URNCST Journal Mentored Paper
The URNCST Journal team prides itself on its commitment to advocate for undergraduate STEM research. In our endeavours to promote undergraduate research, we have published a number of papers from undergraduate research competitions and case competitions. From these ventures, we have identified a couple of themes that were found to recur independently as follows: 1) undergraduate students are extremely keen to use their critical thinking skills to participate in research endeavours that recognize their valuable work and 2) there exists a subset of students who desire to contribute to undergraduate STEM research but due to one reason or another are unable to take part in such research or feel as if they may need closer guidance during the writing process. Despite this, many thousands of undergraduate students across the globe play crucial roles in making new discoveries every single year.
In an effort to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to contribute to STEM research literature, we have established our novel Mentored Paper Initiative. Students that are selected to participate will have the opportunity to be partnered with a graduate student as they write a manuscript that is of peer-reviewable quality in the URNCST Journal. The topic of the manuscript will be in the graduate student’s area of expertise to allow them to more effectively guide the students throughout the writing process. Students will be mentored from the design stage to write up, and the final manuscript will be peer-reviewed by another graduate student, to allow the students to experience external-feedback. This opportunity provides undergraduate students with the chance to improve their scientific writing skills and experience the entire process of writing an academic manuscript, while working under the supervision of a graduate student. Those wishing to learn more about how the URNCST Journal Mentored Paper initiative was developed can read our published editorial.
Eligibility to Participate: The mentored paper is open to students who are enrolled in an undergraduate (i.e. BSc, BEng, BA, etc.) or professional-undergraduate (i.e. MD, DDS, PharmD, OD, RN, etc.) degree program.
About the Initiative: Undergraduate students participating in the URNCST Journal Mentored Paper are required to draft and submit an abstract on a topic that is of interest to them based on the questions provided below. This abstract must be in the format of either 1) a research protocol (i.e. a plan to conduct a study) OR 2) a review (i.e. a review of the currently existing literature); it is not acceptable to simply summarize a single study already published in the literature by an academic journal. Students may submit an abstract alone or in teams of up to 3. These abstracts will be reviewed for suitability (i.e. understanding of topic, writing ability), and accepted students will be paired with the graduate student who proposed the topic and will mentor the undergraduate (team) in drafting a manuscript that is of suitable quality to undergo peer-review by the URNCST Journal. As participants will be under the guidance of a graduate student, they are not required to have a complete understanding of the topic, but should have done their due diligence in reading about the topic online and have the motivation and dedication to learn from the mentoring graduate student.
Topics Available: Please see below for a complete list of the available research topics for the manuscripts. Please note that these are the only questions accepted students should write on and they are not subject to change.
Deadline to Submit Abstract for Consideration: Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 11:59PM EST
Mentorship Period: Fall 2025 (September-December)
Update: The URNCST Journal has opened its call for abstracts for the 16th Mentored Paper Initiative! We welcome submissions up until Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 11:59pm EST! Successful applicants will partake in the mentored paper initiative during Fall 2024. Should you have any questions about participating, please contact us at competition@urncst.com.
For Graduate Students: We are always interested in identifying new mentors who are able/willing to help keen undergraduate researchers design, develop, and write a full-length study protocol or review. Eligible mentors must be enrolled in or a graduate of a graduate program (a Master's level degree at minimum) in any natural or clinical science or technology discipline. Please apply to be a mentor here.
After selecting a topic, please click "Learn More & SUBMIT ABSTRACT" below and follow the instructions provided.
Topics
MPI 16.1: Exploring new paradigms in exercise-induced skeletal muscle angiogenesis- Literature review
MPI 16.2: What is the role of endothelial cell metabolism?
MPI 16.3: What types of quality improvement or redesign initiatives targeting surgical safety checklists (SSCs) currently exist in the literature?- Systematic review.
