Students pose together with faculty in front of a colourful bison-themed backdrop..
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Winners of the UM Undergraduate Research Showcase pose with event hosts Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden and Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst.
Winners of the UM Undergraduate Research Showcase pose with event hosts Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden and Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst.
Estimated Read Time:
3 minutes
Undergraduate

Student research takes centre stage

At the 2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase.

More than 150 students shared their research findings and scholarly works at the Undergraduate Research Showcase, setting a new record number of participants for the third year in a row.

The event awards cash prizes totaling $6,400 across five categories in two streams of competition, oral presentations and research poster displays. Ninety subject-matter experts joined the event as judges, representing 10 UM faculties.

As part of the day, students had the opportunity to explore their "entrepreneurial tooth" at the IDEA START booth to learn how to move ideas and innovation toward impact, using the many resources available at UM.

“This event rewards achievements in experiential learning throughout the many areas of student research and scholarly work at UM and highlights the innovation and creative power at the heart of our university,” said Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, associate vice-president (partnerships, knowledge mobilization and innovation).

“Such hand-on experiences at the undergraduate level expand our horizons, build networks and can open doors to new career opportunities. I congratulate all student participants in the showcase.”

Such hand-on experiences at the undergraduate level expand our horizons, build networks and can open doors to new career opportunities.

Dr.Hans-Joachim Wieden, associate vice-president (partnerships, knowledge mobilization and innovation)

Undergraduate Research Showcase 2025 winners

Applied Sciences

Poster format

1st– Loic Lambert, Quantifying skin subtraction performance in microwave breast imaging

Research Supervisor: Stephen Pistorius, Faculty of Science

2nd– Shirley Morris, Syncytia from scratch: generating placental organoids from human stem cells

Research Supervisor: Lei Xing, Faculty of Science

3rd– Khoi Nguyen, Electronics-Printed MEMS Lorentz Actuator Released by RIE with Integrated Electrostatic Hold-Down

Research Supervisor: Cyrus Shafai, Price Faculty of Engineering

Oral format

1st– Juliann Chan, Decoding the Behavioural Cues of Dairy Cattle: Automating Ear Position Identification Using a Convolutional Neural Network Model

Research Supervisor: Gabriel Dallago, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Creative Works

Poster format

1st– Cecilia Thompson, We Are The Canvas: A/R/Tography and the Power of Collective Art Education

Research Supervisor: Bruno De Oliveira Jayme, Faculty of Education

Health Sciences

Poster format

1st– Quinn Derksen, Exploiting RBX1 deficiency to identify novel therapeutic targets in tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma

Research Supervisor: Dr. Kirk McManus, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

2nd– David Ben, Reduced SKP2 Expression Induces Centrosome Overduplication in Tubo-Ovarian Cells

Research Supervisor: Dr. Kirk McManus, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

3rd– Hans Sanchez, Extracellular vesicle release with acute electrical pulse stimulation in skeletal muscle is AMPK-dependent

Research Supervisor: Dr. Ayesha Saleem, Centre on Aging

Oral format

1st– Khushleen Chaddha, Investigating the Effects of a Potential Chemotherapeutic

Research Supervisor: Dr. Mark Nachtigal, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

2nd– Lauren Castagna, The role of Empagliflozin in the prevention of chemotherapy mediated cardiotoxicity

Research Supervisor: Dr. Davinder Jassal, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

3rd– Jewel Paskaruk, SIRT3 Deficiency in the Liver Results in Hepatic Steatosis and Elevated Circulating Lipids in Gestational Diabetes

Research Supervisor: Dr. Vernon Dolinsky, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Natural Sciences

Poster format

1st– Sion Yi, CRISPR-Associated Transposase Reveals a Key Gene for Bioplastic Degradation in Burkholderia vietnamiensis LMG16232

Research Supervisor: Silvia T. Cardona, Faculty of Science

2nd (tied)– Hargun Uppal, The influence of membrane phospholipid interactions with MgCl2 on antimicrobial susceptibility in E. coli

Research Supervisor: Denice Bay, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

2nd (tied)– Danika Harland, The long-term effects of wetland salinization on emergent insect communities

Research Supervisor: Mark Hanson, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources

Oral format

1st– Erica Wong, Dach1 promotes basal radial glia proliferation in the developing mouse neocortex

Research Supervisor: Lei Xing, Faculty of Science

Social Sciences and Humanities

Poster format

1st– Kyla Sarmiento, Drawing Privacy: How Children Conceptualize Regulation and Content Across

Research Supervisor: Shaylene Nancekivell, Faculty of Arts

2nd– Charlotte Gill, Exploring geoscience methods for archaeological stone-tool fingerprinting, Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania

Research Supervisor: Paul Durkin, Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources

3rd– Stella Kraft, Gender Differences in Alcohol Research

Research Supervisor: Natalie Riediger, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Oral format

1st– Justine Ramos, Countering Reductionism: Racial/Ethnic Minority Experiences and Preferences of End of Life Care at Home

Research Supervisor: Laura Funk, Faculty of Arts

2nd– Ainsley Brennan, In the Garden of the Beguines: Reinventing a Medieval Religious Movement in the 21st Century

Research Supervisor: Danielle Dubois, Faculty of Arts

The Undergraduate Research Showcase is hosted annually by the office of the vice-president (research and international). Check the Undergraduate Research Showcase website for entry and prize details.

Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.

By

UM Today Staff