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茄子直播 Libraries recognizes six undergraduate students for outstanding research

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Clockwise, from left to right: Emma Sullivan, Tegan Ridge, Kiera Farrell-Beaulieu, Braden Zufelt, Sally Walker-Hudecki and Colin Stewart

Emma Sullivan, a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, had never heard of Pelizaeus Merzbacher Disease (PMD) before starting as a research student in the lab of Ronald Cohn at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Now, not only is she familiar with the rare, genetic nervous system disorder, she is one of six winners of the 2020 Patricia and Peter Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize for her research paper on genetic treatment options for the disease.

鈥淭his project required me to utilize countless softwares, databases and online tools, which was an incredible learning curve for me,鈥 says Sullivan, a student at Victoria College who is pursuing a double major in cell and molecular biology, and health and disease.

鈥淭he most important thing I learned through this process is to ask questions. Either as experts or sounding boards, discussing complications with others helped me several times to adjust my perspective so I could find information where I hadn鈥檛 previously been looking.鈥

Sullivan鈥檚 fellow Undergraduate Research Prize winners demonstrated similar novel approaches in their work. 茄子直播 Libraries awards six prizes of $1,000 each year to undergraduate students from all campuses and disciplines for research they conducted while completing coursework.

鈥淚t is wonderful to see our talented students utilizing the wealth of information available at the libraries,鈥 says 茄子直播 Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr. 鈥淚 was particularly impressed by the students鈥 innovation at navigating the various resources, exemplifying the extraordinary undergraduate work happening at the University of Toronto.鈥

This year鈥檚 winners 鈥 all Faculty of Arts & Science students 鈥 are Kiera Farrell-Beaulieu (second year, Innis College), Tegan Ridge (fourth year, St. Michael鈥檚 College), Colin Stewart (fourth year, University College), Emma Sullivan (third year, Victoria College), Sally Walker-Hudecki (second year, Trinity College), and Braden Zufelt (fourth year, Trinity College).

While 茄子直播 Libraries typically hosts a reception for each year鈥檚 prize winners, the event could not be held this year due to a limit on gatherings of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. 茄子直播 Libraries is instead , where they share what the prize means to them and what they have gained from their research experience.

The winning papers are available to read through .

鈥淲inning this prize has been the most significant achievement both in my personal life and in my career thus far at the University of Toronto,鈥 says Farrell-Beaulieu, who won the prize for her research paper on the opioid overdose epidemic among youth in Ottawa.

Farrell-Beaulieu says her experiences growing up in Ottawa inspired her winning paper, which was completed for the course JGI 216: Globalization and Urban Change.

鈥淲inning this prize shows that my research is going in a positive direction that can lead to an attitude shift in society鈥檚 treatment of teenage addiction and mental health,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t also means hope 鈥 for me, my classmates, community members, and the parents of those who passed away 鈥 that this crisis doesn鈥檛 have to be a permanence in our community.鈥

Larry Alford, 茄子直播鈥檚 chief librarian, says he was 鈥渄eeply impressed鈥 at the level of research undertaken by the six winners.

鈥淭he students especially deserve to be commended for putting together their applications this year under the challenging circumstances of a global pandemic when the university had to quickly move online and classes were in the midst of transition,鈥 he says.

The Patricia and Peter Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize is made possible due to an endowment by Patricia Wilson and Peter Wilson that supports 茄子直播 Libraries in promoting excellence in undergraduate research.

The winners were chosen by a panel of six judges: Christina Tooulias-Santolin, user services librarian at Robarts Library; Mikaela Gray, liaison and education librarian at the Gerstein Science Information Centre; Tracy Zahradnik, engineering librarian at the Engineering and Computer Science Library; Robert Bothwell, professor of international relations at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy; David Cook, professor of political science at Victoria College; and Jenna Gillen, assistant professor of exercise physiology at the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education.

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