Congratulations to Danah Alhattab and Sonu Varghese who respectively earned second place and People’s Choice honours at the 3MT finals for Manitoba, hosted by U of M on April 21, 2021, in a virtual format.
Alhattab, who finished in 2nd place, said the opportunity to practice and explain the complicated part of her work in the lab in simple terms to a lay audience helped her look at the big picture aspect of research.
“It was an amazing experience to prepare for this presentation and see how basic science research can impact future therapies,” she said. “It has been really a great opportunity to be part of this competition and see the other great research projects that were presented.” Alhattab expressed gratitude to her supervisors Dr. Michael Czubryt and Dr. Jeff Wigle, “And also thank all my family, friends and colleagues for cheering me and voting for me!”
For the People’s Choice winner, Sonu Varghese said one of his favourite aspects of this year’s 3MT competition was that his family and friends from all over Canada were able to watch his presentation in real-time.
“It was incredible to participate in this event and compete alongside such incredible graduate students doing some great work at our university! ” he said. Varghese also thanked his supervisor Dr. Davinder Jassal, co-supervisor Dr. Marshall Pitz, and the members of the Cardiovascular Imaging Laboratory for their support.
“And also the members of the SBRC community who rooted us on, and all my amazing friends and family who have supported me every step of the way!”
Varghese and Alhattab, along with Cameron Eekhoudt, represented ICS and St. Boniface Hospital Research in the field of 12 provincial finalists. Congratulations to all for this great showing of competitive strength!