PhD

Nursing PhD graduate creates toolkit to improve communication for ICU patients

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 17:02:11 +0000

Nursing PhD graduate creates toolkit to improve communication for ICU patients

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 06/06/2023 - 13:02

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Laura Istanboulian, a new graduate of the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, created a “communication bundle” to help solve a decades-old problem in hospital ICUs (supplied photo)

Rebecca Biason

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2023

Graduate Students

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

Medical Research

Nursing

PhD

Research & Innovation

Subheadline

Nurse practitioner Laura Istanboulian worked with patients, families and health-care professionals to co-design new tools that can better support patients

Already juggling a career as a nurse practitioner, marriage, two kids and aging parents, Laura Istanboulian wondered if she was too old – or if it was too late – to pursue her doctorate in nursing science.

Yet it had been her dream to complete her PhD – and as a nurse, she was motivated to situate her research around her patients. She was specifically interested in addressing a decades-old problem in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) that makes it difficult for individuals who require a ventilator to communicate with their health-care providers.

Istanboulian decided to pursue her doctorate, making it her objective to reframe communication as something essential to a quality patient experience.

While in the program, she co-designed and implemented a bundled communication toolkit for ICU patients as part of her PhD at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.

The bundle is a portable, multi-modal set of tools that Istanboulian co-designed with nurses, patients and their families. Each item in the bundle is evidence-based in supporting the communication needs of patients – including alphabet boards, blank boards for writing on, writing tools like markers and pencils, a pain scale, a basic needs scale and some pre-translated boards in multiple languages.

Istanboulian using tools from the bundle to communicate with a patient in the ICU (supplied photo)

The bundle also contains six short education modules for staff to gain a better understanding of how to use each tool option to best support a patient.

“I was not trying to invent something brand-new – these tools existed already, but it became necessary to have them contained in one convenient and accessible location, and to also make providers aware of the need to make an effort to communicate with ventilated patients,” Istanboulian explains.

When a patient is on a ventilator, no air can pass over their vocal cords – meaning that they cannot speak. They might make efforts to communicate – but that requires both interpretation and time from the health-care provider, which is not always available, Istanboulian says.

Some patients may also have cognitive impairments or brain dysfunction from their illness or medical condition, making communication that much harder – and their fear from not knowing what is going on even more palpable.

Istanboulian notes that limited communication with a patient can also affect care providers.

“It can be intimidating caring for someone when you cannot explain what it is happening to them or understand what they are trying to say,” she says.

Istanboulian recounts a moment when she used the new communication tools to try to understand one of her clients, who could not speak or hear.

“On the blank board, he wrote, ‘Thank you so much for taking the time.’ I took a photo of that and it hangs by my desk, because it is a reminder that this effort to communicate really mattered to this person – and it also tells me that this doesn’t happen as a rule,” she says.

“As nurses and physicians, we might be doing the best for them medically, but if patients don’t understand what is happening to them, they can feel very unsafe and alone.”

Developing the communication bundle was not without its challenges, especially as Istanboulian began her PhD just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold.

The bundled toolkit in a central location on a hospital unit (supplied photo)

“Laura overcame significant obstacles posed by the global pandemic to complete her doctoral research,” says Istanboulian’s supervisor Craig Dale, an associate professor in the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.

“She designed, implemented and evaluated this communication-support intervention for mechanically ventilated adult patients in the ICU and the outcome of her research has the potential to be implemented in ICUs worldwide – a positive impact that extends well beyond the pandemic.”

Despite the constantly shifting policies around visitors and isolation requirements for the ICU, Istanboulian found most families, patients and nurses were more than willing to help her design the new tools.

“They really wanted to engage in this process – which was so profound to me, because it showed how much everyone wanted to see this issue of communication addressed,” Istanboulian says.

Families and caregivers offered helpful tips for nurses on providing phone updates on loved ones, and nurses were able to speak to what they would find most helpful in using the bundle, including how to easily share some of the online tools using the internal hospital intranet.

Following the initial success of the tools, Istanboulian is keen to scale up the bundle so that it is accessible to larger units in the hospital – and eventually available across multiple hospital sites within the health-care system.

Istanboulian says one of the key lessons she learned from the project was that the toolkit does require tailoring to local environments in order to meet the needs of the end users. She is currently working with an international group of researchers who are developing core outcomes for communications research in critical care and recommendations that will assist in scaling up the bundle.

Her work with researcher Dr. Kelly Smith – a specialist in health-care quality and patient safety who is an associate professor and co-lead for outcomes and evaluation at U of T's Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation – will also help to determine how patients and family members interpret communication as a safety issue and help reframe communication as something that many see as simply "nice to have," Istaboulian says, to something essential to a patient's experience.

