Celebrating the 41st Student Research Conference (ToBE)

On May 9, 2025, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto hosted the Toronto Biomedical Engineering Conference (ToBE), one of Canada’s longest-running student-organized conference in the field. Held at Hart House, the annual event brought together students, faculty, clinicians, and industry professionals for a day of academic exchange, professional development, and interdisciplinary discussion.

Since its founding in 1985, ToBE has provided a platform for emerging researchers in biomedical engineering to share their work with a broad audience. The 2025 program featured keynote lectures from three distinguished leaders in the field. Dr. Jessica Winter, Professor at The Ohio State University, discussed her research on nanoparticle tools for cancer diagnostics. Dr. Ronald Triolo of Case Western Reserve University presented on assistive neurotechnology and mobility restoration. The final keynote was delivered by Dr. Maud Gorbet from the University of Waterloo, who spoke about in vitro modeling of immune response to biomaterials.

Workshops and panel discussions supplemented the keynote lectures. A morning session focused on the translation of biomedical technologies from research to market, with perspectives from leaders across venture capital, industry, academia, and clinical research. An afternoon workshop led by Dr. April Khademi introduced methods for visualizing complex biomedical data, highlighting advances in AI and machine learning.

In addition to invited speakers, the conference maintained its central focus on student-led research. More than a dozen students affiliated with the Institute of Biomedical Engineering presented oral talks across molecular, cellular, and clinical themes. A concurrent poster session offered attendees the opportunity to engage with a broader set of projects and provided students with feedback from peers and professionals.

The conference concluded with a reception and awards ceremony recognizing outstanding student contributions in both oral and poster categories.

ToBE remains a student-led initiative, planned and executed by trainees in biomedical engineering and related fields. This year's organizing committee curated a balanced program that reflected the breadth of current research and practice in the discipline. The event underscored the ongoing importance of collaborative, interdisciplinary forums in advancing biomedical engineering in both academic and applied contexts.

The organizing committee gratefully acknowledges the support of the 2025 ToBE sponsors: Medical Innovation Xchange, CCRM, 10x Genomics, Fujifilm VisualSonics, KITE, Boston Scientific, the Ontario Brain Institute, BD, Lumira Ventures, MOBIO Interactive, and Arkfield. Their contributions helped ensure the success of this year’s program and continue to play a vital role in fostering opportunities for the next generation of biomedical engineering researchers.