SPECIAL BMC80 PODCAST EPISODE–COMING IN JUNE!

THE MEDICAL ILLUSTRATION PODCAST PRESENTS: TORONTO BMC PROGRAM 80TH ANNIVERSARY

Topics: Education | Industry Training | Graduate Program History

The Master of Science in Biomedical Communications at the University of Toronto continuously evolves to meet the ever-changing needs of science communication. In this special episode of the Medical Illustration Podcast, host Paul Kelly sits down with Director and Associate Professor Michael Corrin and Associate Director and Associate Professor Shelley Wall for an in-depth conversation on the program’s rich history, key milestones, and lasting impact. They share insights into their roles in shaping BMC through academic leadership, curriculum development, student mentorship, and research oversight. Don’t miss this fascinating look at how BMC has grown into a powerhouse in visual science communication!

Release Date: June 2025

Paul Kelly is a professional certified medical illustrator working in Toronto, Canada, at TVASurg (Toronto Video Atlas of Surgery). He specializes in 3D animation and video editing for teaching surgery. The Medical Illustration Podcast is an audio resource for those interested in the field of medical illustration, featuring interviews with seasoned professionals, and industry updates.

Return to BMC80 main page.

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Web sites referenced:

Medical Illustration Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/medillustrationpodcast

Paul Kelly’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-f-kelly-3989831b/?originalSubdomain=ca

Michael Corrin’s Faculty Profile https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/#corrin

Shelley Wall’s Faculty Profile https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/#wall

TVASurg web site https://pie.med.utoronto.ca/TVASurg/

BMC80 main page: https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/bmc80

BMC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION GALA: CELEBRATE 80 YEARS IN MAY!


Join fellow alumni and students Saturday, May 31 for the Biomedical Communications Alumni Association (BMCAA) Gala—a special event to reconnect, reminisce, and raise a toast to 80 years of biomedical visualization at the University of Toronto.

Don’t miss this chance to celebrate our shared history and the future of BMC!

More details coming soon…

Return to BMC80 main page.

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Web sites referenced

Biomedical Communications Alumni Association (BMCAA) https://www.bmcaa.com

BMC80 main page https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/bmc80

BMC80 Hoodies–Available only in April!

Celebrate 80 Years of BMC with a Limited-Edition Hoodie!

BMC alumni and current students can now order a special BMC80 hoodie–available for a limited time only!

This exclusive hoodie features:

  • The University of Toronto crest on the left chest

  • The years 1945–2025 embroidered on the sleeve

  • A stunning, full-colour BMC80 logo on the back

Order Deadline: April 24, 2025
Price: $44.47 + HST (Offered at cost; not a fundraiser.)

Pick up your hoodie at the BMCAA Gala.

Order now: [Link coming soon] (Credit card required.)

Want to support BMC? Visit Giving to BMC to donate.

Return to BMC80 main page.

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Links referenced:

BMCAA Gala https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/news-events/bmc80-alumni-gala

Hoodie Order Form [Link coming soon!]

Giving to BMC https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/giving-to-bmc

BMC80 main page https://www.bmcaa.com

BMC alum creates captivating cover for OVPRI's annual report

Naomi Wee, MScBMC Class of '24, brought research to life through art as the cover illustrator for Synergy, the Office of the Vice Principal, Research and Innovation's 2024 annual report.

Her illustration–a building constructed from books–depicts the dynamism and diversity of research at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Each "floor" highlights a key seasonal event:

Top Floor (Summer): The INSPIRE program, which prepares top science students for graduate studies, and SURF, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fair;

Middle Floor (Fall): The Celebration of Books, which showcases works authored and edited by UTM scholars;

Bottom Floor (Winter): The Research Excellence Prizes, which honour the achievements of early-career researchers in the Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences; and the Annual Research Excellence Lecture.

Naomi says that this was an incredible opportunity to collaborate with the OVPRI's communications team who "gave me full creative freedom over the project. As a medical illustrator, it was really interesting to think about how we can depict different research disciplines that don’t necessarily involve biology or chemistry."

Naomi Wee is a medical illustrator at Bootcamp.com.

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Web sites referenced

Naomi Wee's online portfolio https://www.naomiwee.com

Synergy, OVPRI 2024 Annual Report https://bit.ly/OVPRI-Report-24

BMC Fall Open House–Update

First offered in September 2022, the BMC Open House was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns that moved all interviews online. The Open House provided an additional opportunity for applicants to connect with us in person in the event of a February 2023 lockdown.

We continued to offer the in-person Open House until 2024, but now it’s time to say goodbye. The Open House has served its purpose, and we are moving forward.

Applicants who are invited for interviews will still have the opportunity to attend their interviews in person.