As Istanboulian embarks on life after her PhD, which includes ongoing research and a new position as an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, she's grateful for the many people that helped her on her path to graduating with her doctorate.

“My wife was my No. 1 – she was always making space for me to be able to write or research. My supervisor and clinical supervisor were so supportive of me not only conducting the research, but maintaining my clinical practice; and my parents were so proud of me,” Istanboulian says.

“I’m not sure everyone is as fortunate to have that level of support – and I think that was really the recipe for this dream becoming a reality.”

U of T works in partnership with Mexico on PhD scholarship

ullahnor — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 19:44:09 +0000

U of T works in partnership with Mexico on PhD scholarship

ullahnor Fri, 01/12/2018 - 14:44

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PhD student Rafael Escamilla is from Mexico. He is studying at U of T's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. His research focuses on developing a biofeedback system that will help people with prosthetic limbs (photo by Noreen Ahmed-Ullah)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

Global Lens

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Global

Graduate Students

Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

PhD

Ted Sargent

A Mexican-Canadian scholarship brought Rafael Escamilla to the ��Ƶ, where the PhD student is now developing a biofeedback system to help people with prosthetic limbs achieve better control of their balance and gait.

He says he applied to U of T because Toronto seemed like a good place to raise a family and a chance to study at the university was a hard-to-miss opportunity.

“In Toronto, you feel part of the culture, part of the community. You don’t feel like a tourist,” he said. “U of T is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, and the program that it offers is very interesting.”

His research could eventually improve the lives of people with prosthetics around the globe, including in Mexico and Canada: “The fact that you can do something to contribute to society is a very rewarding experience,” Escamilla said.

Under a new agreement with Mexico, more Mexican students like Escamilla who want to study abroad will be coming to U of T. Mexico is investing in 150 new PhD students to come to U of T in a joint collaboration between the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) in Mexico and the university. Building on past CONACyT initiatives and a shared long-term vision, the new agreement hopes to encourage a greater flow of talent and ideas between both countries.

In addition, officials from Mexico’s Ministry of Energy and U of T are working on finalizing another initiative that is designed to bring another 150 graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to the university – recruits who would solely focus on clean energy research.

Ted Sargent, U of T’s vice-president international, said that the new agreement seeks to boost the number of PhDs from Mexico, which currently sits at 30. He visited Mexico last year to meet with prospective students, parents, alumni, friends and partners.

"We want to make this something much bigger,” Sargent said. “We want to attract more students from Mexico.

“The university is committed to strengthening our global engagement by also supporting greater regional co-operation between U of T and North America. Opportunities like this allow us to train a new generation of leaders with strong global fluency and the capacity to contribute innovations that will drive our collective prosperity.”

For Mexico, it’s an effort to build national capacity and also talent in areas such as the energy sector and sustainability research through training opportunities in Canada.

“The scholarship program would serve as well to improve our understanding of each other and to develop our potential as an economic region, through academic collaboration and common research,” said Mexican Consul General Muñoz Ledo.

One of the many reasons the Mexican government is keen to provide the PhD scholarships is that it set national goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and increase electricity generated from clean energy sources to 35 per cent by 2024. The country is also leading a global innovation challenge on clean energy materials that comes out of the 2015 Paris climate conference (COP21), with researchers from the U.S., Canada and the European Union also participating.

“There’s a need and a big opportunity for Mexico to catch up on clean energy research and clean energy technology development,” said Hermann Tribukait, ambassador to North America for Mexico’s Energy Innovation Funds, managed by the Mexican Ministry of Energy. “For that, we need to build up our human capital and build capacity. We are developing this collaboration agreement with the best research universities in the world such as U of T.”

As for Escamilla, he is part of U of T's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. For his graduate research, he is working with Assistant Professor Jan Andrysek’s PROPEL Lab at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

“What U of T gains from an agreement like this is students who want to come here,” Escamilla said. “Most of us are dedicated and passionate about our work, which is reflected in the number of times we are published and the number of conference that we attend. In Mexico, when we go back, we can apply all this knowledge to contribute to improve the quality of life for people living there. Our research can help people here as well as people back home.”

In Trump's America, political scientist Debra Elizabeth Thompson researches the culture and history of race

Romi Levine — Wed, 31 May 2017 15:07:33 +0000

In Trump's America, political scientist Debra Elizabeth Thompson researches the culture and history of race

Romi Levine Wed, 05/31/2017 - 11:07

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Debra Elizabeth Thompson completed her PhD at U of T in political science (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

This past weekend, two men were killed in Portland, Ore., after they tried to help a pair of young women who were being harassed by a man on an anti-Muslim tirade.

