Life at the TRP
What is it like to be a TRP student?
Join TRP student Abitha Suthakaran for a day in her life!
Abitha joined the TRP in Fall 2022 and has so far had an amazing experience. From advocating for the @trpstudentlife account to participating in two LMP research conferences to winning a U of T student leadership award, all the while progressing her capstone research, she has truly made the most out of her graduate student experience.
Outside opportunities
Second-year TRP student Mouzhan was part of the organizing team at the 2024 Temerty Research Showcase as a Scientific Program Co-Director.
The Research Showcase organizing committee ensures the event’s organization, diverse research topics, and enriching scientific discussions. The members volunteer their time and effort to plan every detail, from representing Faculty departments and research topics adequately to securing professional speakers and facilitating day-of logistics, ensuring a seamlessly run and exciting day for all attendees.
On the day, Mouzhan helped by setting up the registration, ensuring the slides for presentations were ready to go, circulating the poster presentations to help out where needed, facilitating panel discussions, helping determine who won Best Poster, and more!
Student clubs & initiatives
Students are encouraged to join student groups as a means of furthering their educational and social experience within the TRP. Student groups are fuelled by students’ passions.TRP students are encouraged to create student groups about the things they are passionate about.
To stay up-to-date about clubs and initiatives at the TRP, follow TRP Student Life:
Clubs
Description: The Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) at the Translational Research Program is a student led group that came together in June 2020. ARC’s mandate is to hold the TRP accountable to meaningful, concrete, and sustained anti- racism work, and to support members of the TRP community belonging to racialized or underrepresented minority groups. ARC’s vision is to challenge people to apply Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) principles to lead and drive change in their communities and improve medicine, health and care.
Contact: trp.arc@utoronto.ca
Description: The TRP Fitness Club is the first student-led exercise group within the Translational Research Program (TRP) looking to improve student mental health, physical health, and overall experience with fun exercise! Promoting an inclusive and positive environment, the TRP Fitness Club offers a great opportunity to learn more about healthy active living and to encourage the building of relationships within the TRP community. The weekly workout sessions are created collaboratively and incorporate exercises with varying difficulties including beginner-friendly exercises and alternative techniques.
Contact:
Description: In the Translational Research Program, we students dedicate our time to finding ways to improve health with the goal of providing care to those in need. Thus, the TRP Service Club intends on dedicating our time and effort toward providing selfless community service initiatives to support and care for those in need. The club aims to be inclusive of individuals trying to contribute and seeks to offer virtual and in-person opportunities to make a positive impact in our local community.
Contact:
Description: The TRP Social Committee plays an important role in developing and maintaining the culture of the Translational Research Program (TRP) and contributing to the hidden curriculum. Core to the values of the TRP are collaboration, imagination, and ingenuity. Such values are cultivated partly through formal academic training but is also highly dependent on the relationships cultivated and experiences outside of the classroom. The TRP social committee serves to create an engaged community and more complete learning environment by organizing social and extracurricular events that are opportunities for students to relax, have fun, make connections and build relationships.
Current chair: Abitha Suthakaran
Contact:
A group of TRP students dedicated to promoting health and wellness in our community.
Contact:
Initiatives
Description: The first patient-centered podcast committed to amplifying the patient perspective, providing a platform for patients to share their views and to raising awareness for important patient issues within healthcare. Their mission to bridge the health care gap for the every-person. This is a student run podcast that came together in the fall of 2020.
Contact:
Max’s Big Ride is a not-for-profit organization created to fundraise, raise awareness and advocate for better outcomes for those living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It’s named after Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient Max Sedmihradsky.
In 2015, Max and his father, TRP student Andrew Sedmihradsky started riding their cargo bike 600 km between their home in Hamilton and Ottawa to draw much-needed attention to the fight against Duchenne muscular dystrophy and they’ve continued this ride every summer since.
THE TRP BIG RIDE TO END DUCHENNE
This June, a number of amazing TRP students and staff will be challenging themselves to ride 500 km over the month of June to raise awareness and funds to help improve outcomes for those living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
100% of any donations they collect will go to the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Fund at the University of Toronto to support important research at The Gunning Group Lab and PRiME Medicine.
Student Union: CLAMPS
Enjoy life outside of courses with our graduate student union the Confederation of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology Students (CLAMPS). The TRP is part of the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology (LMP), so, you will automatically become a member of this active organization.
We are the annually elected student council of the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology.
CLAMPS serves the best interests of its students, offers support and guidance, and acts as the voice for its members within the School of Graduate Studies and the University of Toronto.
We provide assistance to MSc or PhD students within the department in relation to:
- academia
- research
- establishing social events
Having trouble? We’ll listen! Any comments or suggestions? Let us know!
We would love to hear from you about any ideas, suggestions or concerns you might have about CLAMPS, our website, or our events.
For prospective students and current students alike, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact CLAMPS through email, and please don’t hesitate to approach us in person at any time… we are quite friendly.
Follow us on social media!
Our students are split over a wide range of locations and research backgrounds so we try to organize a range of informational and social events that will help bring members of the department together throughout the year.
These include…
Academic and work-related events
- Annual LMP Research Day and Product Show
- Special Seminar sessions
- The CLAMPS Product Show
Social events
- Annual BBQ
- Sports
- Excursions
- Social gatherings
With these events, we aim to increase student participation in the department, while fostering friendships and contacts.
LMP Opportunities
TRP students are part of the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology which means they have the opportunity to participate in departmental opportunities & initiatives.
LMP mentoring program
We offer two different kinds of mentoring for our graduate students:
- peer-to-peer: where lower year graduate students are mentored by upper year graduate students
- alumni: where our alumni mentor graduate students at any stage of their program
All LMP graduate students are welcome to take part across all our programs.
LMP Art Competition
Show us the beauty of your specialty! Enter the LMP art competition.
Do you see beauty in the work you do? Can you create art from it and inspire others? Can you showcase what you love about your field in a creative way?
Winning images receive a gift card and will be showcased in our art show at the Annual Celebration of Excellence.
