ABOUT
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IMMpress Volume 13 Issue 2 – The Art of Science
This issue’s cover is a surrealistic digital collage celebrating the works of notable artist-scientists. Pieced together are the masterful creations of – Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Maria Sibylla Merian, Dorothea Maria Gsell, and John Russell. This cover is an homage to the greats who revealed the beautiful marvels of our world…
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Letter from the Chair, Dr. Jennifer Gommerman – Volume 13 Issue 2, 2025
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science.” — Albert Einstein Thank you to our talented IMMPress writers for bringing this concept, and this quotation from Albert Einstein, to our attention. Einstein also said, “The greatest scientists are always artists as well”, and while…
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Letter from the Editors – Volume 13 Issue 2, 2025
While art and science are often thought to belong within the opposing realms of creativity and logic, both are at their core characterised by curiosity, exploration, and the spirit of innovation. It cannot be coincidence, after all, that some of the most renowned scientists in history were also great artists — and vice versa. In…
Photo Gallery
Featured Articles
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Artistic Involvement in Scientific Breakthroughs
According to Pablo Picasso, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Art in its very nature does not provide an accurate depiction of reality. In fact, oftentimes, it may even provide a twisted version of reality as can be appreciated by the surrealist paintings of Salvador Dali, or the magical realism present in […]
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Before Pictures
Cryo-electron microscopy, photon counting-computed tomography, quantum imaging – these are a few modern developments that have allowed scientists to capture microscopic details at ultra-resolution. Researchers today have a vast arsenal of tools to visualize phenomena, from describing how cells communicate at a molecular level to large scale technologies like deformation imaging that map the rigidity […]
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The Hardi Cinader Prize: Celebrating Graduate Students Crafting Scientific Breakthroughs with Artistry and Precision
The Hardi Cinader Prize is a well-recognized award for those in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. Each year, this award is given to a graduate student pursuing doctoral studies in Immunology. The award selects the student who “best reflects the goals and life of Dr. Cinader”, with a specific emphasis on […]
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Alumni Interview
Michelle Letarte: Building Community with Art and Science
Dr. Michelle Letarte is a Professor Emerita of the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. Her laboratory at The Hospital for Sick Children focused on understanding Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Type 1, a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the endoglin gene, which was discovered by her team. Alongside scientific research, she has…
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Alumni Interview
Shaping Identity with Science & Art: Mahmoud El-Maklizi
Mahmoud El-Maklizi has been a long-standing member of the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. After completing his PhD in Dr. Cynthia Guidos’ lab, he has continued his research as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Clint Robbins’ lab. In addition to immunological research, Mahmoud is dedicated to the visual arts. IMMPress Magazine sat…
Articles
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An AI-generated picture worth a thousand words
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is now at the forefront of technology and is becoming increasingly available to the general public. Along with its rise in our current culture, there also comes new arguments for and against using AI. Tools like…
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An Immunologist’s Suite: How Dr. Gabriel Victora Composed a Life in B Cells
Science and art are often presented as a juxtaposition, the former delimited by rationality and objectivity, while the latter exposing abstract thought and subjectivity. But what if these realms harmonized? Play your favorite song. Let it drift in the background…
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Beyond Left and Right: The Neuroscience of Creativity and Logic
The human brain, with its elegant bilateral symmetry, has long been depicted as a battleground of opposites. On one side: the left hemisphere, logical, analytical, verbal. On the other: the right, creative, intuitive, emotional. This split-brain narrative, popularized in the…
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Bioart: when science and creativity join paths
Bioart is an art form that intertwines the beauty of art with biology, using live cells and unique chemical processes as a medium. This movement advances the traditional boundaries of art and opens new dialogues about our relationship with the…
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Body Horror and Horrific Bodies: What the Horror Genre Can Tell Us About Responsible Science
At first glance, it would seem that the horror genre and science are natural opposites. After all, horror is driven by a fear of the unknown, of things that lurk in the shadows and go bump in the night, while…
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Painting and Science: What Photography and Impressionism Teach Us About Innovation
Before Photography: Painting as a Window to the World Before the invention of photography, painting was humanity’s most powerful visual storytelling tool. Whether capturing the grandeur of royal courts, recording historic events, or preserving the likenesses of loved ones, painting…
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Solving for (X)-istential Patterns within Nature
Humans have sought to mathematically describe and characterize the structure, patterns, and evolution of natural organisms and processes for over two millennia. The ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras (570-495 BCE), who famously developed the Pythagorean theorem, helped to pioneer and disseminate…
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The combined impact of art and science on society & the power of mixing fact with feeling
Today, it is not uncommon to view the arts and the sciences as mutually exclusive disciplines. We tend to imagine scientists and artists residing on opposite ends of a spectrum, each offering fundamentally different contributions to society. In an era…
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The inseparable nature of art and science: Does the “Renaissance man” still exist today?
Science and art have co-existed as disciplines throughout human history. Both are manifestations of the human imagination and require a modicum of creativity and skill in observation. From intricate star-shaped geometries employed by architects during the Islamic Golden Age and…
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The Science of Culinary Arts
After a long week of work, don’t you want to treat yourself to a good meal? Maybe you’re not too confident in your culinary arts…but it’s a good thing you’re such a great scientist! Let’s create a menu optimized with…
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The Science of Music
Music is omnipresent in our lives. From wishing ‘Happy Birthday’ to our loved ones, to humming to our favorite tunes while doing daily chores, music finds a way to keep us company. Music allows us to convey a wide range…