Join us for our Talent Showcase featuring emerging talent in data science and AI alongside researchers and industry leaders driving the future of AI, machine learning, and data science. Whether you’re scouting top-tier talent, exploring partnership opportunities, or curious about what’s next in data science and AI, this is where ideas meet action.
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2:30-3:00 |
Registration
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3:00-3:05 |
Welcome and Opening Remarks Dr. Lisa Strug Director, Data Sciences Institute, University of Toronto Professor, Departments of Statistical Sciences, Computer Science and cross-appointed in Biostatistics, University of Toronto; Senior Scientist in the Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, Hospital for Sick Children |
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3:05-4:00 |
Keynote: Advancing data into change: science, strategy, and innovation Dr. Nardin Samuel CEO & Co-Founder, Cove Neurosciences Neurology Resident, Physician-Researcher & Educator |
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4:00-4:10 |
Data and AI at AstraZeneca Daniel Smedley Vice President, Innovation & Business Excellence and IT AstraZeneca Canada |
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4:10-5:30 |
Poster session & Networking Explore applied data science and AI projects and connect directly with students and trainees working across a range of domains. |
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Lisa Strug
Director, Data Sciences Institute
Director, Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI), Ontario Region
Professor, Departments, Computer Science and Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto Senior Scientist, Program in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Strug is the inaugural Director of the Data Sciences Institute, a tri-campus, multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary hub for data science activity at the University of Toronto and affiliated Research Institutes. Dr. Strug is a statistical geneticist, and her research focuses on the development of novel statistical approaches to analyze and integrate multi-omics data to identify genetic contributors to complex human disease. She has received several honours including holding the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Genome Data Science.
Nardin Samuel
CEO & Co-Founder, Cove Neurosciences Neurology Resident, Physician-Researcher & Educator
Dr. Samuel is a physician-scientist, neurology resident, and the visionary CEO & Co-founder of Cove Neurosciences, a groundbreaking software venture transforming how brain data is analyzed. Cove Neurosciences develops advanced analytic tools that bridge data engineering and neuroscience—pioneering personalized approaches to psychiatric and neurological care in an era where brain data is being generated at unprecedented scales.
Her clinical and research expertise spans neuromodulation, brain network mapping, and AI-driven diagnostics for complex neurological disorders. With over 60 peer-reviewed publications, international recognition, and accolades including the 2023 Leadership Award from the Women Empowerment Awards and a spot on Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women list, Dr. Samuel is pushing the boundaries of neuroscience, medicine, and technology.
She earned her MD and PhD from the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship through the Royal College Clinician-Investigator Program.
Daniel Smedley
Vice President, Innovation & Business Excellence and IT
AstraZeneca Canada
Daniel Smedley is the Vice President of Innovation & Business Excellence (IBEX) and IT for AstraZeneca Canada Inc., one of Canada’s leading biopharmaceutical companies.
A proven senior business and people leader, Daniel has more than 15 years Global and Canadian experience across a number of finance functions, including financial planning & analysis, controllership and decision support within the biopharmaceutical, medical and hospital industries.
January 22, 2026
2:30 pm-5:30 pm
Data Sciences Institute
700 University Ave,
10th floor, Toronto
Thank you to our
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Showcasing posters from DSI Fellows, undergraduates and trainees in the following areas:
Hongbo Chen: Detecting stigmatizing language in electronic health records utilizing in-context learning
Supervisor: Eldon Cohen, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Ana Elisa Lopez-Miranda: Prompting the Professoriate: How LLMs Are Affecting Statistics and Data Science Pedagogy
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Evelyn Hughes: Autonomous end-to-end data analysis with LLMs
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Sangwook Kim: Treat: A Unified Text-Guided Conditioned Deep Learning Model for Generalized Radiotherapy Treatment Planning
Supervisor: Chris McIntosh, Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Nolan Koblischke: Semantic searching astronomical images with vision-language model captions
Supervisor: Jo Bovy, David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Ramaravind Kommiya Mothilal: Reinterpreting Reasoning-like Behavior of LLMs for AI Safety
Supervisor: Shion Guha, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Aida Ramezani: The discordance between embedded ethics and cultural inference in large language models