MPI 16.4: What are hypothesized to be the multiscale mechanisms of depression, and how do they relate? (literature review of gene, cell, circuit, network, and symptom levels)
MPI 16.5: What are the current state- and location-specific EEG/ECOG/MEG biomarkers for depression diagnosis and successful treatment?
MPI 16.6: How can machine learning/artificial intelligence be used to find insights in clinical data?
MPI 16.7: What is the role of mechanoreceptors within the intervertebral disc in tissue homeostasis and disease?
MPI 16.8: What are the roles of sex hormones in skeletal development?
MPI 16.9: Are animal models a good system for studying joint tissues?
MPI 16.10: Discuss the role of APOBEC3 proteins in cancer drug resistance.
MPI 16.11: Discuss the pro-tumorigenic and anti-tumorigenic roles proposed for plakoglobin in literature.
MPI 16.12: Which molecular events lead to insulin resistance in skeletal muscle following immobilization or disuse?
MPI 16.13: How do dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists differ from GLP-1 agonists for diabetes management?
MPI 16.14: What role do platelets play in the progression of cardiometabolic disease?
MPI 16.15: How do treatment advances in sarcoma differ between pediatric and adult patients, and what are the implications for clinical outcomes?
MPI 16.16: What mechanisms enable fusion proteins to drive oncogenesis, and how can they inform therapeutic development?
MPI 16.17: How have CRISPR knockout screens advanced drug discovery, and what challenges remain in applying this technology to cancer research?
MPI 16.18: What role does STEM-based social innovation play in promoting economic empowerment and poverty alleviation in marginalized populations?
MPI 16.19: Does cross-training with running and weightlifting produce superior physiological adaptations compared to single-modality training?
MPI 16.20: How do nature (cultural, ancestral or genetics) and epigenetic modifications influence racial disparities in cardiometabolic health outcomes?
MPI 16.21: Mechanobiology is the study of how the mechanical environment affects biological systems, with implications in both physiological and diseased conditions (examples: fibrosis, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, metastasis). In particular, mechanobiology is studied in endothelial cells (vasculature), bone cells, cancer, and embryogenesis. Select a biological system (vasculature, bone, cancer, etc.) of interest and propose a literature review on how mechanical forces shape normal versus pathological conditions during disease.
MPI 16.22: Cancer nanomedicine has the potential to provide crucial roles in cancer detection and treatment, however, many challenges remain. What are some advantages of cancer nanotherapies based on preclinical studies, and their current bottlenecks towards clinical translation? (or) How might the delivery of nanoparticles be improved based on current knowledge of where nanoparticles travel in the body before reaching their targeted destination?
MPI 16.23: Primary breast or prostate cancer patients previously deemed to be cancer-free can undergo metastatic relapse several years after remission due to the presence of dormant disseminated cancer cells, particularly in bone. What signaling pathways are responsible for cancer cell dormancy in the bone microenvironment, and how might the effects of cancer cell dormancy be manifested in clinical studies? Propose a literature spanning both pre-clinical and clinical studies of cancer dissemination to bone.
MPI 16.24: How does inflammation impact recovery post trauma?
MPI 16.25: What is the role of immune cells in the pathophysiology post injury?
MPI 16.26: How do experiences of maternal health care differ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in Canada, and what are the implications for health outcomes and healthcare delivery?
MPI 16.27: How does altered microglia activity relate to behavioural and cognitive changes in neurodevelopmental disorders?
MPI 16.28: How do immune responses mediated by microglia impact neurons?
MPI 16.29: What is the impact of urbanization on mental health outcomes in Canadian cities?
MPI 16.30: How do school-based nutrition programs affect childhood obesity rates in low-income neighborhoods?
MPI 16.31: How do experiences of maternal health care differ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in Canada, and what are the implications for health outcomes and healthcare delivery?
MPI 16.32: How do nurse-family care programs address the needs and challenges faced by vulnerable mothers in Canada, and how effective are these programs in improving maternal and child health outcomes?
MPI 16.33: How does exercise impact the blood vessels found in the adipose tissue?
