Director's Message
Welcome to the Institute of Medical Science (IMS), the largest graduate program within the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and one of the largest at the University of Toronto (UofT), with over 500 students and more than 700 faculty members spread across the campus and Toronto’s many University-affiliated academic hospitals.
We offer research intensive, thesis-based Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs — from bench to bedside, across multiple disciplines in biomedical and clinical/health sciences — that all support translational research relevant to human health. Students come to us from undergraduate, graduate and medical residency programs, and undertake a wide range of research from molecular and cell biology to surgical research, health policy or drug development.
IMS provides diverse education and training opportunities to facilitate the growth of its students, and our program goals are designed to promote excellence as a researcher, scholar, professional and citizen.
The Institute has a robust professional development program to help our trainees choose their career after graduation. We run for-credit modular courses to assess and develop leadership and transferable skills to support students in taking better advantage of the opportunities available in academia and beyond. Many of our graduates continue in further education, completing a PhD or attending Medical School, and many work in the public health sector, with others employed in the private sector, academic administration or at charitable foundations.
IMS also houses a comprehensive Summer Undergraduate Research Program for those looking to experience the research space before deciding to apply to graduate school; the Graduate Diploma in Health Research for UofT medical students looking to integrate research into their MD program; and the only accredited master’s level medical visualization program in Canada — the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications.
IMS is committed to ensuring that the principles of Equity, Diversity, Indigeneity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIIA) are integrated at all levels of graduate education, and we are taking proactive steps to support inclusive excellence.
IMS also wishes to acknowledge that we learn and work on land that for thousands of years has been the traditional lands of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to conduct our research and training on this land.
I encourage you to explore our website and learn about the amazing research that our students and faculty carry out, as well as some of the student-led initiatives such as the IMS Magazine and UofT Talks.
We have a talented and dedicated team of staff and faculty Graduate Coordinators who support our IMS community, as well as other faculty leads who help maintain the academic program by overseeing activities such as Student Admissions and Faculty Memberships. We are located in the C. David Naylor Building opposite Queen’s Park, so please feel free to drop by and see us on a Thursday when we are all in the offices together.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lucy R. Osborne, PhD
Director, Institute of Medical Science
Professor of Medicine and Molecular Genetics
Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
The Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement recognizing the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories. For more information about Land Acknowledgements, visit the Indigenous U of T Land Acknowledgement page.