network program to better connect school-aged children to health professionals; Dr. Flora Matheson, who is researching interventions to address the hidden determinants of homelessness, addiction, and criminal-legal involvement; and, Dr. Aisha Lofters, who is investigating the health inequities in cancer screening, including those related to income, race, and immigration.

Alongside this impressive line-up of featured faculty, our Viewpoint articles cover a breadth of topics that may spark some important conversations at the dinner table–from an early detection tool for ovarian cancer, to the current barriers to gender-affirming care; from seasonal affective disorder in racialized communities, to inclusive LGBTQ+ healthcare; and from the impacts of the water contamination in Canadian communities, to healthcare inequalities in our federal prisons.

We are also thrilled to spotlight two outstanding members of the IMS community–Nafia Mirza, President of IMS Students’ Association, and Dr. Anna Badner, an IMS alumna making big waves in the world of biotech.

A very warm welcome to our incoming 2025-26 team of designers, who have visually brought this issue to life–thank you, and we are grateful to have you join the team! And of course, a huge thank you to our talented team of journalists and editors, whose hard work makes all of this possible.

We hope you enjoy all of what this issue, and the changing season, has to offer!

With warmest autumn wishes,

Kristen Ashworth

Kristen is a PhD student studying the use of a human-based retinal organoid model to investigate cell therapies for genetic eye disease under the supervision of Dr. Brian Ballios at the Krembil Research Institute.

Twitter: @K_Ashworth01

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_

Nayaab Punjani

Nayaab is a PhD student examining a neuroprotective drug therapy for cervical-level traumatic spinal cord injury at the Krembil Research Institute under the supervision of Dr. Michael Fehings.

Twitter: @nayaab_punjani