Last year, more than 150 graduate students accepted McGill's 10th edition of the Three Minute Thesis challenge, chasing glory and cash prizes. Of the 15 finalists who made it to the last leg of the competition, who was best able to present their research in 3 minutes or less?
Watch the video on YouTube to find out!
Meet the 2021 Winners!
Read McGill's recent Reporter article about this year's 3MT/MT180 winners here.
Trevor Cotter (PhD, Mechanical Engineering)
First place winner: 3MT
Spine Surgery: As Easy as Landing a Plane
Trevor is a third-year graduate student in Mechanical Engineering. He has always had a passion for tinkering and designing, whether that is outside, in a garage, or in the lab. This, compounded with an interest in translational research, brought him to Montreal to study at McGill University. His focus is on developing a physics-driven surgical simulator for training spine surgeons. He hopes to use his education and communication skills to bridge gaps among interdisciplinary teams and from these teams to the general public.
Auriane Canesse (PhD, Physics)
Gagnante: Ma thèse en 180 secondes
Observation d’un boson W et de deux photons produits dans des collisions de protons
Auriane est doctorante en physique des particules. Elle a effectué ses études de Bac et de Master en physique en Belgique à Louvain-la-Neuve. En 2017, elle a rejoint le groupe ATLAS du département de physique de McGill pour travailler sur l’analyse des collisions de protons du LHC. Elle s’est également investie dans les projets de vulgarisation de son département ainsi que dans la vie étudiante en tant que présidente de l’association étudiante d’études supérieures en physique de McGill (MGAPS). Maintenant basée au CERN (Suisse), elle travaille à la construction d’un nouveau morceau du détecteur ATLAS.
Ida Derish (MSc, Experimental Surgery)
2nd place winner
Cell-Free Therapies: Solving the Puzzle of Heart Repair
Ida is a second year Master’s student in Experimental Surgery. While the inherent ability for hearts to regenerate has been widely viewed as science fiction, Ida’s love for that very genre has been a driving force behind her research. In 2019, she joined Dr. Cecere’s laboratory at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center to investigate cardiovascular repair treatments for patients suffering from heart failure. She is looking forward to getting to the heart of the matter by continuing her research on stem cells and heart regenerative therapies in her PhD at McGill University.
Natasha Jacobson (PhD, Mechanical Engineering)
3rd place winner
Blame Pressure for Bladder Leakage
For the past three years, Natasha has been pursuing her PhD in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to graduate school, Natasha completed her B.Sc. at the University of Manitoba, where she was first introduced to the biomedical research area. Biomedical engineering has combined the technical aspects of engineering with health care; a union of particular interest to Natasha. As such, her present work looks to design medical devices to improve the treatment and diagnosis of future patients.
Lysanne Desharnais (MSc, Human Genetics)
People's Choice Award
Feeding the gut to fight cancer
Lysanne is a second year Master’s student in Human Genetics. She is originally from Ottawa and first became interested in cancer research while completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa. This passion led her to pursue graduate studies at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre, where she is studying how diet and obesity influence immune-based therapies in lung cancer. Outside of the lab, Lysanne can be found snowshoeing on Mont Royal or on her quest to find the best falafel in Montreal.