Jun 25, 2025

From LMP to MD: Riley Alvarez embarks on a people-centred path to medicine

Programs: Undergraduate, Agile education, Research: Infectious diseases & immunopathology

By Jenni Bozec

As she graduates from the Specialist Program in Pathobiology at the University of Toronto, Riley Alvarez is looking back on the last four years with deep gratitude - for the challenges that pushed her, the research that inspired her, and above all, the people who helped shape her.

Now a recipient of the Student Leadership Award from the Office of the Vice Dean, Research & Health Science Education, Alvarez has emerged as a defining voice among her peers in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP). But if you ask her, her success is less about accolades and more about the community that made them possible.

“I don't think I would've been able to forge the same sort of lifelong relationships if I hadn't been in such a tight-knit program,” Alvarez says. “Everyone says LMP is close-knit as it’s a small program - and it’s true. The people here are what made the experience so meaningful.”

Alvarez’s leadership journey began even before she set foot on campus, through the Arrive Ready Program, where she served as a peer leader for incoming first-year students. That early experience taught her that leadership isn’t about seniority - it’s about showing up for your peers.

Since then, she has taken on increasingly influential roles: associate editor and later co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Undergraduate Life Sciences (known as JULS), where she honed skills that would later help her navigate her own research publication process.

She also served as co-president of the LMP Student Union (LMPSU), where she worked tirelessly to plan events, including the annual LMPSU Conference - one of the largest student-led conferences at U of T, and champion student voices. But for Alvarez, leadership was never about titles.

“I wanted to work behind the scenes,” she says of her earlier LMPSU role as internal affairs officer. “That experience showed me how important organization and coordination are in making things work. The unsung jobs matter.”

Alvarez takes a thoughtful, well-prepared approach to everything she does - something that has consistently worked to her advantage. She opted for her first research project to be at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) because “I didn't want to start heads on with science as I didn't feel I had the experience to do so. I wanted to dip my toes into what research looked like and tried it out with something I'm a bit more familiar with.” As a former French Immersion student herself, she analysed audio files of first graders reading French. That opportunity allowed her to present research at undergraduate and graduate conferences.

With more confidence, she then moved into a summer project in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where she worked with nematodes to study speciation. “That was my first time being in a wet lab and it was scary. I didn't want to mess anything up. Even though they were very welcoming, the lab has a system in place, there are lots of people working there from PhD students to technicians and they all know what they’re doing. Coming in with so little experience can be daunting but I really liked that experience because it was more in line with what I wanted do, which is science”.

Her most impactful research experience, however, came when she joined the lab of Dr. Greg German as part of the LMP Undergraduate Summer Research Experience (SURE). German’s lab focusses on phage therapy - a treatment that uses viruses to combat bacterial infections. Although used in Europe for decades, it is a treatment that is currently unavailable in Canada, something German is trying to change.

Last summer, German chose Alvarez to travel alone to Belgium to meet some of the leading figures in the field. “It was my first time in Europe, and I had to represent our lab in meetings with scientists I had only read about,” she says. “It was intimidating, but also an incredible opportunity. I had to be professional, eloquent, and invite collaborations.” She credits Dr. German for trusting her with the experience. “He extended that opportunity very early on. I’m grateful he saw something in me.”

In the fall, Alvarez will join the inaugural MD class at Toronto Metropolitan University. The new medical program is primary-care focused, designed to address the physician shortage in Peel Region - an issue Alvarez feels strongly about.

“For me, it’s about the people,” she says. “I want a career where I’m face-to-face with patients every day. Research drives my curiosity, but medicine lets me connect, person to person.”

Alvarez credits her time in LMP for shaping her into the person, and student, she is now. “The coursework is tough. U of T has a reputation, and LMP lives up to it. The expectations are high. The professors, the admin team, the mentors, and especially my peers - they’re the ones who made it all manageable. Some of the most resilient, driven people I’ve ever met are in LMP. They make me better.”

Her favourite quote - “Strength, like height, is measured by who you’re standing next to” - is more than just a saying; it’s a reflection of how she sees her growth. In LMP, Alvarez found the confidence to stand shoulder to shoulder with peers she admired, knowing she had earned her place among them.

As she steps into the next chapter of her journey, Alvarez carries with her not just knowledge, but a profound appreciation for the people who’ve shaped her. “I’ve grown so much - not just academically, but as a person. And I owe so much of that to the people here.”