Letter from the Editors

This issue has seen all members of our team adjusting to the new COVID-19 era. To be honest, it has been a period of much stress, isolation, and fear for the future. All of our classes and research projects were interrupted, putting our abilities to pivot and readjust to the test. Even the process of creating this issue was affected – our meetings and interviews became virtual, our photographers could not take photos of their subjects, and we were unable to release the issue at the IMS Scientific Day, which was cancelled and moved online. Nonetheless, this issue is a testament to the continued passion of the many IMS students who volunteer their time, even in a pandemic, to write about the projects and people in the department who continue to inspire us all.

Our team decided, for the first time, that this issue should feature students of the IMS. Specifically, a special subgroup of our large student body: those who have previous professional experience in healthcare, and decided to return to school to solve the real world problems they encountered on the job. Those who went “from the bedside to the bench” , to apply their professional expertise to create research projects informed by first-hand knowledge.

This issue starts with a one of a kind letter from the CEO of the nurse practitioners of Ontario. Dr. Dawn Tymianski worked as a nurse for many years and then discovered a desire to go “down into the rabbit hole” and learn more about research. She obtained a PhD at the University of California Santa Barbara and for the past years has been representing the nurses of Ontario at a governmental level to make real, practical improvements. In our Feature section you can read how a Clinical Pharmacist, a Psychologist, a Paramedic, and a Registered Nurse are leveraging their work expertise to answer important research questions in healthcare.

Our viewpoints discuss controversial topics such as the role of misinformation in the media on our reactions to covid-19 and gender bias in the awarding of the Nobel Prize. In this issue we highlight Dr. Marianne Koritzinsky, our new graduate coordinator, and Dr. Ewan Goligher, who’s research on the effects of mechanical ventilation on respiratory function has become even more critical in the pandemic.

Since travelling has been restricted, don’t miss the travel bite to the lovely Montreal for the Canadian liver meetup. And as usual if you are looking for a good book, Maybe you should talk to someone is our latest review.

As Co-Editors in Chief we’d again like to acknowledge the team of dedicated students who worked on this issue and made it possible. Our photo includes the entire Executive team. Special thanks goes to the outgoing and incoming Design Team, featured on page 9. We hope you enjoy this issue, and we’d love to hear from you: you can email us at theimsmagazine@gmail.com and visit our website at imsmagazine.com.

Happy 2020 and happy reading!

Natalie Osborne

Natalie is a 4th year PhD student using neuroimaging and sensory testing to understand chronic pain under the supervision of Dr. Karen Davis. Outside the lab she loves to write about science and true crime. @NatalieRaeOz

Beatrice Ballarin

Beatrice is an international PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Tymianski at the Krembil Research Institute, working on strategies to promote stroke recovery. Outside the lab she is an avid reader of non-fiction books (check them out in our Book Review section) and loves running. @BBallarina