During our Norman Bethune Symposium 2020, we invited trainees to share their research via social media through our Twitter Research Showcase. In lieu of a traditional poster presentation, the Twitter Research Showcase challenged presenters to display and communicate their research through Tweet threads, engaging with others via comments and replies, and staying within the constraints of 280 characters per Tweet!
These Tweets were then reviewed by expert judges for clarity of content, organization and flow, overall appearance, and their level of engagement and impact. Congratulations to Maria-Elizabeth Baeva, the winner of the Twitter Research Showcase, and runner-up Marie-Soleil Smith!
See our list of showcase presenters and their Tweet threads below:
Participant: Amy Wong Strilchuk (@itsAmylase)
Showcase Title: "Transient gene therapy to prevent thrombosis"
Research Showcase Thread:
Excited to share my recent #Blood research with #CBR_NBS2020!
In my recent study, I found:
1) An important blood protein can be targeted using new gene therapy tools
2) This has applications in both research and medicine
THREAD (1/5)#CBR_TwitterShowcase pic.twitter.com/l4Ut0I8uyC
— Amy Wong Strilchuk (@itsAmylase) September 8, 2020
Participant: Bronwyn Lyons (@blyons619)
Showcase Title: "The type 3 secretion system: a pathogenic bacterial nanomachine"
Research Showcase Thread:
(1/6) Tomorrow is the first virtual #CBR_NBS2020! Several trainees are participating in the first #CBR_TwitterShowcase, so to get things going, I'll be chatting a bit about the research our lab does on a super cool bacterial nanomachine called the type 3 secretion system. pic.twitter.com/pNcwWVuEG9
— Bronwyn Lyons (@blyons619) September 8, 2020
Participant: Erik Lamoureux (@elamox)
Showcase Title: "Red blood cell deformability classification using deep learning"
Research Showcase Thread:
Here is some recent research I completed at the UBC Centre for Blood Research @CBR_UBC
I looked to determine red blood cell deformability using deep learning image classification#CBR_Twittershowcase
— erik (@elamox) September 9, 2020
Participant: Jerry Leung (@JerryL_NP)
Showcase Title: "Using Lipid Nanoparticles to Create Designer Platelets"
Research Showcase Thread:
(1/5) Interested to learn about creating designer platelets?
Essentially we find:
1. Platelets can be directly engineered to potentially produce different proteins
2. By engineering platelets, platelet transfusions can be made more effective#CBR_NBS2020 #CBR_TwitterShowcase pic.twitter.com/2ClQrCG7r4
— Jerry Leung (@JerryL_NP) September 8, 2020
Participant: Maria-Elizabeth Baeva (@Maria_the_Bae)
Showcase Title: "Are eyes more than just windows to the soul? Exploring the link between ocular pathology and Alzheimer's disease."
Research Showcase Thread:
1- Problem: How do we know what’s happening in the brain during #Alzheimer’s if we can’t cut into it? Imagine that a body is like a tree and the mind is the roots. How can we know what’s happening below the soil without digging? #CBR_NBS2020 #CBR_TwitterShowcase. pic.twitter.com/oyWQkgRNon
— Miss Bae-"before it was cool"-va (@Maria_the_Bae) September 8, 2020
Participant: Marie-Soleil Smith (@MarieSunSmith)
Showcase Title: "Concordance between plasma cotinine concentration and smoking self-reporting in two CARMA cohort studies"
Research Showcase Thread:
Is it possible to obtain reliable self-report data on tobacco smoking, a stigmatized act, from vulnerable populations? YES! By ensuring study participants feel safe to speak candidly to non-judgemental research staff.
Thread (1/6) #CBR_NBS2020 #CBR_TwitterShowcase #scicomm pic.twitter.com/gSnzz0x4a8
— Marie-Soleil Smith (@MarieSunSmith) September 8, 2020
Participant: Mona Khorshidfar (@Mona95480574)
Showcase Title: "Quality measurements of apheresis platelet concentrates from donors whose platelets repeatedly show low pH over storage"
Research Showcase Thread:
Let's learn more! Science is fantastic! #CBR_NBS2020 #CBR_TwitterShowcase #Devine_Lab #CBR_UBC pic.twitter.com/5H2PJSVIve
— Mona (@Mona95480574) September 8, 2020
Participant: Rachel Dunn (@RachelADunn)
Showcase Title: "DNA sequencing with molecular barcoding to uncover low frequency mitochondrial DNA mutations"
Research Showcase Thread:
So excited to be part of @CBR_UBC research showcase! Lets talk about DNA sequencing with molecular barcoding to uncover low frequency mitochondrial DNA mutations (1/5)#CBR_ResearchShowcase #CBR_NBS2020
— Rachel Dunn (@RachelADunn) September 8, 2020
Participant: Wenhui Li (@LiWenhui_)
Showcase Title: "The role of donor sex on the presence of CD71 erythroid cells in the whole blood"
Research Showcase Thread:
Excited to share my #donor characteristics study during the Norman Bethune symposium
Men from Mars, women from Venus;
Are there any differences between male and female blood?
Thread(1/3) #CBR_NBS2020 #CBR_Twittershowcase
— Pinky (@LiWenhui_) September 8, 2020
Thank you to our Twitter Research Showcase judges Leanna Bedell (STEMCELL Technologies), Kristine Ho (Centre for Blood Research), Dr. Kellie Machlus (Harvard Medical School), and Dr. Kristina McBurney (Science in the City), who provided insightful and thoughtful feedback on the threads.
Special thanks also to STEMCELL Technologies and Science in the City for providing prizes!
Learn more about the Norman Bethune Symposium here.