On February 21, 2025, the PRiME 6th Annual Symposium took place at the B150 Lecture Hall & Atrium, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, attracting a diverse audience of around 250 attendees. Under the theme “Precision X - Discovery to Translation”, this year’s symposium provided a dynamic platform for experts, innovators, and researchers to engage in cutting-edge discussions on the advancements in precision medicine and drug discovery.
We are immensely grateful to all of our speakers, panelists, partners, sponsors, and attendees for their participation and enthusiasm, which helped create an unforgettable atmosphere where ground-breaking insights were shared, new ideas were sparked, and meaningful collaborations were formed.
We also want to express our deep appreciation to our sponsors: Collaborative Drug Discovery - CDD Vault, Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP), Novartis, and Moderna. Their generous support played a key role in the event's success and helped foster a space where scientific leaders could come together to drive advancements in precision medicine.
In addition, we are thrilled to announce the recipients of the PRiME 2025 Fellowship:
| Awardee | Primary Supervisor | Co- Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Maryam Ali | Jumi Shin (UTM) | Micheline Piquette-Miller (LDFP) |
| Chiara Beretta | Maryam Faiz (TFoM) | Liliana Attisano (TFoM) |
| Sathishkumar Narayanaswamy | Robert Batey (FAS) | Michael D Tyers (SickKids), Aaron R. Wheeler (FAS) |
| Lily Takeuchi | Craig Simmons (FASE) | Lorraine Kalia (UHN) |
| Ruilin Wu | Jason Fish (UHN) | Milica Radisic (FASE) |
| Yuxi Xiao | Jason Moffat (SickKids) | Alan Moses (FAS) |
Thank you to everyone who attended, engaged, and contributed – we look forward to continuing the journey of discovery and collaboration with all of you in future events and initiatives!
Discover Symposium highlights on LinkedIn:
- “Thank you for an incredible PRiME 6th Annual Symposium!”
- Welcoming 2025 PRiME Fellows & TIAP Top-Up Awardee
- Thank you to our generous sponsors
Our photographer, Ruilin Yuan, captured the highlights from the day, showcasing the key moments and vibrant atmosphere of the symposium.
Insightful talks from invited speaker
Bernd Wollscheid, Professor & Head of the Institute of Translational Medicine at ETH Zürich gives a scientific keynote on “Precision Medicine & Drug (target) Discovery”.
John Tallarico, Global Head of Discovery Sciences at Novartis Biomedical Research gives an industry keynote on “Targeted Therapies - Chemical Biology for Precision Medicines”.
Mikko Taipale, Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair in Biomedical Research, Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, U of T gives a talk on “Protein (mis)localization in human disorders”.
Anne-Claude Gingras, Vice-President of Research, Sinai Health, and Professor, Dept Molecular Genetics, U of T gives a talk on “Dynamic Maps of Cellular Organization”.
Alison McGuigan, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, & Biomedical Engineering, U of T gives a talk on “Scalable tissue-engineered multicellular culture models for precision medicine”.
Jason Moffat, Program Head, Genetics and Genome Biology, SickKids & Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, U of T gives a talk on “Systematic genetics reveals a modifier of a rare disease gene”.
Amanda Hargrove, Professor of Chemistry, U of T Mississauga, gives a talk on “Strategies to modulate the conformation and function of RNA with small molecules”.
Bowen Li, Assistant Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, U of T & Canada Research Chair in RNA Vaccines & Therapeutic gives a talk on “AI-driven Design of Lipid Nanoparticles for mRNA Delivery”.
Frank Gu, Co-director Self-Driving Lab Formulation, Acceleration Consortium & Professor and NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering gives a talk on “Unlocking Material Designs with Smart Tools and Machine Learning”.
Lightning Talks from the 2024 PRiME Fellows
Panel Discussion on Precision Medicine’s Translational Trajectory
Industry leaders shared invaluable insights, moderated by Parimal Nathwani, President & CEO of Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP).
Left to right: Parimal Nathwani, President & CEO, TIAP; John Tallarico, Global Head, Discovery Sciences, Novartis Biomedical Research; Emily Titus, Senior Vice President, Technical Operations, Notch Therapeutics; Rami Hannoush, Venture Partner, Versant Ventures; Mike Cooke, Co-Founder & CEO, AmacaThera.
Congratulations to the awardees
Recipients of the PRiME 2025 Fellowship (starting from fourth from the left): Lily Takeuchi, Chiara Beretta, Maryam Ali, Yuxi Xiao, Sathishkumar Narayanaswamy, and Ruilin Wu.
Sathishkumar Narayanasamy (centre), recipient of the TIAP Top-Up Award
Yong Jia Jamie Bu (centre), winner of the Best Poster Award, sponsored by Moderna.
Closing remarks
Leah Cowen, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives, U of T delivers the closing remarks, providing a thoughtful wrap-up to the event.
Poster session showcasing the work of emerging talents from U of T and affiliated hospitals
More highlights from the day
