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The newly formed Queen’s University Chapter of Synapsis recently held the Synapsis BioHackathon 2025, a one-day virtual innovation sprint, attracting interdisciplinary student teams from across faculties.

Students tackled real-world biotech challenges with the support of mentors, judges, and leaders. The BioHackathon featured themes:

• Optimizing Clinical Trial Recruitment – Develop AI-driven or decentralized approaches to improve patient recruitment for clinical trials, particularly for rare diseases and personalized medicine.
• Sustainable Water Management in Agriculture – Engineer solutions to reduce water waste in farming through advanced irrigation, drought-resistant crops, or water recycling technologies.
• Reducing Plastic Waste and Fossil Fuel Dependency – Design sustainable alternatives, such as biodegradable plastics or biofuels derived from organic waste, to mitigate environmental impact.

Throughout March, teams of three to five participants selected one of these themes and worked collaboratively to develop a creative, science-backed solution. Final projects were presented at the BioHackathon, with awards for innovation, feasibility, and impact. The winners are:

• First Place: Fiona LeClair-Robertson and Shauna Tuinstra (School of Computing) – BRIDGEMED: Advancing Access to Care and Innovation through AI-Enhanced Infrastructure
• Second Place: Akshayaa Suntharathas (Life Sciences), Oli Palma (Biology), Saia Brickley (General Sciences), Jake Tomcko (Smith Engineering), Richard Violo (Life Sciences) – Semi-Permeable Irrigation System
• Third Place: Angela Dong (Life Sciences), Laura Zeng (Life Sciences), Yehonathan Shakarghi (Health Sciences), Maria Koukharsky (School of Computing), Anushka Kalia (Life Sciences) – M.A.Y.L.A.
• Most Innovative Solution: Jacqueline Wong, Eva Zhang, Jenna Demmon, Punya Gowri Umesh (all Health Sciences) – AI-Driven Saliva Sample Screening for Clinical Trial Matching
• Highest Impact Potential: Mukunthan Mahesh (School of Computing), Aadam Lalani (School of Computing), Mark Luo (School of Computing), Alessio Perco (School of Computing) – Optimizing Clinical Trial Recruitment with AI-Powered Matching

The driving force behind , a student-led, non-profit biotechnology organization is two Faculty of Arts and Science undergraduate students – Vice-President, Finance and Operations Dylan Rietze (Life Sciences), a biomedical researcher at Queen’s University, , and , explores cancer immunology, radiobiology, and genetics through an Indigenous lens to advance equitable research systems and President Joshua Lefort (Life Sciences), a 2025 recipient of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate Student Research Award and a researcher in the , dedicating his research to the development of cancer blood tests.

Their mission is to empower students with cutting-edge skills in fields like synthetic biology, gene editing, artificial intelligence, and personalized medicine. The Queen’s chapter collaborates with industry professionals and research labs, offering members real-world project experience and opportunities for mentorship.

“I met the founder of Synapsis Aryan Shaw,” Lefort explains. “His goal was to create a network to make it easier for students to connect with industry and create projects that are relevant. So, I came in and put forward to idea to form a club to bridge that gap.”

Lefort says his primary goal in creating Synapsis is to create infrastructure for himself, but also for other students looking for these types of opportunities. “There aren’t really established networks at Queen’s in the biotech space, so I like the idea of bringing in students who aren’t specializing in biotech and giving them this opportunity. Curiosity created this opportunity.”

Rietze says coming from a community-based Indigenous background led him to this opportunity. “Creating a network for students to grow, for students to connect, that was the driving passion for me. Synapsis also ties into my main research goal, where I see myself in my career. I see myself in a director or political role. I see myself leveraging networks like these not just to help me but to help others. That was my driving passion for joining.”

Both third-year students, Lefort says both he and Rietze are both business-based and solution-based people. “We see that we can work together and create something that there is a need for. Let’s create a melting pot of people. That melting pot might not have been as big as we wanted, but it will be next year.”

The BioHackathon, which featured opening remarks from Kingston Deputy Mayor Jeff McLaren, along with presentations from industry experts in biotech and pharmaceuticals.

“I wasn’t really expecting the quality of each and every presentation,” Rietze says. “A lot were very interesting and well presented.”

“I was quite impressed with the turnout,” Lefort says. “The event really spoke for itself. You are getting this level of quality because that is what’s expected – not from us but from the participants themselves. People want this as much as we want this. The product really sold itself.”

When asked how they want to move Synapsis forward, both Rietze and Lefort are focused on the future and creating new and exciting opportunities.

“In terms of support for the projects that were presented at the BioHackathon, we want to work on providing funding and possibly getting them involved with Synapsis to provide further support. One way we plan to do that is leveraging events like the BioHackathon and the fact that we received endorsements from Queen’s University, Dr. James Fraser, the Faculty of Arts and Science and the Faculty of Engineering. Leveraging the connections we made. We are here to help.”

“I want this to be a joint venture between Queen’s, high school students, pre-meds, the community,” Lefort explains. “All these groups fuel each other, and we need to connect them. I want Synapsis to be recognized as an organization, a network that's self-sufficient, self-assembling, and self-directed. It’s not about us, not about Dylan and Josh. We want to create something that is independent and fills a need.”

As for the future, both Lefort and Rietze say they are now focusing on growing funding, expanding across other campuses, and deepening academic partnerships.