Research Summer Student 2026

UHN is Canada’s #1 hospital and the world’s #1 publicly funded hospital. With 10 sites and more than 44,000 TeamUHN members, UHN consists of Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, The Michener Institute of Education and West Park Healthcare Centre. As Canada's top research hospital, the scope of biomedical research and complexity of cases at UHN have made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. UHN has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in neurosciences, cardiology, transplantation, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. UHN is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto.

UHN’s vision is to build A Healthier World and it’s only because of the talented and dedicated people who work here that we are continually bringing that vision closer to reality.

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Position Summary:
The Radiation Medicine Program (RMP) at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is dedicated to providing exceptional patient care and advancing innovative research in radiation oncology. The Head and Neck team within RMP focuses on optimizing radiotherapy delivery to improve survival while minimizing treatment-related toxicities that impair quality of life. A major unmet need in head and neck radiotherapy is the prevention of xerostomia (dry mouth), which results primarily from radiation exposure to major and minor salivary glands and is consistently rated by patients as one of their most distressing late effects.

This project develops personalized dosimetric planning constraints for head and neck radiotherapy using objective saliva function measurements (Modified Schirmer Test at 1, 2, and 3 minutes), prospectively collected patient-reported outcomes (PROs via MDASI), clinician-rated toxicity (CTCAE), and detailed dosimetric data extracted via the MIRA platform. By correlating baseline and longitudinal saliva-production kinetics with patient-perceived xerostomia, the work aims to move beyond generic constraints toward individualized planning that better preserves salivary function.

The Summer Student will play a key role in supporting this translational research project within the Head and Neck Radiation Oncology group. Reporting to Dr. Andrew McPartlin (Clinician Investigator), the student will contribute to dataset expansion, data extraction and correlation, and preliminary model development in close collaboration with radiation oncologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dentists, and biostatisticians. This hands-on opportunity provides direct exposure to clinical research methodology, large-scale data analysis, and radiotherapy planning in a world-leading cancer centre.

Duties:

In addition to working alongside some of the most talented and inspiring healthcare professionals in the world, UHN offers a wide range of benefits, programs and perks. It is the comprehensiveness of these offerings that makes it a differentiating factor, allowing you to find value where it matters most to you, now and throughout your career at UHN.

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Please be advised that a Criminal Record Check may be required of the successful candidate. Should it be determined that any information provided by a candidate be misleading, inaccurate or incorrect, UHN reserves the right to discontinue with the consideration of their application.

UHN is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive recruitment process and workplace. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process. Applicants need to make their requirements known.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.