TRPEx conference brings art and science together to spark new conversations in healthcare innovation
TRPEx: Innovation in Action, a student-led conference held in August 2025 at the University of Toronto’s Hart House, brought together art and science to explore how creativity can inform and advance healthcare research, practice and education. Organized by second-year students in the Translational Research Program (TRP), the sold-out event drew more than 100 attendees from across generations and disciplines, creating a shared space for dialogue at the intersection of the arts and health sciences.
The conference was conceived, organized and hosted by Sheryl Ordonez, Angelina Da Silva and Muhammad Ansar, second-year Master of Health Science (MHSc) students in TRP. United by a shared interest in the arts and challenging traditional boundaries within healthcare, the trio designed TRPEx .
“Through TRP, we have learned and experienced that great ideas ignite when collaboration through interdisciplinary spaces are formed. We knew that we wanted TRPEx to be a meeting place to inspire innovation in health by exploring the merging of arts and science”, said Ordonez.
The event was organised across three integrated components: panel discussions and a keynote speaker, an art exhibition, and facilitated networking. Together, these elements encouraged participants to reflect on how different ways of knowing - artistic, scientific, experiential - can inform one another.
The discussion part of the program had 11 speakers and panelists whose work spans arts-based research, healthcare delivery, research methods, education and communication.
Topics explored included relational models of care, community-engaged research, and the role of creativity in humanizing healthcare systems. Panel discussions were followed by audience participation, allowing attendees to contribute lived experience and perspectives drawn from their own professional and personal contexts.
The conference’s keynote, “Learning to Dance Together Again” by Alexis Milligan, highlighted the limits of communication that relies solely on words and metrics, emphasizing the importance of listening for what is unspoken. One audience member reflected on how they learned “the value of what's not said and understanding things that haven't been voiced out loud, inherently learning to listen to what isn't being said.”
Concomitant with the discussions, TRPEx had an art exhibition that showcased 36 works by 26 artists and two live performers. The exhibition featured visual art, digital media, written pieces, improvisational performance and spatial installations. Contributors included patients, clinicians, students, alumni and faculty members from across the University of Toronto community, reflecting the conference’s commitment to inclusivity and interdisciplinary expression.
Artwork explored healthcare experiences through storytelling, education and reflection, using art as a medium to communicate lived experiences in research and care. Several student groups also participated, sharing initiatives that use art-based approaches to connect communities and support wellbeing.
The organizers noted that the response exceeded expectations. “What we did not expect was eager engagement and partnerships from within and outside the University of Toronto community and a multi-generational audience,” said Ansar.
For the students, TRPEx proved to be more than a conference, it became a formative learning experience as they began their capstone research projects. Across panels and discussions, four insights stood out: the importance of creating space for unheard voices; the role of creativity in humanizing care; the value of community-led and co-designed research; and storytelling as a tool for trust and knowledge translation.
Dr. Sarah Kim captured this sentiment during the Medicine and Care panel, noting, “The creative aspect is uniquely human. Creativity is where we can find ourselves being seen and heard.”
The conference also reinforced core principles of translational research emphasized within TRP, including participatory methods and human-centred design. As Dr. Michelle Wyndham-West (research methods panelist) shared, “co-design participants are the ones who shape the agenda - start with communities, they define the question and the issues”.
The impact of TRPEx has continued beyond the event itself. Strong interest from attendees, speakers and partners has generated momentum for future programming, including requests for a second TRPEx and the possibility of an ongoing workshop series.
Reflecting on the experience, one attendee observed, “The intersection of arts and science is not a new innovation, but it is finally being brought forward as a priority for fundamental change in science and medicine.” TRP Program Director, Dr. Edyta Marcon, echoed the sentiment stating, “I do not have words to describe what I witnessed today. This will have an impact on TRP programming.”
For the organizers, hosting TRPEx reshaped how they view their roles as emerging translational researchers, as Da Silva commented, “TRPEx did not just inspire us, it changed how we think about innovation, how we approach our work, and how boldly we believe we can contribute to meaningful change in healthcare.”
Read the full blog from the student organisers on the TRP website.
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