Inspire Summer Studentships
The Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC) is strongly committed to building a diverse and inclusive infectious disease research community. We recognize that diversity strengthens the quality and impact of research by bringing multiple ideas and perspectives.
The EPIC Inspire Summer Studentships will foster inclusive excellence by providing third-year Black and Indigenous undergraduate students with opportunities to engage in infectious disease research with and receive mentorship from EPIC’s faculty members. These awards aim to support Black and Indigenous students who are interested in infectious diseases and to create a more diverse talent pool for the next generation of infectious disease research leaders. Applicants will have an opportunity to continue their studentship research as a fourth-year thesis project if both the student and supervisor are in agreement.
We welcome applications from eligible students who are interested in infectious disease research. Applicants will be asked to select their top four research projects from the projects listed below. EPIC will help match interested students with an EPIC faculty member for the summer studentship.
Eligibility
To be eligible, students:
- must be registered (at the time of application) as a full-time student in a bachelor’s degree program at the University of Toronto, excluding professional undergraduate degree programs (MD, DDS, BScN, PharmD, etc.)
- will have completed their third year of an undergraduate program by April 2025
- will self-identify as Black or Indigenous
- must intend to re-register for full-time undergraduate studies in September 2025
- must be available to work full-time for 12-16 weeks between May 1 to August 31, 2025
- have a supervising Principal Investigator who must have a primary affiliation at one of EPIC’s partner institutions (the Hospital for Sick Children, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Unity Health Toronto, University Health Network and University of Toronto)
Priority will be given to applicants who have not previously received an Inspire Summer Studentship and/ or who do not hold other similar awards (NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards or University of Toronto Excellence Award or Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program) at the time of application.
Value and Duration
The EPIC Inspire Summer Studentship will provide 10,000 CAD, paid to the supervisor, to support the payroll for the summer student for a 12-16-week term. The supervisor may supplement this award, if desired. EPIC Inspire Summer Studentships are non-renewable. Recipients will have priority access to EPIC workshops, networking events and training courses for one year following the receipt of their studentship.
EPIC anticipates supporting four summer studentships for the 2025 term.
Awardee Responsibilities
Recipients must fulfill the academic requirements of their degree program and plan of study. Recipients will gain a core set of interrogative skills in the area of infectious disease through their research, coursework and/or attendance and participation at EPIC trainee events and programs. Recipients must also complete a survey at the end of their summer studentship and are required to acknowledge EPIC funding in publications, presentations and communications resulting from their award.
Selection Criteria
Applications for the EPIC Inspire Summer Studentships will be evaluated based on the following criteria for eligible trainees:
- Research potential
- Academic merit
Project selection
The following projects are available to applicants for the 2025 Inspire Summer Studentship program. Please review the project details before you apply. You will be asked to provide your top four project selections during the application process. EPIC will make our best effort to match successful applicants with a project from their top choices.
A scoping review to identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for congenital cytomegalovirus in pregnant women and infants
| Supervisor name | Shaun Morris |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | Hybrid |
| Work location | The Hospital for Sick Children |
| Project description | This project aims to conduct a systematic scoping review to identify host-derived diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) in pregnant women and infants. It will focus on blood and amniotic fluid biomarkers to predict the risk of maternal-fetal cCMV transmission and severe infant outcomes. The review will also explore the stability and measurability of biomarkers in alternative samples, such as dried blood spots and saliva, to assess the feasibility of implementing the detection of these biomarker in low-resource settings. Ultimately, the project seeks to enhance early diagnosis and improve the management of cCMV, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. |
| Skills development |
Systematic review methodology: Learning the frameworks and guidelines for conducting a systematic review, which includes defining research questions, drafting the protocol, conducting literature searches using dedicated tools like Covidence, extracting data, and synthesizing findings.
Teamwork and collaboration: Gaining experience in collaborative work with peers and faculty, enhancing essential teamwork skills.
Abstract drafting and presentation skills: Developing the ability to draft accurate and impactful abstracts while acquiring presentation skills to effectively communicate research findings.
Participation in manuscript drafting: Engaging in the manuscript writing process to understand the principles of academic writing and the importance of clear, structured communication in scientific literature.
