Winners of the UM Undergraduate Research Showcase pose with event hosts Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden and Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst.
Student research takes centre stage at 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.”
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.