The Interdisciplinary Science Program in Research and Entrepreneurship (INSPIRE) took place in June, and students came to campus to learn about the various career paths available to them in the life sciences. Organized under the theme “Quantitative Biosciences and Research Translation,” the 2024 program introduced trainees to the quantitative biophysical, mathematical, and computational techniques necessary for tackling critical questions in the life sciences.
Founded in 2022 by Physics professors Josh Milstein and Scott Prosser, and hosted by the Office of the Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation (OVPRI), INSPIRE is an competitive two-week program for top undergraduate students considering grad school in Physics, Chemistry, or Cell and Systems Biology. Students participated in hands-on modules, directly within faculty research labs, and met with U of T researchers from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Departments of Physics and Chemistry.
This year, INSPIRE joined forces with SpinUp, U of T’s first wet lab startup incubator. Raquel De Souza, SpinUp lead and UTM’s Director of Partnerships and Innovation, was involved in the planning for this year’s program and brought in startups, speakers, and sponsors to support INSPIRE’s entrepreneurship goals.
The exciting collaboration inspired a day dedicated entirely to entrepreneurship and involved six of SpinUp’s new startups.
Seeing INSPIRE students shadow and learn from our on-campus startups, and then so proficiently represent those startups at the pitch competition, was to witness one of the OVPRI’s main goals for SpinUp materialize: to provide enriching and unique experiential learning opportunities for students right on the UTM campus.
Raquel De Souza, Director, Partnerships and Innovation
Sincere thanks to this year’s faculty researchers, module instructors, pitch competition judges, and guest speakers. We’d also like to thank our participating startups for offering their time, mentorship, and expertise: Arma Biosciences, Bough Biosciences, Diaminopharm, and MycoFutures.
The 2024 INSPIRE Scholars Program was generously supported by Excedr, our platinum sponsor, and gold sponsors Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and MilliporeSigma. Thank you to Excedr for joining us on campus and supporting our inaugural pitch competition!