From Cs and Ds in high school to a PhD in biomedical research: 'U of T changed my life'
Joel Tan (MSc '19) had almost given up on his passion for biomedical research after being shut out of Singapore’s rigid school system – and then the University of Toronto flung open its doors.
The recent PhD graduate from Harvard Medical School praised U of T – where he earned two degrees – in a widely viewed speech to his fellow grads that urged more educators to look past straight-A stereotypes and instead focus on students’ potential.
His remarks generated more than 25,000 views on YouTube and touched off a debate about education reform in his home country.
“I wasn’t kidding in my speech: U of T changed my life and set me on my path today,” says Tan, who earned an honours bachelor of science degree from U of T as a member of University College in 2014 and a master’s degree in the same subject from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine's Institute of Medical Science in 2019.
“Much of my success at Harvard was 100 per cent attributable to my training at U of T. At every single stage of my time at U of T, I had amazing opportunities because that community supported me and mentors opened doors for me.”
Frustrated student
A self-described late bloomer, Tan says his interest in biology stemmed from a childhood watching his father battle cancer. But Singapore’s assessment process steered him away from the elite “three-science stream” that would allow him to study biology, chemistry and physics. His academics soon suffered and he began to wonder if he should forget about university.
“I really didn't know what I was doing back in middle school and high school,” says Tan, who studied biological and biomedical sciences at Harvard. “But the message I received was that higher education was probably not the right path for me, and for a while it seemed they might be right.”
After scraping through high school and completing compulsory military service, Tan applied to several Singapore universities but ran into an academic wall. So, he decided to take a chance on a single university overseas.
“I remember looking up university rankings and choosing U of T because it was the top university in Canada,” says Tan, adding that he didn’t have the money to spend on multiple international applications. “I went for the best one. But honestly, I considered it a long shot and I did not really think I would get in.”
At the time, Tan says his grades were less than stellar – including Cs and Ds – but were offset by extracurricular activities, including volunteer and mentorship experiences.
"I often think about how much of my life depended on someone deciding my past performance did not have to define my future potential,” Tan says, echoing part of his convocation speech message. “Talent is everywhere; opportunity is not.”
A new beginning
Once at U of T, Tan was finally able to take his first biology class in the Faculty of Arts & Science. He also gained access to experiential lab work, mentors and a community that allowed him to discover who he could become through science. That included professors who took the time to get to know him and involve him in their own research work, he says – even as an undergrad.
“I appreciate the kind of classes that were available to me at U of T. For someone who was really interested in research, U of T does such an amazing job of getting you involved and trained to go down that path once you graduate,” Tan says.
Next, he began his graduate studies at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “Temerty trains their master's students very well, with a lot of emphasis on translational research,” says Tan.
His also spent three years working as a lab research project co-ordinator at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).
Tan says his community of U of T mentors included many students who were generous with their time and openly shared experiences – a resource he now provides as a University College alumni mentor. “When I was still in Canada, I participated in a lot of the U of T alumni programs as well,” he says.
Tan’s research at Harvard led to the discovery of a group of bacterial defence systems he named Hailong, an ocean dragon in Chinese mythology. As a 2026 Schmidt Science Fellow, he plans to pivot towards computational biology and use machine learning to address neurodegeneration.
With his father now battling Alzheimer's, Tan hopes to eventually return to Canada to start his own lab and contribute to a future cure or therapy – though he adds it will be too late to help his ailing parent.
This story originally appeared in U of T News and has been edited for Temerty Medicine style.
