Feature story: Life Sciences holds first annual ‘Quick Pitch’ student competition

What started as a student competition for the Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre in 2012 has become a division-wide affair this year!

On August 21, the Life Sciences Division held their first annual ‘Quick Pitch’ student competition for undergraduate and graduate students from the Human Health Therapeutics , Medical Devices and Aquatic and Crop Research Development research centres.

“We wanted to widen our students’ knowledge of the research done across Life Sciences, as well as appreciate the benefits of such a cross-disciplinary organization,” says Vice-President of Life Sciences, Lakshmi Krishnan , who suggested that the event be expanded to the whole division.

The event took place at NRC locations across 5 cities (Ottawa, Montréal, Halifax, Charlottetown and Winnipeg). Each of the 24 student presenters (20 undergraduates, 4 graduates) had 3 minutes to present the research they have been working on during their time at the NRC and 5 minutes to answer questions from judges. To prepare for the event, students worked closely with their supervisors and were provided a mentorship and coaching day to set them up for success.

The competition was an exciting opportunity for the student researchers to practice their research communication skills and test their ability to use plain language when relaying scientific information, all in a safe environment with their colleagues.

“Students bring a spark of passion and curiosity to the NRC. We are always striving to help students harness that passion, and find out not only what they can do for science, but what science can do for them,” adds Lakshmi Krishnan.

Great job to all the students who presented and congratulations to the winning presenters:

First place: Megan Crooks

The first place award goes to Megan Crooks from the Simulation and Digital Health team , supervised by Michael Smith from the Medical Devices Research Centre . Megan attends the University of Manitoba and the title of her winning presentation is “Virtual graded motor imagery for phantom leg pain: A feasibility case series’.

Second place: Tarasha Sharma

Taking home second place is Tarasha Sharma from the Immunomodulation team , supervised by Usha Hemraz from the Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre . Tarasha attends McGill University and the title of her presentation is ‘Adjuvants: Vaccines’ Trusty Sidekick’.

Third place: Hailey Stack

Third place goes to Hailey Stack from the Zebrafish Genomics team, supervised by Lee Ellis from the Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre . Hailey attends Mount Allison University and the title of her talk is ‘Synergistic effects of jadomycin B and cyclooxygenase 2 inhibition on Breast Cancer Metastasis’.

Honourable Mention: Claire Moore

An honourable mention goes to Claire Moore in the Biomarker Quantification team, supervised by Evelyn Teh from the Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre . Claire attends Dalhousie University and the title of her talk is ‘Profiling the extracellular vesicles of cancer-fighting CAR-T cells’.

The NRC Student Employment Program

Join our team for an inspiring challenge

The NRC Student Employment Program provides students with fulfilling career?related experience in research and development , library sciences, communications, marketing and other areas. We also have opportunities within our various branches or in support of our Industrial Research Assistance Program .

Our program offers students a challenging and intellectually stimulating environment, while providing them with access to superior equipment, facilities and expertise. We offer positions in NRC research facilities located across Canada. Each term lasts for approximately 16?weeks (4?months) and work can occur full time during a non?academic semester or part time during an academic semester. Salaries are based on the number of academic semesters a student has completed.

Learn more about the NRC Student Employment Program .

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