Four U of T Engineering Biomedical Engineering Students Awarded 2026 CIHR Doctoral Scholarships

Four students in the University of Toronto’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) have been awarded the highly competitive Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D). This national award recognizes outstanding academic achievement and research potential among Canada’s top graduate trainees in health research. 

This year’s recipients from BME, Fanglin Gong, Joy Lai, Kaiwen Liu, and Tyler A. Thomson, are advancing innovative solutions to address challenges in human health, from genetic disease treatment to dementia care and cardiovascular imaging. 

“Congratulations to Fanglin, Joy, Kaiwen, and Tyler on this outstanding achievement,” said Professor Milos Popovic, director of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. “We are proud to support their work and look forward to the impact they will make.”

A complete list of winners can be found here.

Advancing gene editing for cystic fibrosis 

Working under the supervision of Professor Bowen Li, Fanglin Gong is developing a next-generation gene editing platform that integrates CRISPR technology with artificial intelligence. Her project introduces a novel CRISPR and AI-designed retron (CAIR) system to improve the precision and efficiency of correcting disease-causing mutations in cystic fibrosis (CF). 

Supporting dementia care through adaptive AI 

Supervised by Professor Alex Mihailidis, Joy Lai is developing intelligent, human-centred technologies to support people living with dementia and their caregivers. Her doctoral work builds on Remindful, a digital health platform that uses artificial intelligence to assist with daily routines and detect behavioural changes.  

New imaging tools to combat heart disease 

Under the supervision of Professor Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng, Kaiwen Liu is developing a novel molecular imaging approach to detect and monitor cardiac fibrosis, a key driver of heart failure. His work centres on a collagen-targeted MRI contrast agent, Mn-ScarTrac, designed to visualize scar tissue formation in the heart with high resolution.  

Prime editing for curative CF therapies 

Also supervised by Professor Bowen Li, Tyler A. Thomson is applying cutting-edge prime editing technology to correct the G542X mutation, one of the most common cystic fibrosis-causing mutations without an available treatment. By leveraging advanced lipid nanoparticle delivery systems, Thomson’s work aims to precisely repair the underlying genetic defect in lung cells, offering the potential for a one-time, curative therapy.