Three Minute Thesis Winner Urges Scientists to Make Research Accessible

As an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, Atefeh Mohammadi would attend the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition with a friend — “for funsies,” she says with a laugh — and watch in awe as competing graduate students presented their research in just three minutes. “I thought it was so fun and so cool,” she says, “and of course, so challenging.”

At the time, Mohammadi wasn’t sure she wanted to pursue a graduate degree, or if she even liked research very much. But earlier this month, the second-year MSc student from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology placed first in U of T’s 3MT final, taking home the top prize at the tenth annual competition for her presentation on neonatal lung disease.

“It’s every grad student’s dream to get a platform to talk about what you do,” says Mohammadi, whose academic supervisor is Professor Estelle Gauda at The Hospital for Sick Children. “And the other thing is that I love science communication. I believe very strongly that everyone should make their research accessible to the public. What’s the point of doing what you’re doing and arriving at your findings if you’re not going to communicate that to the people who can use them?”

Mohammadi was one of nine finalists in this year’s competition, which challenges participants to present the complexities of their research to a generalist audience quickly, using only one static slide. The global higher-education event has been one of the signature programs of U of T’s Centre for Graduate Professional Development since 2013 and encourages graduate researchers to develop their public engagement skills.

Judges assess the presentations for clarity, comprehension, and engagement, rather than the quality of the research. The winner of the U of T final receives a $1,000 cash prize, as well as the opportunity to compete in the Ontario-wide final featuring winners from other universities.

Mohammadi’s presentation focused on how citrulline, a compound that occurs naturally in watermelons, can help treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) — a common lung disease in premature babies that causes tissue damage in the grape-like alveoli, or air sacs of the lungs. Existing courses of treatment for BPD produce inconsistent results and have many side effects. But if Mohammadi can confirm that the substance indeed helps alveolar cells fight off inflammation, her findings may pave the way forward to a safe and inexpensive treatment.

Like her research protocol, Mohammadi says the hardest thing about the 3MT was figuring out where to start. She says she had “no idea” what she was doing for the first round, and worried that offering too many details about her work would scare off her audience. But the feedback she received after each round encouraged her to include details of her research and learn to trust her audience.

Finding that balance between scientific sophistication and accessible communication is something Mohammadi considers a lot in the course of her work. For the past three years, she has been a show host as well as the social media and promotions lead for Raw Talk Podcast, a student-led project from the Institute of Medical Science that brings medical science innovation to the public in an accessible, engaging format.

Now in its sixth season, Raw Talk has tackled topics ranging from underrepresentation in STEM to refugee healthcare in Canada, and the science and ethics of organ donation. Next year, Mohammadi will move to a new role as one of the podcast’s executive producers.

A lot of the time, Mohammadi says, she feels like there’s a wall with scientists on one side and the public on the other. “But especially now with the pandemic happening and the spread of misinformation, there’s a real need to break down that barrier between scientists and the general public,” she says. “Building that trust has become so important. And social media is where it all happens.”

She’s also glad that senior academics and faculty members are starting to recognize the importance of non-traditional methods for disseminating student research. “For some people, it’s a complete shift. In the past, they might have thought it a waste of time  — ‘You could be doing research instead, or publishing’ — but that attitude is changing.”

As for other graduate students who might be considering the competition, Mohammadi has no reservations in encouraging them to sign up. “I can’t think of a reason why you shouldn’t do it,” she exclaims. “3MT will help you understand for yourself the most important aspects of your work, and also what aspects need to be translatable to make its value known. I went into it with no pressure on myself, which I would recommend to everyone. It’s the perfect challenge for graduate students.”

This year’s winners also included Shivam Sharma (Faculty of Dentistry), who won both second place and the People’s Choice Award for his presentation on wound-healing in diabetes patients, and Melanie Wheatley (Institute of Forestry and Conservation), who won third place for her talk on fighting forest fires from the sky.