After participating in departmental heats, semi-finals and competing against seven other participants, three graduate students topped UBC’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition on Thursday, March 12. And all of them were from the School of Biomedical Engineering. 

The first place winner, Sogand Golshahian, completing her MASc in Biomedical Engineering, spoke about The Heart Disease You’ve Never Heard Of; And the Blood Test That Could Stop It. Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially fatal illness that can cause heart failure. Sogand's research explores identifying tests and markers in the blood at an early stage, instead of waiting for heart failure to happen. 

Sogand received the top prize of $1,000, and will be representing UBC in the Western Regional Competition on May 5. Congratulations, Sogand!

Second-place recipient Jason Fu, completing his MASc in Biomedical Engineering, presented on Making Wearable Data Trustworthy. Jason spoke about wearable technology (smartwatches, fitness trackers, etc.) and how to make the data more reliable for health clinicians when determining patient care. He received $500 as runner up. 

The third-place recipient, Katrina Jewell, completing her MASc in Biomedical Engineering, presented on From Development to Cancer: How One Protein Controls the Fate of Liver Cells. Her presentation on ZNF263 and its role in the development of liver cancer showed a novel way of looking at this protein-coding gene called "Zinc finger." She received $250 for third place. 

Lastly, Mara McLaughlin, completing her MSc in Forestry, won the People's Choice award for her presentation on Landscape-Level Detection of Gwininitxw Archaeological sites using Airborne Laser Scanning.

3MT gives students a chance to connect across programs and learn about others’ research. Several participants emphasized the benefits of learning from their fellow students and contestants throughout the competition. 

The top finalists included:

• Jalisa Karim, PhD in Women+ and Children's Health Sciences, Navigating Endometriosis Treatment Decisions in the Context of Future Pregnancy Planning, supervised by Dr. Gillian Hanley
• Christopher Lamb, PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences, The Sound of Movement and the Brain: What you Hear can Amplify Pain and Fear, supervised by Dr. Lara Boyd
• Hrishabh Srivastava, MSc in Astronomy, Probing Dark Matter with Nature’s Magnifying Glass, supervised by Dr. Douglas Scott
• Elizabeth Russell, PhD in Applied Animal Biology, Weighing in on Weaning: Benchmarking Calf Growth on Dairy Farms, supervised by Drs. Dan Weary and Nina von Keyserlingk
• Tarek Ghoul, PhD in Civil Engineering, Transportation Before the Crash: Real Time Crash Risk and Its Applications, supervised by Dr. Tarek Sayed
• Shaima Hourani, PhD in Medical Genetics, Myelin Alterations in Fragile X Syndrome: Insights into the Leading Inherited Form of Autism, supervised by Dr. Mahmoud Pouladi

For more information on UBC 3MT, visit the website. Videos from all of the presentations, including the Semi-Finals and Final event, will be made available on our YouTube channel in April. 

Thank you to all of the judges, volunteers and everyone who participated in the departmental heats, open heats and events across campus. More than 114 participants competed in the events this year. Congratulations to all of the finalists and participants!