Thanks to everyone at BMC and UTM who made the Open House a success. We look forward to meeting future invited applicants in person on Interview Day.

Artificial Intelligence in medical illustration: catastrophe or opportunity?

On January 31, 2025, BMC faculty members Shehryar Saharan and Nicholas Woolridge organized an AI information session for faculty and students. The session aimed to review the current state of AI, address ethical and practical concerns, and introduce helpful AI tools. The presentation, titled Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Visualization: A Catastropportunity, highlighted the dual potential of these technologies—catastrophic in some contexts and applications but also presenting opportunities. 

Contributors, including second year student Priya Modi, faculty Dave Mazierski and Derek Ng, and sessional lecturers Man-San Ma and Alexander Young, showed a variety their own experiments with and applications of generative AI in scientific visualization. 

AI tools and techniques have gained public attention in recent years with the release of chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude, and image generation tools like Dall-E and Stable Diffusion. These tools leverage advancements in AI techniques, such as neural networks, and the increasing power of specialized computer hardware. 

ChatGPT and Claude are large-language models (LLMs) trained on vast corpora of written information. Image generation models, trained on billions of images, often produce uncannily artistic-looking images. The availability of these technologies raises concerns about their impact on artists, writers, and other workers potentially displaced by their outputs. 

Medical illustrators are particularly concerned about whether these tools pose a threat to their profession. The workshop addressed some of these ethical concerns: 

  • Intellectual property: Many large datasets are sourced from human creators without consent or compensation. 

  • Privacy: Personal data can be inadvertently included in the training data due to the insatiable demand for data. 

  • Accountability: Most AI systems lack transparency about the source of their models or training data, making it challenging to assess ethics or assign responsibility for issues. 

  • Environmental impact: Training and running AI models are highly energy- and water-intensive

Human flourishing, equity, and human exploitation are all concerns that arise when considering the impact of AI on society. For instance, AI models can inadvertently reflect biases present in the culture from which they are developed, leading to potential discrimination and unfair treatment. Additionally, many individuals employed to review and validate AI outputs are often found in developing countries, where these positions may be characterized by low wages, unfair conditions, or exploitation. 

In the context of medical illustration, there are also practical concerns associated with the use of AI tools, particularly image generation. One significant challenge is the accuracy of AI systems. They can sometimes generate inaccurate or misleading images, which could potentially lead to errors or poor outcomes in medical applications. Another concern is the novelty of AI-generated content. While our field often involves depicting new biological phenomena, procedures, and devices, AI, which essentially remixes and regurgitates what it was trained on, is currently struggling to produce truly novel creations. 

Furthermore, organizations that rely on inaccurate AI-derived materials may face legal liability for errors or adverse consequences. Additionally, copyright issues arise with AI-generated images, as they are currently not protected by copyright law. This means that clients may have to consider the possibility that their AI-generated images could be reused or altered by others. 

There are tools available that by chance or design do not run into the ethical or practical concerns mentioned. These more ethical tools are typically trained on ethical datasets and have a more assistive rather than generative nature. For example, one recent tool from Adobe can separate glass reflections from objects behind the glass in photographs. Another tool integrated into the animation program Cascadeur can infer skeletal motion from video sources, which is particularly beneficial for 3D animation of human characters. Both of these tools were developed ethically and have the potential to accomplish tasks that were previously impossible or extremely challenging. 

Workshop co-organizers Saharan and Woolridge hope to offer another session in Summer 2025.

2025 Vesalius Trust Scholar–Molly Wells

Second year MScBMC student Molly Wells was named a 2025 Vesalius Trust Scholar for her master's research project Gully Deep Dive. Gully Deep Dive is an online interactive multi-media learning resource for high school students.

Congratulations Molly Wells on being named a 2025 Vesalius Trust Scholar.

Molly is a second-year graduate student in the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications at the University of Toronto. She received a Vesalius Trust scholarship for her master's research project Gully Deep Dive.

The Gully is a marine protected area 200 kilometres off the coast of Nova Scotia. Formed hundreds of thousands of years ago, the deep sea canyon's ecosystem is home to the endangered Northern bottlenose whale and a habitat for a wide variety of species.

Molly is developing an online interactive multi-media learning resource for the Gully. Designed for a high school audience, Gully Deep Dive will take students on a submarine simulation from the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean to the bottom of the deep submarine canyon–and out again.

The interactive learning resource will show students the marine life that calls the Gully home, what makes the deep-sea canyon so special, and how regulations protect the Gully while still allowing people to enjoy the ocean in a sustainable way.

The Vesalius Trust awards scholarships and research grants to students who have completed one year of curriculum in accredited medical illustration programs. These competitive awards are based on scholastic achievement and research project merit.