Supervisor: Yang Xu, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Farzan Taj: OmniPert: A Deep Learning Foundation Model for Predicting Responses to Genetic and Chemical Perturbations in Single Cancer Cells
Supervisor: Lincoln Stein, Department of Molecular Genomics, University of Toronto
Nakul Upadhya: Empowering Decision Trees via Shape Function Branching
Supervisor: Eldon Cohen, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Hongbo Chen: Detecting stigmatizing language in electronic health records utilizing in-context learning
Supervisor: Eldon Cohen, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Chaoran Dong: Estimating the Economic Impact of Reducing Geographical Disparities in Pediatric Cancer Care
Supervisor: Petros Pechlivanoglou, The Hospital for Sick Children
Xinyang (Sean) Feng: Dynamic Prediction Using Joint Models of Two Longitudinal Biomarkers and Clustered Survival Data with Application to Periodontitis
Supervisor: Aya Mitani, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Kin Fung Li: Data-enabled modelling and control for patient-specific leukemia treatment
Supervisor: Margaret Chapman, The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Noor Khan: Examining the Impact of PM2.5 Exposure on Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA Carriers in Canada
Supervisor: Joanne Kotsopoulos, Women’s College Hospital Research Institute
Sangwook Kim: Treat: A Unified Text-Guided Conditioned Deep Learning Model for Generalized Radiotherapy Treatment Planning
Supervisor: Chris McIntosh, Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Yixiong Sun: Amyloidosis disrupts experience-driven restructuring of hippocampal CA1 neuronal ensembles
Supervisor: Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Laura Thery: Opioid Use and Toxicity in Patients with Solid Cancers: Insights from an Ontario Population-Level Cohort Study
Supervisor: Jenny Lau, Princess Margaret Hospital
Joanna Wang: Predicting Mature Oocyte Yield with Follicular Output Rate (FORT) in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
Supervisor: Nigel Pereira, Mount Sinai Fertility
Joanna Wang: Predicting Mature Oocyte Yield with Follicular Output Rate (FORT) in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
Supervisor: Nigel Pereira, Mount Sinai Fertility
Noor Khan: Examining the Impact of PM2.5 Exposure on Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA Carriers in Canada
Supervisor: Joanne Kotsopoulos, Women’s College Hospital Research Institute
Sooyeon Kim: Forest Management and Wildfire Insurability: Modelling Asset Losses in Ontario’s WUI Communities
Supervisor: Rasoul Yousefpour, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, University of Toronto
Inessa De Angelis: Using GitHub Actions for Computational Communication Research
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Michael Cowan: Canadian Federal Government Procurement and Election Timing
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Luissa Vahedi: When Data and Governance Meet: Exploring the Promises and Perils of State Fragility Metrics
Supervisor: Carmen Logie, Factor-Inwentash, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
Mairead Heiger: Decoding Dwarf Galaxy Chemical Evolution with DLEIY
Supervisor: Joshua Speagle, Department of Statistical Sciences
Nolan Koblischke: Semantic searching astronomical images with vision-language model captions
Supervisor: Jo Bovy, David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Isabelle Laing: DOROTHY: Stellar Catalogue for 12 Million DESI Milky Way Stars Derived Using a Machine Learning Pipeline
Supervisor: Joshua Speagle, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Alexandros Pratsos: Characterizing Stellar Streams With Graph Neural Networks
Supervisor: Ting Li, David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Mikaeel Abbas: Estimating sex-specific selection on gene expression: a comparison of statistical approaches
Supervisor: Jacqueline Sztepanacz, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Duncan Carruthers-Lay: Exploring the metabolism of Neisseria gonorrhoeae through genome-scale metabolic modelling
Supervisor: John Parkinson, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto
Kin Fung Li: Data-enabled modelling and control for patient-specific leukemia treatment
Supervisor: Margaret Chapman, The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Gengming He: On the analysis of genetic association with long-read sequencing data
Supervisor: Lisa Strug, The Hospital for Sick Children
Eric Sanders: The Role of Stress Sensitivity in the Genetics of Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy
Supervisor: Lisa Strug, The Hospital for Sick Children
Farzan Taj: OmniPert: A Deep Learning Foundation Model for Predicting Responses to Genetic and Chemical Perturbations in Single Cancer Cells
Supervisor: Lincoln Stein, Department of Molecular Genomics, University of Toronto
Xindi Zhang: A Deep Learning System Classifies Cancer Origins Using Somatic Mutation Patterns Detected by Plasma Whole-Genome Sequencing
Supervisor: Lincoln Stein, Department of Molecular Genomics, University of Toronto
Lehang Zhong: Robust likelihood methods for differential gene expression analysis
Supervisor: Lisa Strug, The Hospital for Sick Children
Mikaeel Abbas: Estimating sex-specific selection on gene expression: a comparison of statistical approaches