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Characterizing host immune response to infection through proteomics and antibody measurements
| Supervisor name | Anne-Claude Gingras |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute |
| Project description | Measuring proteins in blood is a non-invasive and effective route to characterize the host’s immune response to infection. We have previously developed antibody detection and neutralization tests for COVID-19, and we continue to improve these tests by incorporating new variants and multiplexing. For assessing broader host immune responses, we are developing mass spectrometry-based methods to quantify proteins in blood such as inflammatory cytokines and other circulating proteins that correlate with and predict disease severity. The student will be involved in developing and applying these protein-based assays to better measure host immune response after respiratory virus infection. |
| Skills development | Measuring antibody response to infection or vaccination, global mass spectrometry-based proteomics, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), novel assay development, data analysis |
Characterizing immune responses to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines in immunocompromised hosts
| Supervisor name | Victor Ferreira |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | University Health Network |
| Project description | Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a pathogen that causes significant disease in infants, older adults and immunocompromised individuals. In this study, we will evaluate immune responses to newly approved RSV vaccine products in immunocompromised transplant recipients using a systems approach. Conventional vaccine response metrics (neutralizing antibodies, T-cells) will be expanded to capture the totality of immune responses alongside contributions from other biological systems (e.g., metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics). |
| Skills development | Flow cytometry, immunoassays such as ELISA, cell culture |
Examining gram-negative surface lipoproteins for potential vaccine antigens
| Supervisor name | Trevor Moraes |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus |
| Project description | The summer student in the Moraes lab will examine surface lipoproteins from various gram-negative bacterial pathogens (eg. Neisseria, Pseudomonas, Pasteurella etc.). The student will express these proteins using an E.coli expression system, purify the proteins and characterize their function in vitro. Homologs of these surface lipoproteins have been used as vaccine antigens, and the student will be tasked with engineering stable versions of these putative antigens. |
| Skills development | Protein purification (Eg. AKTA-FPLC), biomolecular interactions (Eg. protein-protein interactions -determining binding constants, kD), structural characterization and visualization of proteins (Pymol, Crystallography or Alphafold) |
Exploring novel strategies to control virus replication
| Supervisor name | Alan Cochrane |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus |
| Project description | The project will focus on the role of various SR kinases and inhibitors thereof for their effects on the replication of both coronaviruses and influenzaviruses. It will involve examining the effects on viral RNA and protein accumulation using RT-qPCR and Western blots and exploring the ability of viruses to become resistant to this class of drugs. |
| Skills development | Mammalian cell culture, RT-qPCR, western blots, immunofluorescence, in situ hybridization |
Exploring the RNA virome of Human Cancer
| Supervisor name | Artem Babaian |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus (CCBR) |
| Project description |
Data-driven virus discovery is revolutionizing our understanding of virology across Earth’s biosphere. In 2020 there were 15,000 known RNA viruses and since then our lab has discovered more new species (currently 750,000+) than everyone else in the world combined, including so-called “Dark RNA Viruses”.
Our lab explores the evolution, ecology, and molecular interactions of these viruses through state-of-the-art computational analysis. Our focus is on how these viruses intersect human health and disease. Currently, we’re searching for viruses that cause or are associated with human cancers.
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| Skills development | Computational biology, bioinformatics, data mining, genome annotation |
Indigenous mental health
| Supervisor name | Suzanne Stewart |
| Faculty | Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Work arrangement | Hybrid |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus |
| Project description | This is a culturally based and culturally safe community driven research network on Indigenous mental health and involves community network, land based activities, mixed methods designs, data collection and analysis, and knowledge translation activities. There may be a possibility for the student to use some of the data for their thesis project within the EPIC project. |
| Skills development | Indigenous research ethics and methodologies |
Initiating Group A streptococcus surveillance in Ontario
| Supervisor name | Rob Kozak |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | Sunnybrook Research Institute |
| Project description |
Streptococcus pyogenes (“Group A Strep” or GAS) is an infectious pathogen and a leading cause of death globally. While surveillance systems are in place for invasive GAS (iGAS) little is known about non-invasive cases (eg. strains that cause pharyngitis). There are two important reasons why this is important:
1) The incidence has been increasing in Canada in the last decade and although cases declined during the pandemic, in 2023, they climbed to a rate, 50% higher than in 2019.
2) Vaccines against GAS are still in development, and there is a need to understand the circulating strains, which may be preventable by different vaccines.