“It is an interesting time to do what I do, but tragically so,” says Debra Elizabeth Thompson who completed her PhD in political science at ��Ƶ and is currently an assistant professor of African American studies at Northwestern University in Chicago.

As an expert in the politics of race, she’s studied everything from how race is portrayed in census data to the Black Lives Matter movements all over the world.

“The goal of every race scholar should be that we ultimately want to be out of a job – I don't want to work on racial inequality for the rest of my life. I want to see a future in which there is no such thing as racial inequality,” says Thompson.

Between U of T and Northwestern, Thompson was a post-doctoral researcher at Harvard University and taught at Ohio University. In September, she’s heading to the University of Oregon to join its political science faculty.

Thompson is one of a new generation of thinkers, transforming research across the globe. They come from all corners of the world to do their PhD or postdoctoral research at the ��Ƶ, drawn by the chance to work with the leading experts in their fields.

Where do they go from here?

In this fifth instalment of a new series from U of T News, we turn the spotlight on Thompson. Below, Thompson talks about her U of T experience and what it’s like studying race in Trump’s America.

What was your time at U of T like as a PhD candidate?

It was a really positive experience but not without its challenges. U of T is this huge university and so there were times when it was really difficult to make your own way. That being said, I felt really well-supported in my department.

I ended up taking classes in English and at OISE so I was really able to have this interdisciplinary training, which is still beneficial today after I've switched disciplines – I'm now a professor of African American studies. That training was really helpful.

I think my cohort of students was just phenomenal. I made some of my greatest friends and allies – we're still all great friends. I learned a lot from the people who I chose to surround myself with.

How was your experience at Harvard as a post-doctoral researcher?

I really enjoyed my year at Harvard. I was surrounded by really smart people, but that was very similar to U of T where I was also surrounded by very, very smart people… I was happy to go to Harvard and see if I could play in the big leagues – and I obviously could so that was a testament to the training I got in Toronto.

What's the value for academics in Canada to live and work in another country?

It's crucial because the world is big, and life is long. It's particularly important to get that different view to take ourselves out of our comfort zones and to look at things a little bit differently. That being said, home is home. I'm very proud of being Canadian, and I don't think I'll ever change or lose that. I can imagine coming back to teach in Canada at some point.

What advice would you give students who are graduating this year?

Martin Luther King said “the arc of the moral universe is long.” When people graduate from undergrad or their master's or PhD, they don't realize how long their career is. There's no such thing as a dream job. You have to find happiness in its various manifestations. No job is going to be everything that you like, but hopefully you find something you love – that's an important thing to look for.

The political landscape in the U.S. has changed significantly over the past year. Does it feel like a different America to you?

Yes and no. No, this isn't a different America because I'm a Black Canadian. I'm passing as African American and actually, my family is from the U.S., way, way back. My great, great-grandfather came to Canada from the Underground Railroad and just stayed in Chatham, Ont. So, for Black people in America, things don't feel a whole lot different. Black wealth is significantly less than white wealth.

These trends that have been a permanent feature of American political and social life continued under Obama. Trump is not that different from any other American president. For people of colour in this country, the vitriol is a little less hidden than it used to be – but would you rather fight the enemy you can see or you can't see? I live in Chicago, and I am terrified of the police. I don't live in the South Side where they have prevailed and terrorised Black populations for decades. But at the same time, these dynamics didn't emerge with Trump.

Last week, two bystanders stood up for young Muslim women who had been harassed in Portland and were stabbed. A knife-wielding racist stabbed someone in California. There is something different going on in that the racists have come out of the closet. What I want to emphasize is that they were always there in the closet – they didn't just magically come out of the wardrobe from Narnia in 2016. They've always been there, but they do certainly seem to be bolder. It is scary – there are people who are the victims of real violence.

What will you be doing at the University of Oregon?

I'm really excited to be there – I'm moving back to political science, but with the idea that I would be there with a new cohort of Black scholars that will build an African American studies program there. Oregon is this interesting state with a lot of really interesting racial dynamics that I'm excited to learn about.

Learn more about humanities at U of T

Industrial relations expert Rachel Aleks studies U.S. power dynamics

Romi Levine — Mon, 29 May 2017 15:18:09 +0000

Industrial relations expert Rachel Aleks studies U.S. power dynamics

Romi Levine Mon, 05/29/2017 - 11:18

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

Remember This Name

Alumni

Faculty of Arts & Science

PhD

Graduate Students

Canada's robust union environment – with an estimated 776 unions representing almost five million Canadians – is what got ��Ƶ alumna Rachel Aleks interested in labour relations and led her to become an expert in her field.

“I was in a new country with different laws and, more importantly, with an organized and mobilized workforce,” she said. “I regularly witnessed labour strikes and that definitely shaped my scholarly interests.”

