Trinity One Program Graduates Receive the 2024 Patricia and Peter Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize

Written by Grace (Gracey) Gaw and photos by Paul Terefenko

Congratulations to Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program graduates Anoushka Kapoor (New College) and Bhavnoor Pannu (Trinity College) – recipients of the prestigious 2024 U of T Patricia and Peter Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize. They, along with four other undergraduate U of T students, were celebrated for their exceptional research skills at an awards ceremony held on May 22, 2024, and received $1,000 each. In their acceptance speeches, the students shared how their diverse backgrounds and experiences shaped their research papers. For example, one student delved into the niche genre of anime piano music, while another detailed extensive geographical research inspired by the architectural design of their grandparents’ home.

Patricia and Peter Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize Awards Ceremony 2024	Mentor speech by Professor Joy Fitzgibbon, Associate Director, Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program

The Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program’s Associate Director, Professor Joy Fitzgibbon praised their research, completed as part of Kapoor’s course work in TRN136 Canadian Health in the Global Context and in Pannu’s research project in TRN377Y1 Comprehensive Paper Course – an application-only independent research course. As graduates of the Trinity One program, Kapoor just completed the Medicine & Global Health Stream and Pannu completed the Medicine and Global Health Stream in 2020-2021. 

Awarding Ceremony virtual acceptance speech by Trinity One graduate and awardee Anoushka Kapoor	Awarding Ceremony virtual acceptance speech by Trinity One graduate and awardee Bhavnoor Pannu

Recent Trinity One graduate Kapoor’s submission was a policy brief addressing the spread of vaccine misinformation. In her remarks, Fitzgibbon praised Kapoor for “diving into something even policymakers struggle to solve.” Inspired by a book detailing the ways misinformation spread, Kapoor linked this issue with a discussion on infectious diseases. Using an interdisciplinary lens to focus on “infodemics,” Kapoor explored the various core technological, physiological, corporate and learning issues that cause mass misinformation. Her experience would cement her interest in health policy.

Pannu coined the experience a “full circle moment” as she delivered her acceptance speech from “the same childhood bedroom, in front of the same curtains” where she first recorded her Trinity One video application. In the Trinity One program, she would first find her interest in Indigenous Health in which she realized how limited research was in this field, specific to marginalized women. This would lead to a long-term research project focusing on the misdiagnosis of cardiovascular disease in women. In doing so, Bhavnoor would not only complete her draft paper under TRN377Y1 with the intention of publication in the following year under TRN 477H1, but would also take it upon herself to share her findings publicly. Through her social media account and website, Bhavnoor goes to lengths detailing her work and various other resources for others to learn from in a culturally sensitive and multilingual manner.

Bhavnoor and Anoushka both closed their speeches grateful to Professor Fitzgibbon for her guidance and to the Wilsons whose generosity opened a door for their potential.

As Trinity One prepares for its next cohort of students this fall, the program aims to uphold its standard for supporting its students in research, acknowledging the responsibility that Bhavnoor puts well: “Data is just numbers, it is our responsibility to craft them into words that can change the world.”

About the Award

The Patricia and Peter Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize is awarded to current undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Toronto during each academic year. The purpose of this prize is to showcase and award students’ effective and innovative use of information sources and the development of their understanding of what it means to be information literate in the 21st century. This prize provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their information-seeking experience, showcase their research beyond the classroom, and promote scholarship excellence at the undergraduate level at University of Toronto.

Grace (Gracey) Gaw is a member of Innis College and currently a Summer Program Assistant with the Margaret MacMillan Trinity One Program. Gracey is a 2023-2024 graduate of the International Relations Stream of the Trinity One Program and currently a second-year student, specializing in Accounting and finishing the Certificate in International Affairs.

Categories: Awards & Honours; Student News; Trinity One