When Science Hits the Big Screen
What is a scientist? The term “scientist” receives the same treatment as many other career paths such as a lawyer or a doctor where the title is often associated with an omnipotent knowledge of the field itself. The word, science, manages to encapsulate an immense quantity...
Comparing Biomedical PhD programs across North America & Europe
The doctor of philosophy degree (PhD) was first introduced at Humboldt University in Berlin in 1810. Soon after, the degree spread to the USA in 1862 and to Canada in 1900. PhD’s were originally brought to fruition in order...
The Advancements and Future of the M.Sc. in Applied Immunology
In 2015, responding to students’ interest in a graduate program that focuses on skill sets relevant for non-academic careers, Dr. Jennifer Gommerman, the Associate Chair of Graduate Studies for the Department of Immunology, launched a...
#SocialMediaForScientists
Social media is a powerful tool that allows people to communicate across the globe and to keep up with trending news. In recent years, more scientists have jumped on the bandwagon, using social...
Innovative Teaching Strategies, Online Tools & Experiential Learning
Graduate-level courses and programs are growing in diversity, comprised of both domestic and international students from numerous countries around the world. As such, classrooms and laboratories are becoming increasingly heterogenous in student learning preferences. Traditional lecture-based courses emphasize a ‘top-down’ teaching...
Lost in Translation: Climate Change & Scientific Literacy
Climate change is an issue of ever-growing urgency and global impact. Despite the critical status of climate change, there are many barriers that cultivate a systemic lack of public scientific...
Q&A on the Importance of Mentorship in Immunology
This year, the Department of Immunology launched its inaugural mentorship program, which pairs senior graduate students with incoming students. The goal of the program is to have the assigned mentor...
CAR-T Cell Immunotherapy: The Miracle Child of Science?
It is 7 o’clock in the evening. 45-year-old Jane Doe is rushed to the ER with a fever, rapid heart rate, shallow rapid breathing, low blood pressure and nausea. She...
Managing Patents & Commercialization: An Alumni Interview with Dr. Patrycja Thompson
Dr. Patrycja Thompson completed her PhD in 2015 from Dr. Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker’s laboratory, where she investigated the role of Notch signaling in T cell development and commitment. Now the...