Supervisor: Jacqueline Sztepanacz, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Dorothy Apedaile: Poster title TBC
Supervisor: Amaya Perez-Brumer, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Duncan Carruthers-Lay: Exploring the metabolism of Neisseria gonorrhoeae through genome-scale metabolic modelling
Supervisor: John Parkinson, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto
Hongbo Chen: Detecting stigmatizing language in electronic health records utilizing in-context learning
Supervisor: Eldon Cohen, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Michael Cowan: Canadian Federal Government Procurement and Election Timing
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Inessa De Angelis: Using GitHub Actions for Computational Communication Research
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Chaoran Dong: Estimating the Economic Impact of Reducing Geographical Disparities in Pediatric Cancer Care
Supervisor: Petros Pechlivanoglou, The Hospital for Sick Children
Ana Elisa Lopez-Miranda: Prompting the Professoriate: How LLMs Are Affecting Statistics and Data Science Pedagogy
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Xinyang (Sean) Feng: Dynamic Prediction Using Joint Models of Two Longitudinal Biomarkers and Clustered Survival Data with Application to Periodontitis
Supervisor: Aya Mitani, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Kin Fung Li: Data-enabled modelling and control for patient-specific leukemia treatment
Supervisor: Margaret Chapman, The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Gengming He: On the analysis of genetic association with long-read sequencing data
Supervisor: Lisa Strug, The Hospital for Sick Children
Mairead Heiger: Decoding Dwarf Galaxy Chemical Evolution with DLEIY
Supervisor: Joshua Speagle, Department of Statistical Sciences
Evelyn Hughes: Autonomous end-to-end data analysis with LLMs
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Noor Khan: Examining the Impact of PM2.5 Exposure on Breast Cancer Risk among BRCA Carriers in Canada
Supervisor: Joanne Kotsopoulos, Women’s College Hospital Research Institute
Sooyeon Kim: Forest Management and Wildfire Insurability: Modelling Asset Losses in Ontario’s WUI Communities
Supervisor: Rasoul Yousefpour, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, University of Toronto
Sangwook Kim: Treat: A Unified Text-Guided Conditioned Deep Learning Model for Generalized Radiotherapy Treatment Planning
Supervisor: Chris McIntosh, Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Jinyoung Ko: Poster title TBC
Supervisor: Seungjae Lee, Civil & Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto
Nolan Koblischke: Semantic searching astronomical images with vision-language model captions
Supervisor: Jo Bovy, David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Ramaravind Kommiya Mothilal: Reinterpreting Reasoning-like Behavior of LLMs for AI Safety
Supervisor: Shion Guha, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Isabelle Laing: DOROTHY: Stellar Catalogue for 12 Million DESI Milky Way Stars Derived Using a Machine Learning Pipeline
Supervisor: Joshua Speagle, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Paraskevi Massara: Poster title TBC
Supervisor: Elena Comelli, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Alexandros Pratsos: Characterizing Stellar Streams With Graph Neural Networks
Supervisor: Ting Li, David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto
Aida Ramezani: The discordance between embedded ethics and cultural inference in large language models
Supervisor: Yang Xu, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Eric Sanders: The Role of Stress Sensitivity in the Genetics of Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy
Supervisor: Lisa Strug, The Hospital for Sick Children
Yixiong Sun: Amyloidosis disrupts experience-driven restructuring of hippocampal CA1 neuronal ensembles
Supervisor: Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Farzan Taj: OmniPert: A Deep Learning Foundation Model for Predicting Responses to Genetic and Chemical Perturbations in Single Cancer Cells
Supervisor: Lincoln Stein, Department of Molecular Genomics, University of Toronto
Laura Thery: Opioid Use and Toxicity in Patients with Solid Cancers: Insights from an Ontario Population-Level Cohort Study
Supervisor: Jenny Lau, Princess Margaret Hospital
Nakul Upadhya: Empowering Decision Trees via Shape Function Branching
Supervisor: Eldon Cohen, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Luissa Vahedi: When Data and Governance Meet: Exploring the Promises and Perils of State Fragility Metrics
Supervisor: Carmen Logie, Factor-Inwentash, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
Joanna Wang: Predicting Mature Oocyte Yield with Follicular Output Rate (FORT) in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
Supervisor: Nigel Pereira, Mount Sinai Fertility
Alan Wei: LLMs in the Newsroom: Empowering Journalists to Discover Stories in Government Archives
Supervisor: Rohan Alexander, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Xindi Zhang: A Deep Learning System Classifies Cancer Origins Using Somatic Mutation Patterns Detected by Plasma Whole-Genome Sequencing
Supervisor: Lincoln Stein, Department of Molecular Genomics, University of Toronto
Lehang Zhong: Robust likelihood methods for differential gene expression analysis
Supervisor: Lisa Strug, The Hospital for Sick Children