Whole genome sequencing allows for bacterial typing, identification of virulence factors and mutations that may contribute to pathogenesis, and assessment of coverage by different vaccine candidates. The goal of this project is to sequence and characterize non-invasive GAS isolates that were collected over the 2024-25 winter season to understand the genomic epidemiology of this pathogen.
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| Skills development | Bacterial culturing, sequencing, PCR and molecular typing |
Investigating the effects of inflammatory signals in odor-sensing neurons in the mouse nose
| Supervisor name | Tatsuya Tsukahara |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute |
| Project description | During the COVID-19 pandemic, a huge number of people experienced loss or impairment of their sense of smell and taste. Research from our lab and others has shown that SARS-CoV-2 targets non-neuronal cells in the nose, but it does not transduce to olfactory sensory neurons that detect odors and send their outputs to the brain. In this project, we will test our hypothesis that inflammatory signals from tissue damage alter the patterns of gene expression in olfactory sensory neurons and the way they respond to odors using several models that mimic bacterial or viral infection in the nose. |
| Skills development | Tissue sectioning, immunostaining, in situ hybridization, quantitative PCR, RNA-sequencing |
Investigating the role of tissue resident immune responses in herpes-induced neurological diseases
| Supervisor name | Julien Muffat |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | The Hospital for Sick Children |
| Project description | We have shown that the resident macrophages of the human brain, known as microglia, are targeted for cell death in response to herpes challenge. We propose that the molecules they release can damage surrounding cells, even if infection is stalled. Cytokines produced by microglia can turn other brain cells, such as the astrocytes, neurotoxic. This can have a lasting impact on neuronal network function, causing acute brain inflammation, and predisposing the patient to diseases later in life, including age associated neurodegenerative diseases. We study these processes in a unique human model system, in tissue culture, using pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids. To dissect the mechanisms, we can engineer genetic determinants of viral infection using CRISPR, or use drugs to mitigate viral damage. |
| Skills development | Imaging pluripotent stem cell cultures, microscopy of organoids, molecular cloning of gene targeting constructs, cellular assays of viral infection and responses in immune cells, electrophysiology of neurons |
Multiplexed detection of pathogen biomarkers with droplet microfluidics and CRISPR-Cas system
| Supervisor name | Yufeng Zhao |
| Faculty | Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus |
| Project description | Monitoring pathogens in wastewater has emerged as an effective approach for tracking infectious disease outbreaks. We are developing a low-burden molecular analytics platform capable of multiplexed detection of up to 16 nucleic acid biomarkers for pathogens. This platform integrates cutting-edge CRISPR diagnostic technology with microfluidics and fluorescent barcoding. The project focuses on testing and optimizing orthogonal fluorescent dyes to barcode reactions, each targeting distinct nucleic acids for CRISPR detection, within a microfluidic system that uses microscopy-based readouts. |
| Skills development | Microfluidics, fluorescence imaging, CRISPR-Cas diagnostics |
Pandemic Influenza Vaccine in Organ Transplantation (PIVOT Trial): Safety and immunogenicity of pandemic influenza vaccine in kidney transplant recipients
| Supervisor name | Victoria Hall |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | University Health Network hospital / TGHRI laboratory (located in MARS building) |
| Project description | Influenza is an important pathogen in transplant recipients. The current widespread outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) in livestock, and the occurrence of several human cases of infection suggest that the next influenza pandemic may be soon approaching. Transplant patients will likely be uniquely predisposed to serious infections with high morbidity and mortality. We plan to study the safety and immunogenicity of a two-dose regimen of the pandemic influenza H5N8 vaccine in kidney transplant recipients (KTR). This study has received specific funding and we would be interested in supervising an EPIC Inspire Summer Student for the laboratory component, where immunogenicity of the H5N8 vaccine will be assessed with serological and cell-mediated immune response assessment before and after vaccination. |
| Skills development | Wet immunology laboratory basic techniques including processing blood specimens, humoral immune assessment with serology, flow cytometry to assess polyfunctional influenza-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell and influenza-specific B cell response before and after vaccination, attendance of regular laboratory meetings (1/week), general research processes (clinical trial records, log of specimens, recording of experiments). |
Placenta-on-a-chip as a platform for designing nanoparticle therapies against infection-driven placental inflammation
| Supervisor name | Hagar Labouta |
| Faculty | Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | Li Ka Shing Knowledge building – St. Michael’s Hospital |
