Student innovation takes center stage at 15th annual research symposium

On July 30th, 2026, the Department of Chemistry and Biology at TMU hosted the 15th Annual Science at the Interface (SATI) Research Event, which brought together more than 160 students, faculty, researchers, and community members for a day dedicated to scientific research presentations and scholarly exchange.

The annual symposium showcased research advancements in Environmental Biology, Chemistry, and Biomedical Sciences, and featured a series of oral presentations and interactive poster sessions from Faculty of Science students.

The success of the event was made possible by the dedication of the organizing committee: Professors Costin Antonescu, Roberto Botelho, Mojca Mattiazzi Usaj, Roxana Süehring, Andrew Laursen, Sarah Sabatinos, along with PhD students Kenneth Antenor and Kseniia Golik, with special thanks to Kenneth and Kseniia for their exceptional leadership and contributions.

Sincere thanks are also extended to the Chemistry and Biology Department administrative office staff (Sabrina Cuzzocrea, Sarah Morrish, Stephanie Grouios, and Caltha Rimmer), as well as our session chairs (Ayshin Mehrabi, Sahar Kamil, Kseniia Golik, and Allie Spangaro), event sponsors, and student volunteers who assisted with setup, registration, and logistics.

Congratulations to the Oral Presentation and Poster Presentation awardees!

Outstanding Oral Presentation Awardees:

• Lema Amiry (Rackus Lab)
• Cristina Camardi (Botelho and Antonescu Labs)
• Quin Cotnam (Mattiazzi Usaj Lab)
• Eric Fries (Süehring Lab)
• Kseniia Golik (Antonescu Lab)
• Ryan Hutchins (Impellizzeri Lab)
• Zohreh Kianfard (Sabatinos Lab)
• Senthuran Mahandradeva (Little Lab)
• Maria Narciso (Botelho Lab)
• Sam Poon (Laursen Lab)
• Christian Vieira (Gupta Lab)

Outstanding Poster Presentation Awardees:

Environmental Biology

• Graduate Awardees: Pravar Joshi (Melles Lab), Ericka De Oliveira (Süehring Lab)
• Undergraduate Awardee: Daniel Kuzhlev (Laursen Lab)
• Honourable Mention: Aaron McQuaid (Süehring Lab)

Chemistry

• Graduate Awardees: Garry Baboghli (Heyd & Foucher Labs), Max Reshetnyak (Adler Lab)
• Undergraduate Awardee: Jiani Wang (Impellizzeri Lab)
• Honourable Mentions: Jeanne Schiffmacher & Marie Vallée (Süehring Lab), Sreedevi Tharakan (Impellizzeri Lab)

Biomedical Sciences

• Graduate Awardees: Jayde Casimir-Powell (Antonescu Lab), Sophia Di Clemente (McPhee Lab), Candy Yang (Fillingham Lab)
• Undergraduate Awardee: Helia Ehsan-Nezhad (SickKids – McVey Lab)
• Honourable Mention: Bilal Malik (Sabatinos Lab)