Aleks came to Canada from the United States initially to pursue an undergraduate degree at McGill University. After graduating, she worked for a labour union in the U.S. but decided to return to Canada to complete her PhD at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at U of T. She's now an assistant professor at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Aleks is one of a new generation of thinkers, transforming research across the globe. They come from all corners of the world to do their PhD or postdoctoral research at the ��Ƶ, drawn by the chance to work with the leading experts in their fields.

Where do they go from here?

In this fourth instalment of a new series from U of T News, we turn the spotlight on Aleks. Below, Aleks talks about how her fascination with power structures in the U.S. has taken her from inside labour unions to a maximum-security prison.

What was your time like at U of T?

During my time at U of T, I was involved in organizing with CUPE Local 3902, the union that represents graduate teaching assistants. This experience affected my research, some of which looks at how to organize professionals and how professional worker organizing differs from organizing non-professional workers. My involvement with CUPE 3902 helped me frame research questions to focus on.

I had the support of a great supervisor who encouraged me to focus my research on the issues that are important and interesting to me. He was very supportive of my desire to pursue classic labour relations issues in my dissertation, which allowed me to get the job that I have at Cornell.

Where has your research taken you?

Cornell has been amazing. It's an incredibly supportive environment for an assistant professor. As a result of being at Cornell, I've added another stream of research – I'm teaching in a maximum-security prison close to Cornell through the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP). My work through CPEP has motivated me to look at power and voice within the prison environment. Power and voice are what unionization is all about for people who are outside of prison, but these ideas take a very different form within prison, which I am interested in researching.

Has the shift in politics in the U.S. changed the way you've approached your research?

My current research focuses on various strategies for union revitalization.

Because of the shift in politics – that there will not be any major changes to federal labour law – I'm starting to take a more inward look at unions to see what sort of internal organizational practices facilitate or inhibit union success. I expect what we'll see in the coming months and years will create an environment that's hostile and difficult for unions. It'll be very interesting to see how labour unions and the labour movement respond and react to that.

People generally – and not just union members – are taking to the streets in order to protest and make their feelings known. There's an opportunity to look at how labour responds and whether unions decide to join these groups by taking a more progressive stance on certain issues.

Linguist Ailís Cournane leads the Child Language Lab at New York University

geoff.vendeville — Fri, 26 May 2017 13:46:08 +0000

Linguist Ailís Cournane leads the Child Language Lab at New York University

geoff.vendeville Fri, 05/26/2017 - 09:46

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Linguist Ailís Cournane, specialized in children's language acquisition, holds props from the Child Language Lab that she leads at New York University (photo by Sheng-Fu Wang)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

“I’ve been lucky enough to find a perfect job where I can be nerdy, creative and social”

Ailís Cournane made her “first multiword utterance” when she was 17 months old.

Her brothers had tried to scare her away from wandering around the house and hurting herself by inventing a bogeyman.

“Monster (in) basement,” Cournane told her mom.

Today, Cournane is leading a new child language lab at New York University, studying the complex transformation from “language-less infants” to “fully linguistic adults.” Her path to NYU took her through U of T, where she earned a master’s degree in 2008 and a doctorate seven years later.

Learn more about linguistics and the humanities

She remembers researchers in the linguistics department, especially her supervisor, Professor Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux, as supportive and inspiring.

“The academic atmosphere in the linguistics department was open to my thesis idea…despite no one working on that topic from an experimental child acquisition perspective, anywhere,” she said.

Cournane is one of a new generation of thinkers, transforming research across the globe. They come from all corners of the world to do their PhD or postdoctoral research at the ��Ƶ, drawn by the chance to work with the leading experts in their fields.

Where do they go from here?

In this third instalment of a new series from U of T News, we turn the spotlight on Cournane.

Below, Cournane talks about her career trajectory – and how the PhD from U of T set her up for the next step.

Why linguistics?

Throughout my teenage years, my goal was to be an artist and art professor.

I chose to study linguistics in addition to studio arts. My uncle, Barry O’Donovan, who was an expert on the Irish language (Gaeilge), passed away around the time I was making decisions about what to study in university. Irish has struggled to survive because of historical political oppression, including periods where the English colonisers made it illegal to speak or teach Irish. The role language plays in cultural and family identity was an early inspiration to me, though my linguistic interests have progressively moved further and further from that origin.

What aspect of child language acquisition do you specialize in? What interests you the most about the process?

I specialize in how children learn what complex words and structures mean, and how this learning process relates to the way languages change over time. My child language experiments and corpus studies focus on linguistic modality (e.g., must, have to, should, maybe), an area of language related to tense and aspect. Modality is a grammatical category expressing the possibility or necessity that an event occur (e.g. You must brush your teeth), or that a reality is true (e.g. It must be raining).