| Project description | Our lab works at the intersection of microfluidics and nanotechnology to design safe and effective therapies during pregnancy. Maternal infections are recurrent and may result in maternal and fetal death, especially in low income settings communities. In this project, we aim to develop a placenta-on-chip model that captures the inflammation characteristics due to infections and other diseases. This model will be used to screen a library of nanotherapies for efficacy and safety. |
| Skills development | The student will be trained and will be working collaboratively with a team using several state-of-the-art technologies, including microfluidics to prepare nanoparticles, dynamic scattering to characterize nanoparticles, running organ-on-chip experiments. |
Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using droplet microfluidics and machine-learning
| Supervisor name | Freeman Lan |
| Faculty | Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus |
| Project description | Antimicrobial resistant infections are responsible for approximately 4.5 million deaths each year. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is essential for the effective treatment of microbial infections and for preventing the spread of antimicrobial resistant organisms. Current methods of testing involve culturing microbes on plates or in broth, which typically requires 24-48 hours for definitive results. We will develop a cost-effective method for rapidly detecting antimicrobial susceptibility by monitoring the growth of single microbial cells inside thousands of tiny ~40-micrometer diameter droplets. Each droplet contains different antimicrobials, enabling the testing of multiple antimicrobials at once. A machine-learning model will be trained to classify each droplet as containing resistant or susceptible bacteria, automatically reporting the results back to the clinician. The student will be working with a graduate student to test the system using different bacteria and antimicrobials and determine the performance of the machine-learning model. |
| Skills development | Microbial culturing, fluorescence microscopy, machine-learning, image analysis, droplet microfluidics |
Understanding how genital microbiome transfer during sex can alter HIV susceptibility
| Supervisor name | Rupert Kaul |
| Faculty | Temerty Faculty of Medicine |
| Work arrangement | On-site |
| Work location | U of T, St. George campus |
| Project description | There are three ongoing clinical/translational projects that the student can participate in: two are based in Uganda, using samples that have been or will be sent to Canada, and one is based at the Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Clinic in Toronto. The unifying theme is that all three projects examine how normal genital bacteria (the genital microbiome) can be transferred between partners during sex, and how those bacteria may then cause local inflammation and enhance the risk of HIV acquisition or other adverse reproductive health outcomes. The specific project selected will depend on the student’s interests, but in each case they would be working with an experienced graduate student on the project. |
| Skills development | Data analysis, multiplex cytokine assays, flow cytometry and/or PCR |
Application materials
For any questions or concerns, please email epic@utoronto.ca with “2025 Inspire Summer Studentship” in the subject line.
The online application form will ask you to provide information about yourself, your top four projects of interest (selected from above) and a 250 word statement describing your interest in infectious diseases.
All application materials should be submitted online through the application form. Supporting documents must also be uploaded through the online application form.
Resume and transcript
Provide your resume and an unofficial copy of your transcript as a combined PDF document using the following naming convention: Inspire_[Last name][First name][Student number]_Resume & Transcript.
Letter of Support
Provide one letter of support from a professor and/or mentor. The referee should have a direct relationship with the applicant and comment on the qualities, experiences and achievements that make them an excellent candidate for the EPIC Inspire Summer Studentship Award. Use the following naming convention: Inspire_[Student Name]_LOS_[Referee Name].
Note: This section is required to be completed by the supervisor when confirmed.
Please provide a brief project description (two to three sentences) and describe your plan as a supervisor for training and supporting the applicant’s interest in and understanding of infectious diseases.
Please confirm your commitment to supervise the applicant for a 12-16 week summer term and with intent to extend to a 4th year research project if both parties are in agreement.
Supervisors should submit this letter to epic@utoronto.ca in document or email form. Please include “2025 Inspire Summer Studentship” in the email subject line.
Demographic Survey
Applicants and supervisors will be asked to complete our demographic survey. While this survey is required, there is an option to select “Prefer not to answer” for all questions.
Important dates
- Call for applications – January 8, 2025
- Deadline to submit all application forms and supporting materials (through the online system) – March 3, 2025, 11:59 (EST)
- Selection of successful applications – March 2025
- Interviews will be scheduled between the students and PIs – April 2025
- Summer studentships begin – May 2025