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Vesalius Trust web site: https://vesaliustrust.org

Molly’s online presence:

Online Portfolio: https://www.mollywellsart.ca/science-visuals.html

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-wells-123064151/

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Molly-Wells-4

Instagram: @mollywellsart

Vesalius Trust awards 2025 Research Grant to BMC grad student Bonnie Yuqing Wang

An image that includes the NerveUs logo, a short description of its purpose, and a mockup of the web site displayed on a laptop screen.  In the bottom right corner, there is a circular portrait of the project creator Bonnie Wang.

Bonnie Yuqing Wang, a second year MScBMC student, received a research grant from the Vesalius Trust to support her creation and development of an interactive educational tool for patients with peripheral nerve injury.

Congratulations Bonnie Yuqing Wang on being awarded a 2025 Vesalius Trust Research Grant.

A second-year student in the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications program at the University of Toronto, Bonnie received the grant for her master's research project NerveUs: developing an interactive educational tool for patients with peripheral nerve injury.

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) occurs when nerves outside the central nervous system–for example, those in the arms and legs–are compressed or crushed. PNI can result in a loss of sensation or motor function.

Bonnie is developing an online interactive educational platform for patients with PNI. "Many patients have difficulty visualizing how nerves work, so they do not understand how PNI can impact their daily life until it happens to them," Bonnie says.

NerveUs will help patients understand the science behind PNI and various aspects of their treatment, such as the healthcare professionals they will see or the diagnostic tests they might undergo.

NerveUs will consist of a series of online modules that users can navigate sequentially or by going to a specific section, depending on their needs. Bonnie is designing and creating illustrations and animations, and writing text that is accessible to a general audience. Some modules will also feature interactive 3D models that patients will be able to explore from different perspectives.

Bonnie intends NerveUs to be a comprehensive resource that patients can revisit at different stages of their treatments for information and understanding.

The Vesalius Trust awards scholarships and research grants to students who have completed one year of curriculum in accredited medical illustration programs. These competitive awards are based on scholastic achievement and research project merit.

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Vesalius Trust web site: https://vesaliustrust.org

Bonnie’s online presence:

Web site: https://www.bonniewang.ca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visualsbywang/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnie-w-211566129/

BMC 80–Speaker Series 2025: Lisa Qiu, Art Director, Real Chemistry

Lisa Qiu, MScBMC ‘18 is an award-winning biomedical communicator with a passion for translating complex science, medicine and health into engaging visual solutions for diverse audiences.

from medical animation to art direction: navigating a career in biomedical communication

The BMC career journey is often unique, ever evolving and rarely predictable. In this talk, I’ll share my experience with production, art direction, and how it took me to the US and back. Learning the value of stepping outside restrictive professional silos, taking risks, exploring different roles and continuously expanding one’s toolkit can help navigate the ups and downs of a niche industry and, more importantly, find professional fulfillment. Join me as I share insights on adaptability, growth, and viewing our expertise as versatile assets across industries. My hope is to inspire others to explore, adapt, and redefine their paths in the ever-changing landscape of creative scientific communication.

Date: February 7, 2025
Time: 1 to 2 p.m.
Location: Online
Webinar Registration Link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ao_Pt8FNSv6qzoIBb4cm8g#/registration
2025 BMC speaker series full program: https://bmc.med.utoronto.ca/news-events/2025/01/29/bmc80-speaker-series-2025


LISA QIU, MScBMC ‘18. Lisa is currently an art director at Real Chemistry, a global health innovations company that provides marketing and tech-enabled services to healthcare companies. She specifically works under the medical communications division with the RadScience team, specializing in scientific visualization and storytelling through congress experiences. Lisa received her HBSc in pathobiology and MScBMC from the University of Toronto, and is a graduate of the Academy of Realist Art Toronto. Since completing the BMC program in 2018, Lisa has cultivated a range of production experience, having worked as a medical animator at Red Nucleus (formerly INVIVO Communications) in Toronto and a multimedia production artist at Real Chemistry in New Jersey/New York City. She is passionate about art and on her free time, Lisa enjoys making ceramics, baking fancy desserts, completing the New York Times crossword and sometimes running.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-qiu

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisauiq?igsh=bDh6cWN3dmRpbG5k

Real Chemistry Website: https://www.realchemistry.com/

BMC80–Speaker Series 2025

The BMC Speaker Series 2024 is pleased to welcome seasoned storytellers from diverse backgrounds including medical animation/illustration, surgical education, and beyond. These biomedical communication specialists will share their insights and techniques for transforming intricate subject matter into accessible visuals that captivate and enlighten audiences.