What interests me most about studying child language development is the inherent linguistic creativity. Essentially, we all created our own mental grammar by using our innate cognitive capacities to hone into the language use of humans in our learning environment (our caregivers, older siblings). The problem itself is fascinating and complex.

Out of curiosity, what was your first word?

Let me call my mom…

Ok, she says my three older brothers kept her so busy she didn’t write down my first word. She thinks it was “mama,” a highly probable first word, but she would say that wouldn’t she?

What she does remember clearly is my first multiword utterance – the first time I put words together. My older brothers were tasked with making sure I didn’t toddle into the basement so they told me there was a monster down there. At 17 months, I reported “Monster (in) basement.”

How did your time at U of T prepare you for what came next in your career?

The linguistics professors at U of T are an inspiring bunch of scientists, as are the graduate students.

The academic atmosphere in the linguistics department was open to my thesis idea – to use child language studies to test whether children play a role in how languages change over time – despite no one working on that topic from an experimental child acquisition perspective (anywhere). It is a department that, to a large extent, lets students develop their own projects. My supervisor, Professor Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux, was especially encouraging and supportive.

Ailís Cournane in front of the linguistics department on the NYU campus, in Greenwich Village (photo by Sheng-Fu Wang)

What did you do here when you weren’t hitting the books, i.e. for fun?

I liked to bike around, do yoga, sometimes go indoor climbing. Eating and drinking out was especially great in Toronto so I did as much of that as time and money allowed.

For food, I miss the ramen places in particular. There’s comparable ramen in Manhattan, of course, but you’ll have to wait an hour for a seat, and it’ll cost you more than double.

What’s your favourite word or expression?

Maybe. It’s literally “may+be,” wrenched from the sentence (historically, that’s more or less what happened – it comes from “It may be that…”), giving speakers a particularly simple way to express possibility.

It is a deceptively simple word. We’re so familiar with it that it’s easy to take for granted that humans can express something as abstract as e.g., the future possibility of outcomes (like whether it will rain tomorrow, or whether we’ll decide to go to the museum) in tiny, neatly packaged symbols (like “maybe”). Also, I study its development in children, and they use it in adult-like context from about age 2, making it among the earliest modal words children use productively (ditto for comparable words in other languages).

Why academia? Did you always imagine becoming a teacher?

I’ve always loved school so staying in it forever was a natural choice, right? One of my older brothers used to regularly get me to do his homework because I didn’t realise that I was being played. I just thought the math problems were good fun.

In retrospect, I wanted to be a professor long before I knew exactly what that entailed.

What do you do now at NYU?

I “professor” – I now know what this entails! This is the end of my second semester here so much of my time has been devoted to creating new course materials for courses that I teach here (Language & Mind, Language Acquisition, my first PhD seminar), and setting up the new Child Language Lab, which I direct. For the lab, I’ve done everything from order furniture and choose paint colours to hire research assistants and buy a nifty eye-tracking device.

I’m also advising several graduate student projects, here at NYU and at the University of Maryland.

I’ve been lucky enough to find a perfect job where I can be nerdy, creative and social. It has so far been very demanding, but I’m gradually adjusting to that aspect of the job.

See the top 11 reasons to study the humanities

Engineer Kai James designs tools for aerospace structures

geoff.vendeville — Wed, 24 May 2017 18:12:52 +0000

Engineer Kai James designs tools for aerospace structures

geoff.vendeville Wed, 05/24/2017 - 14:12

Cutline

Kai James learned the fundamentals of aerospace engineering at U of T. He went on to become an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (photo by L. Brian Stauffer)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Remember This Name

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Alumni

PhD

Graduate Students

Some kids become obsessed with planes and rockets at an early age. Aerospace engineer Kai James took a broader pleasure from physics, particularly mechanics.

In high school, he loved to solve mechanical problems, which he thought of at the time as “really cool puzzles.” His interest in physics led him to delve deeper into the subject, until he was studying orbital dynamics of satellites, rocket propulsion and other advanced topics in university.

Knowing that he wanted to study aerospace engineering, he applied to ��Ƶ's highly demanding engineering science program. While at U of T, he set aside time to tutor students from underrepresented groups to help them access higher education.

After graduation, James stayed at U of T for his master's and doctorate. He then undertook a post-doc at Columbia University and is now an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

James is one of a new generation of thinkers transforming research across the globe. They come from all corners of the world to do their PhD or postdoctoral research at the ��Ƶ, drawn by the chance to work with the leading experts in their fields.

Where do they go from here?

In this second instalment of a new series from U of T News, we turn the spotlight on James. Below, he talks about his career trajectory – and how the PhD from U of T set him up for the next step.

Why U of T?

