“I'm sure you know multiple people who have asthma — and many who wish for something better.”
That’s how Courtney Marshall, a graduate student at the University of Manitoba’s Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, introduced her research to a group of judges at the International Congress of Academic Medicine (ICAM) in Halifax last April.
At ICAM, the top-performing Canadian PhD student poster presenters are nominated to travel to Germany to attend a Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting — a gathering of Nobel laureates and selected young scientists from around the world.
Marshall, a PhD candidate in the department of immunology at the Max Rady College of Medicine, won three awards at ICAM, including a nomination to attend the Lindau Meeting.
“It was a very surreal moment,” Marshall said. “I was so overwhelmed with emotions to be recognized with such a prestigious group of people and awards.”
Dr. Neeloffer Mookherjee, a professor of internal medicine and immunology in Max Rady College of Medicine, is Marshall’s supervisor.
“For a young scientist, this nomination will allow her to interact with the best of the best emerging researchers, not only within our country but internationally,” said Mookherjee. “It also gives Courtney the opportunity to meet Nobel laureates and other global leaders in research. These are the kinds of experiences that shape a scientist’s career and stay with them for life.”
More than 100 early-career scientists presented their work at ICAM, using research posters — visual summaries combining text and graphics to clearly communicate research findings.
“You have to tell the story of your research in a very accessible format, so that most people can understand it no matter their background,” said Marshall.
Mookherjee said strong presentation skills are essential to win these awards.
“One can be a brilliant scientist, but communicating your research in a way that makes it impactful for scientists and the general public is a whole other skill set,” Mookherjee said.
Marshall’s research aims to understand how a synthetic peptide — designed to mimic the body’s natural infection-fighting proteins — can reduce airway inflammation, a key feature of asthma, and whether it works differently in male and female mice.
“This is important because females tend to suffer more from asthma and respond less to standard treatments, yet most past research has focused on males,” said Marshall.
Her work explores novel therapeutics for chronic diseases like severe asthma, which currently lack effective treatments.
When asked for advice for other students who are preparing to present their research at major conferences, Marshall gave two pointers:
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