On May 10, the doors of the Medical Science
building were opened to local GTA grade 11
students for the second annual Physiology
Day. The event, hosted by Let’s Talk Science
and the Graduate Association for Students
in Physiology, was broken into one morning
and one afternoon session. In each session,
students rotated between three lab stations
where they were taught
an overview of the activity
lesson by graduate student
volunteers. Students
then broke up into small
groups and participated
in short activities that
forced them to engage
with the material like real
scientists: pipettes were
diligently pressed, spirometers
were breathed into,
and sphygmometers were
squeezed. After gaining
familiarity with the equipment,
students bonded
with their group members
and discussions about academic
interests could be
heard within the labs.
Although this event may
seem small-scale (less
than 80 students took
part), its goal is to hit a
broad audience of prospective
university students about the value
of translational research in physiology.
What is translational research? Pretty much
what it sounds like: translating scientific research.
The purpose is to transfer advances
in the scientific literature and apply them in
practice to the creation of medical technology
and treatment. The topic has been critically
explored in a highly cited commentary by Steven
H. Woolf in the Journal of the American
Medical Association that investigates how advances
in scientific knowledge a) are used to
develop new products and b) translates into
the practice of health care. Although there is
some controversy over which aspect of translational
research has higher financial priority,
the main point of translational research remains:
it is essential that scholars take interest
in research contribution to increase the
amount of helpful medical resources available.
These medical resources are cultivated in
several scientific disciplines. Interestingly,
each of the three lab stations cleverly reflected
a facet of physiology-related research. One
of the labs focused on the cardiovascular system
and had students measure the effects of
position and exercise on blood pressure. This
activity may be worthwhile since diseases of
the heart were the second leading cause of
death in Canada in 2007. The second lab was
on the respiratory system, in which students
had to calculate lung volumes and analyze the
effects of physical fitness. Similarly, chronic
lower respiratory diseases were the fourth
leading cause of death in Canada in 2007 and
are among the most expensive to treat. The
last lab explored DNA extraction and DNA
fingerprinting through hands-on experimentation
and the recreation of the solution to a
real-life criminal case. Studies on DNA are invaluable
and increasingly stir interest in the
informational power of
DNA. As anyone can see,
each of these activities
harbours information that
translates into beneficial
medical resources.
Excellent examples of
scholars invested in the
value of translational research
can be found in
GASP itself. The president
of GASP, Keith Ho,
is a Ph.D. candidate in
Neuroscience and studies
Parkinson’s Disease at the
U of T Tanz Centre for Research
in Neurodegenerative
Diseases. Ho and all
of the members of GASP
engage in some form of rigorous
research to advance
the field of physiology.
Translational research
leaves a resounding impact
that spreads throughout
the scientific community. It is important for
both prospective as well as current life science
students at U of T to keep in mind that medical
school is not necessarily the be-all-end-all of
a rewarding scientific career. According to organizations
supporting translational research,
events like Physiology Day hone in on this message
and aid an inaccurate perception of the
academic world by encouraging students to
investigate life-changing alternatives.