Because I knew I wanted to study aerospace engineering, and U of T had the top aerospace program in the country.

Why aerospace engineering? Did you always have a fascination for aircraft?

Not particularly. In high school my favourite subject was physics (in particular, mechanics). I just liked mechanics as an intellectual exercise, so for me, solving a mechanics problem was like solving a really cool puzzle. But I knew I wanted to study mechanics in a way that was more applied than what I would get in a physics program. I also really liked the idea of aerospace, and the ability to study mechanics as it relates to aerospace applications such as orbital dynamics of satellites, rocket propulsion, robotics and aircraft structures. I was interested in the fundamental science of mechanics, just as a purely intellectual endeavor, but I was also interested in aerospace applications so aerospace engineering seemed like a perfect fit.

Could you describe your particular research interests in laymen’s terms?

In my research, I create software tools for the design of aerospace structures. Using my knowledge of solid mechanics, I write computer programs that simulate the behaviour of structures and materials (how they bend, how they break, how they vibrate, etc. in response to different forces or loads). Then based on these simulations, the computer program will automatically generate optimal structural designs based on rigorous mathematical design criteria. These computer-generated designs often perform significantly better than conventional designs, which rely more heavily on engineering intuition. So for example, in a lot of my research, I work on design of aircraft wings. Using our computer programs, we aim to design the outer shape of the wing, as well as the internal layout of the wing's support structure. If successful, our design process will lead to a more aerodynamically efficient airplane that burns less fuel than existing designs.

How did U of T prepare you for a career in academia?

U of T is where I learned the fundamentals of aerospace engineering. It is also where I learned to think critically and to approach problems as a research scientist. Both of these things have been essential in my career since leaving U of T.

Kai James, centre, in the department of aerospace's composite manufacturing lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with his grad students, Cian Conlan-Smith and Anurag Bhattacharyya (photo by L. Brian Stauffer)

You’re passionate about increasing diversity in STEM. How did you support this cause while you were at U of T?

I was active in a number of organizations dedicated to community outreach. For many years while at U of T, I volunteered as a tutor and later as a program coordinator for a drop-in tutoring program on campus. It was called the Tan Furu Mentoring Program, and we provided one-on-one tutoring in math and science for inner city high school students in the Toronto area.

I also frequently spoke at community outreach events, where members of underrepresented minority communities would come to campus and listen to presentations from representatives of the different faculties and departments at U of T. I tried to give them a better understanding of what engineering entails at the undergraduate, graduate and professional level so that they could begin to see engineering as a viable career option for them.

What did you do at U of T when you weren’t in the library or a computer lab?

I participated in intramural basketball and volleyball for many years. On weekends, I also enjoyed spending time with friends at some of the bars around campus. Red Room on Spadina Avenue and O'Grady's on College Street were two of my favourites.

Physicist Riccardo Comin uncovers secrets of superconductors

geoff.vendeville — Fri, 19 May 2017 14:21:07 +0000

Physicist Riccardo Comin uncovers secrets of superconductors

geoff.vendeville Fri, 05/19/2017 - 10:21

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After a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) post-doc at U of T, Riccardo Comin joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's physics department (photo by Marit Mitchell)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Remember This Name

PhD

Graduate Students

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Ted Sargent

In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes became the first to observe superconductivity, discovering that mercury offers zero electrical resistance when cooled to -269°C – thus allowing an electrical current to circulate with perfect efficiency.

More than a century later, former U of T post-doctoral researcher Riccardo Comin is at the forefront of trying to find a superconductor that can operate at everyday temperatures.

Nailing such a discovery would open up virtually endless possibilities, ranging from “power grids that never lose energy and cheap water purification systems to magnetically levitating vehicles,” according to a Wired magazine article about Comin.

Comin came to U of T as a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) post-doctoral fellow. He worked with Ted Sargent's Sargent Group to develop more efficient solar cells, winning the 2015 John Charles Polanyi Prize for Physics. Last year, he became an assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Comin is one of a new generation of thinkers transforming research across the globe. They come from all corners of the world to do their PhD or postdoctoral research at the ��Ƶ, drawn by the chance to work with the leading experts in their fields.

Where do they go from here?

In the first instalment of a new series from U of T News, we turn the spotlight on Comin. Below, he talks about his career trajectory – and how the post-doc at U of T set him up for the next step.

Could you describe your research in laymen's terms? Are you still working on superconductors and creating more efficient solar cells?

I am primarily focusing on eviscerating the secrets of high-temperature superconductors, which are fascinating but also very complex systems. On the front of solar cell research, I am not directly engaged with developing or testing new devices but remain very involved on the synthesis and characterization of those halide perovskites that have made the headlines in the photovoltaic research community in recent times

New technique could lead to cheaper, more efficient solar power and LEDs

What drew you to physics?

