2025's Top stories from the Faculty of Medicine

By Bureau du marketing et des communications, Marketing and Communications Office

Faculté de médecine , Faculty of Medicine

A collage with 2025, a silhouette of the Faculty of Medicine campus, medicine students featured in the linked stories, and dean of medicine Melissa Forgie.
2025 saw the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine forging strong new partnerships to support our communities, leading innovative new research, and students thriving across world-class programs.

The Faculty’s impressive ambition was on full display, with the rise of the Advanced Medical Research Centre right outside our front doors, a new vision for an innovative community hub that could reshape primary care delivery in Ottawa, and new education programs that will help define the future of medicine. With so many exciting projects in the works, 2026 looks bright.

Watch for more highlights in our upcoming 2025 Progress Report, due out in early 2026.

Bernard Jasmin in a research laboratory

A legacy of vision and leadership: Dr. Bernard Jasmin reflects on his tenure as Dean

For the past eight years, Bernard Jasmin served as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, leading with passion, vision, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. He leaves a legacy of strategic growth, financial stability, and a strengthened sense of community within the faculty.

A medical student giving an injection at a SHIP clinic

Student-led Health Initiative Partnership forges unique community connections, learning opportunities

For students in the early days of medical school, providing care to real people can seem frustratingly far off—something that will only come after years of hard study. For Nicole Wisener and Emily Liang, second-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, the challenge became a powerful motivator and pushed them to find an innovative way to make a difference.

A doctor uses a stethoscope to check a child's heartbeat with his mother looking on

uOttawa roots new vision for primary care in teamwork and local needs

A collaborative new approach to primary care that is rooted in the needs of local neighbourhoods is taking shape at the University of Ottawa. Recognizing that students who choose family medicine are often seeking to make a difference by tackling big, complex problems in a fast-paced environment, the University is seeding a vision for an innovative new interdisciplinary primary care hub based in one of Ottawa’s high-needs neighbourhoods.

The feet of an indigenous dancer on a blue floor with the Medicine Indigenous program 20th anniversary logo overlaid

Building community: Indigenous Program at uOttawa Faculty of Medicine marks 20 years of progress & partnership

Since its launch in 2005, the Indigenous Program at the Faculty of Medicine has worked purposefully to guide and support Indigenous students as they follow their dreams through medical school and into practice.

Prime Minister Mark Carney learns laparoscopic surgery procedures at the uOttawa Sim Centre.

Prime Minister Carney gets crash course in medical training during tour of uOttawa Skills and Simulation Centre

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney recently got a first-hand look at the world-class facilities at the University of Ottawa Skills and Simulation Centre, a national and international leader in simulation-based medical education and high-caliber research.

illustrated image of neurons in the brain

uOttawa-led research team deciphering what serotonin is saying inside our brains

In our day-to-day lives, we’re constantly making a slew of decisions from immediate matters to prospects on the far horizon. But the evolutionary nuts-and-bolts of how our brains weigh these numerous daily decisions and what role is played by the neurotransmitter serotonin has been shrouded in mystery. Now, a new study led by an interdisciplinary Faculty of Medicine team delivers fascinating findings on this big topic and potentially unravels a hidden aspect.

4 Faculty of Medicine students in front of CHEO holding crocheted monkeys they made for patients at the hospital

Stitching Hope: Medical Monkeys bring courage to young patients

A group of medical students and volunteers are crocheting toys with 3D-printed prosthetics to help to sick children make sense of their journey.
 

an illustration of the neuromuscular junction

uOttawa-led team discovers major new insight into how nerves communicate with muscles

Published in the high-impact journal Science, an international research team led by Dr. John Baenziger has revealed ultra-detailed intricacies in how nerve signals activate at the neuromuscular junction – a specialized synapse that connects motor neurons to skeletal muscle fibers.

A meeting of the Black Medical Students Association at uOttawa in a classroom

Student group an unbreakable chain of mentorship

A community of support deeply attuned to the experiences of Black medical students, the uOttawa Black Medical Students Association is an empowering space for mentorship, peer support, and dismantling barriers.

Students gather at HUBBUB 2025

Student-driven solutions for city’s social challenges presented at CityStudio Ottawa’s HUBBUB competition

A Faculty of Medicine student won the uOttawa prize at the annual event showcasing collaborative ideas for tackling the city’s most pressing health and social issues.

cancer patient receiving IV treatment

uOttawa Medicine scientists zero in on cellular mechanism fueling drug-resistant cancers

Canada Research Chair Damien D'Amours's lab unveils promising new insights underlying cancer treatment resistance, perhaps paving the way for enhancing the effectiveness of radio/chemotherapy in cancer patients.

Immune system cell

With $3M grant, uOttawa medical scientist leads pioneering cancer immunotherapy research

Led by Dr. Michele Ardolino, the team of investigators will seek to uncover the hidden mechanisms of how the body’s immune system, nervous system, and gut microbiome interact in cancer. Their cross-disciplinary work and innovative approach has the potential to fundamentally reshape cancer treatment.

Nina Kucheran takes a selfie with other medical students showing off their new CMA backpacks

A love of French leads to the Faculty of Medicine

After six years in Florida, Nina Kucheran felt that French was sorely missing from her life. So, at the age of 24, she chose the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine as a springboard for a new adventure following her successful career as a university swimmer.

A bottle of water, a kiwi, lettuce, an apple, a banana and more on a green background

uOttawa developing AI-powered tool to personalize diets for people living with IBD

The Weston Family Foundation has awarded $10M to the University of Ottawa and the University of Alberta to co-lead a project to pursue transformational research into inflammatory bowel disease.

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