Undergraduate students present their summer research
Running from May to August every year, the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program (known as SURE) attracts undergraduate students from across Canada.
The students join a variety of research laboratories led by faculty in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology across Toronto for 12 weeks, culminating in a research day where they present posters describing their work. Some are continuing research projects they have worked on before or in their courses, and some are gaining their very first lab experiences.
On Friday, August 8, the 54 students in the program attended their research day - organised by Dr. Jeff Lee, SURE Program Director, and Undergraduate Life Sciences Program Administrator, Louella D'Cunha, with support from Graduate & Life Sciences Education Officer, Beatrice Wong. Dr. Lee commented, “We had another excellent year for LMP SURE. All the posters were outstanding, and I’m always impressed at the quality of the work and presentations.”
The students heard research talks from Kelly Liu (PhD candidate in the MacParland Lab), Martin Profant (MD student also in the Wang and Meng Labs) and Manus Yu (MSc student in the Lee Lab) and heard from graduate students on the “Everything you wanted to know about graduate school and MD/PhD” panel.
The highlight of the day was the poster presentations with prizes awarded to the top students (see below for the results).
Julian Mercier, a fourth year Immunology student at the University of Toronto, was presenting his research from the lab of Dr. Paul Hamel. “This is my second time in the SURE program. The first experience was so valuable that I wanted to continue my research and build on it. What drew me in were the opportunities - the people you meet, the relationships you build, and the chance to work toward something bigger. My supervisor, Dr. Paul Hamel, and program leader Dr. Jeff Lee have been especially supportive. At first, I was just looking for some lab experience, but along the way I discovered a real interest in my research. The program motivated me to push myself, deepen my understanding, and appreciate how our work contributes to scientific progress.”
Fourth year LMP Specialist Program student, Huidan Zuo, also used the SURE program to continue her research interests. “This summer I worked in Dr. Jason Fish’s lab on how cancer and chemotherapy affect the heart. Last year, I was in Dr. Susan Done’s lab, validating an AI platform for analyzing breast tumors, work I was able to continue in my third year research course. Both were incredible experiences. The SURE program is a very valuable experience because it’s paid, and many students go on to continue in the same labs for thesis or research projects. I’ve been lucky - my biggest interests are cancer and cardiovascular disease, and this year’s project combined both. Next, I’ll join Dr. Sara Vasconcelos’ lab for my 4th-year research project which enables me to continue my interest in cardiovascular research. These experiences are preparing me for my goal of becoming a clinician-scientist, with a PhD as my next step.”
Aja Michalski is also part of the LMP Specialist Program and saw the SURE Program as a way to continue his third-year research project. “I began my project on atherosclerosis and immunity with Dr. Clinton Robbins in one of my courses (LMP305Y1 – Pathobiology Research Analysis and Project), and the SURE program gave me the chance to continue it. This extension let me collect more data and stay in a lab I enjoyed. I also joined SURE last year, and I’ve really valued the research talks from Dr. Jeff Lee and the research day. It’s been a great experience.”
Applications for SURE 2026 will open in January 2026.
Poster award winners from the SURE Research Day 2025!
Group 1
First prize – Ethan Ortiz, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Kelsie Thu
Second prize – Timothy Hau, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Wilder Scott
Group 2
First prize – Jasmine Chow, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Jeff Lee
Second prize – Araad Alguneh, York University. Supervisor: Karim Mekhail
Group 3
First prize – Corey Fletcher, Queen's University. Supervisor: Jacob Pendergrast
Second prize – Nicole Sia, McMaster University. Supervisor: Sascha Drewlo
Group 4
First prize – Sophie Grunnesjoe, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Gerold Schmitt-Ulms
Second prize – Parham Bokaei Jazi, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Scott Yuzwa
Group 5
First prize – Connie Di Raimo, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Supervisor: Chris McCulloch
Second prize – Huidan Zuo, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Jason Fish
Group 6
First prize – Elizabeth Chen, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Amy Wong
Second prize – Jordan Fairlie, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Wilder Scott
Group 7
First prize – Rick Hu, University of British Columbia. Supervisor: Jeff Lee
Second prize Abdul Karim Solangi, University of Toronto Scarborough. Supervisor: Karim Mekhail
Group 8
First prize – Parth Shah, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Dana Philpott
Second prize – Aja Michalski, University of Toronto. Supervisor: Clint Robbins
Group 9
First prize – Joshua Sadleir, Western University. Supervisor: Martin Post
Second prize – Abigail Kim, McMaster University. Supervisor: Hoon-Ki Sung