The possibility of studying and understanding nature using mathematics. I have always been very passionate about math, but I became particularly intrigued in the use of mathematical tools to describe physical phenomena. Also, pursuing physics seemed like an opportunity to satisfy my own curiosity toward the mysteries of the physical world, while at the same time helping develop the foundations of future technologies.

Riccardo Comin and Xiwen Gong, a PhD candidate with the Sargent Group (photo by Marit Mitchell)

Why did you come to U of T after obtaining a doctorate in Vancouver?

I wanted to explore a more applied side of science – see what it takes to take rational understanding and convert it into functional devices or tools, or in general into technologies that could serve society.

What did you like the most about U of T?

The very dynamic research environment and opportunities to connect to researchers and professionals from very different but intertwined fields in both fundamental and applied science. Also, I have to add the centrality of the campus in the downtown area (we particularly enjoyed the proximity to many restaurants and bars in the Kensington Market and Baldwin Street area).

How did your post-doc here prepare you for what came next in your career?

Besides nurturing my expertise in materials synthesis and characterization, my postdoctoral experience at U of T gave me the opportunity to manage projects in a semi-independent way, an aspect which is crucial for my current job.

Also, in the setting of the Sargent Group, I had the chance to learn how to present concepts and ideas to a broader public.

What did you do at U of T when you weren't doing research?

We did travel quite a bit in the surrounding areas – Muskoka, Prince Edward County, Niagara Peninsula – or searched for some more tranquil spot in the city where to unwind from the fast-paced urban environment. Toronto Island was one of our favorites.

#UofTGrad17: Facing terminal cancer, U of T student completes her PhD

ullahnor — Tue, 09 May 2017 12:06:06 +0000

#UofTGrad17: Facing terminal cancer, U of T student completes her PhD

ullahnor Tue, 05/09/2017 - 08:06

Cutline

Precilla Veigas is happy that she was able to complete her PhD. “Cancer didn’t prevent me from doing that,” she said (photo by Erin Howe)

Erin Howe

Author legacy

Erin Howe

Topic

City & Culture

PhD

School of Graduate Studies

Institute of Medical Science

Subheadline

“She’s not just a role model for her daughter but for other graduates”

Cancer did not derail Precilla Veigas’s dream of achieving a PhD.

Today, Veigas is receiving her PhD from the ��Ƶ's Institute of Medical Science in a private degree presentation ceremony, with her 15-year-old daughter, family and colleagues nearby.

Doctors had warned her she might not make it to convocation next month.

Veigas learned she had cancer in 2015. She had completed her research but still had half of her PhD thesis left to write.

“My whole world turned upside down,” says Veigas. “But, I didn’t give up because I wanted to see my daughter grow in front of me.

“She was only 14, and I didn’t want to imagine her growing up without a mother.”

Read the Toronto Star article on Veigas

Veigas is one of the first in the Class of 2017 to receive her degree. From June 6-22, almost 14,000 students will graduate from the ��Ƶ receiving a variety of degrees during 27 ceremonies held at Convocation Hall.

About 40 people attended attend Veigas's ceremony today, including family from India.

“Today’s ceremony is a recognition of Precilla’s outstanding achievements in research,” says Luc De Nil, vice-dean of students at U of T's School of Graduate Studies and professor of speech-language pathology. “Having the courage and determination to complete a PhD is amazing, and it is especially important to recognize that she achieved her goal despite significant health challenges.”

Veigas had to navigate through life's many detours as she pursued her lifelong passion to become a scientist. First, she endured two international moves – Dubai, then Canada – both of which had few opportunities for someone with a master’s degree from India. After arriving in Canada in 2005, she persevered, completing a clinical research program at Humber College while travelling from North York to Hamilton by public transit to work towards a new master's degree at McMaster University.

Veigas initially began working as a research intern with Laurie Morrison, a professor at the Institute of Medical Science and researcher at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She moved on to manage large, multi-centre studies with hospitals and emergency medical services across Ontario. Eventually, she decided she wanted to work towards a PhD and secured a spot in the lab of Sandro Rizoli, a professor of surgery and critical care medicine.

Veigas’s PhD research focused on a type of blood test that assesses bleeding and clot ting disorders and how it can be used in the emergency room or hospital to help doctors make better decisions about blood transfusions.

At the time of her diagnosis, Veigas was given six months to live – one year at best. Last December, doctors gave her another six months.

Despite a bleak prognosis, Veigas continued her studies, exploring the value of ROTEM, or rotational thromboelastometry, for early transfusion management of significantly bleeding trauma patients who have trauma associated coagulopathy, a condition where blood’s ability to clot is impaired on arrival to the emergency room.

