At the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for U of M graduate students in a thesis-based program, ICS-based trainees here at St. Boniface Hospital Research nabbed three finalist spots in a heated competition comprised of multiple rounds and one wild card spot.
Congratulations to Cameron Eekhoudt, Danah AlHattab and Sonu Varghese who advanced through that stiff competition from an original pool of 77 students who auditioned for 42 spots. From there, each presenter had to compete in 3 heats (14 students per heat) to get one of 12 spots in the finals.
“For St. Boniface Research to get 25% of those spots? That’s an amazing accomplishment, and we are very proud of our students, ” said Dr. Michael Czubryt, Interim Executive Director, St. Boniface Hospital Research. “We certainly wish them the very best in the finals and hopefully see one or more of them compete in the Western Regionals in May, and be featured in the national showcase event this November.
All three students are in the department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, training here at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences. Here are summaries of their winning 3MT projects:
CAMERON EEKHOUDT – Cardiovascular Imaging lab. Supervisor – Dr. Davinder Jassal,
Co-Supervisor – Dr. Pawan Singal
Title: Is flaxseed equivalent and/or synergistic with ACE inhibition in the prevention of chemotherapy induced cardiotoxicity.
Description: My project hopes to compare whether flaxseed, grown and harvested here in Manitoba can work comparably to ACE Inhibition in the prevention of chemotherapy induced cardiotoxicity.
DANAH ALHATTAB – Cardiovascular Molecular lab. Supervisor – Dr. Michael Czubryt
Title: The Role Of Scleraxis in Perivascular Fibrosis
Description: Perivascular fibrosis includes increasing stiffness and reducing the diameter of the vessel as a result of proteins build up in the vessel wall. Our lab has shown that an important protein called Scleraxis triggers the protein build up within the heart which makes it more stiff causing a medical condition called Cardiac Fibrosis. My project is to investigate the role of scleraxis in blood vessels stiffening in hypertensive mice models and whether reducing it genetically will improve the function and flexibility of stiff blood vessels.
SONU VARGHESE – Cardiovascular Imaging lab. Supervisor – Dr. Davinder Jassal
Title: Exercise to prevent Anthracycline-based Cardio-Toxicity (EXACT 2.0) in women with breast cancer.
Description: This study represents a key first step in developing new standards of care that may include prescription of a 24-week home-based aerobic exercise to protect the heart during the concurrent administration of anthracycline-based chemotherapy in women with breast cancer.
https://umanitoba.ca/graduate-studies/student-experience/three-minute-thesis-3mt