The standard tests used in hospital ERs were originally designed to detect genetic bleeding disorders like hemophilia. Although most trauma centres rely on this test, it isn’t predictive of bleeding or especially quick to yield results. By comparison, ROTEM can give initial results in as little as 10 minutes in the form of a graph that can be viewed on a remote computer screen and can be seen by physicians in the ER, blood banks, labs or wherever they are needed.

“If this test is implemented in major trauma centres following guidelines based on my findings, maybe patients will be managed effectively and saved,” says Veigas.

Other research shows that ROTEM helps tailor transfusions of blood products like red blood cells, plasma or platelets to individual patients and enables rational use of blood products. Previous studies have also shown a reduction in mortality.

The technology is relatively new but is already established in Europe. St. Michael’s Hospital is using the device for patient care, and Veigas says more hospitals are also expected to start using it, generating more data to justify her findings.

The potential to help future emergency room patients is just one legacy Veigas is creating. She is also sharing her love of learning with her 15-year old daughter – just as Veigas’s own mother fostered it in her.

“My mother kept telling us that if you study well, no one can snatch it from you. No one can rob education from you, and it will take you places,” she says. “I want to be a role model to my child. I always tell her, ‘Whatever you do, you have to do with close to perfection if not 100 per cent perfection. You have to work hard toward your goals. You may fail – it’s okay. You can learn from your mistakes. Whatever you want to become, work toward it with 100 per cent passion.’”

Associate Professor Vasundara Venkateswaran is a graduate coordinator at the Institute of Medical Science. Venkateswaran became a mentor to Veigas, helping to guide the PhD candidate through the process. The associate professor, who is also a scientist at Sunnybrook, would often visit Veigas during her trips to the hospital for cancer treatments.

“It was never about herself. It was always about her desire to complete her degree,” says Venkateswaran, who is appointed to the division of urology in the department of surgery. “She has this power and determination to go far and beyond to achieve her dream. She’s not just a role model for her daughter but for other graduates.”

Veigas is preparing to submit a third paper for publication – and hopes she won't have to stop there. If she is healthy enough, she says she wants to continue pursuing her lifelong passion for science.

“I feel I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do,” says Veigas. “Cancer didn’t prevent me from doing that.”

U of T PhD student helps black women apply to grad school

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 17:17:54 +0000

U of T PhD student helps black women apply to grad school

geoff.vendeville Tue, 01/17/2017 - 12:17

Cutline

Huda Hassan, a PhD candidate in women and gender studies, put out an offer to help black women on Twitter (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Subheadline

Huda Hassan receives outpouring of support for her offer to help black women review personal statements for grad school

When Huda Hassan was writing her applications to graduate school, she had no mentors in academia to turn to for advice. She asked for help through social media, and three black women offered to lend a hand.

Nearly two years later, Hassan – now a first-year PhD student in women and gender studies at U of T – is returning the favour.

“If you're a black woman applying for grad school & would like a writer+phd student to revise your statement, email me: hudamina@gmail.com,” she tweeted recently.

Little did she expect the outpouring of support that ensued.

Her original message was shared more than 2,600 times on Twitter – and academics around the world volunteered to help edit black women’s applications.

“The reaction was really sweet and nice,” she told U of T News. “All sorts of people responded. A lot of young black women reached out with love. A lot of allies who are in academia reached out offering their support as well.”

The 22-word message started a much larger conversation about the need for more diversity within universities. In the days that followed, she was interviewed by CBC and Metro News Toronto.

After seeing Hassan's tweet, Nicole Charles, a fourth-year PhD candidate in the same department at U of T, volunteered her time to help polish applicants' personal statements. Being one of the only black women in her program, Charles says she understands the need for such an initiative.

“I thought this is a very simple thing that has the potential be so transformative,” she said.

Charles described the effort as a first step toward breaking down barriers for black students and helping them succeed.

“The more black women there are in academia, the more support we can all have,” she said.

R. Cassandra Lord, an assistant professor of sexuality studies at U of T's Women and Gender Studies Institute, also responded to Hassan’s call. She offered to help in any way she could, whether through providing meals or financial support.

“Many black faculty have been doing this behind the scenes in terms of mentoring and offering support to black graduate students,” she told U of T News.

With some of her colleagues, Lord founded a reading group for black students and faculty “to support our students theoretically as they move through their graduate career,” she added.

And at the faculty level, she and other professors have been appointed to working groups to discuss with U of T administration such issues as targeted hiring, retention of black faculty and the recruitment of black students.

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#UofTGrad17: Facing terminal cancer, U of T student completes her PhD

Read the Toronto Star article on Veigas

U of T PhD student helps black women apply to grad school

Read more about three new university-wide black faculty working groups