Drawing the Line

About

Why this symposium?

Generative AI is changing how medical and scientific images are imagined, produced, revised, and delivered. For practitioners, educators, and students, the questions are no longer hypothetical: What should we use these tools for? What should we refuse? And what happens to the expertise, authorship, accuracy, and craft at the centre of our work?

DRAWING THE LINE creates space to examine those questions together, with practical examples, critical discussion, and perspectives from across our industry. We hope attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the current landscape, a deeper sense of the challenges and opportunities ahead, and connections with others navigating this uncertain territory.

Program

What to expect

Hear from people doing the work

Industry leaders, practitioners, educators, and researchers sharing what they’re seeing, testing, questioning, and changing in response to generative AI.

Build a common foundation

Short talks unpacking how these systems work, legal and ethical questions around their use, the current tool landscape, and what may be at stake for our profession.

Talk about practice and workflows

Facilitated roundtables focused on what is changing in studios, agencies, and day-to-day workflows.

See what others are trying

Lightning talks featuring experiments, workflows, successes, failures, and questions from across medical and scientific visualization.

Explore the industry questions

An open conversation about adoption, business models, changing roles, and the difficult questions around jobs and the future of the profession.

Leave with a more informed view

A closing reflection on what we might gain, what we might lose, and how we can move forward intentionally.

Beyond the sessions, two visually engaging displays run through out the day. The Interactive Production Wall is an evolving map of how attendees are (or are not) incorporating AI into workflows, from research to execution, constructed by attendees throughout the day. The AI Exploration Display is an open space to post visuals from your own experiments—successful or otherwise, or any other AI-associated visual content *.

*Can include layouts, sketches, screengrabs of prompts used or shortcuts applied for rendering efficiency, finals, contrasting human/AI-created images, etc.; print and mount your piece (extra Velcro will be supplied onsite); max size 18”h x 24”w; include a separate explanatory tag with name/company, production details (e.g., AI tool/image generator used), etc. Exhibit space is limited and cannot be guaranteed.

Production wall and AI experiment display

Schedule

November 21, 2026

Time

Session

8:30 - 9:00

Registration & coffee

9:00 - 9:10

Welcome & orienting the day

9:10 - 10:00

Opening keynote

Session details coming soon.

Shm ("shim") Garanganao Almeda
Artist, computer scientist, and creativity researcher

10:00 - 11:00

Setting the foundation, and what's at stake

A series of short talks establishing what the room needs to hold in common: how these models work, what the tool landscape looks like from chat interfaces to node-based pipelines, where copyright and authorship currently stand in Canada and the US, the societal and environmental cost including labour, and what is lost for the practitioner.

Nick Woolridge
Faculty, University of Toronto
The Legal Landscape

Sania Khurshid
Research Student, University of Toronto
Environmental and Societal Impact

Shay Saharan
Faculty, University of Toronto
What We Risk Losing

Details coming soon
Under the Hood

11:00 - 11:15

Break & coffee

11:15 - 12:15

In the studio, Part I: Practice & workflows (roundtables)

Facilitated roundtables on what has actually changed in your day-to-day over the past year: what clients and employers are asking for now that they weren’t before, what has shifted in timelines, rates, and scope, and what the work looks like from here. Groups are mixed deliberately, so expect to be at a table with people who see this differently than you do.

Derek Ng
Faculty, University of Toronto
Moderator

12:15 - 1:15

Catered lunch

1:15 - 2:45

In the studio, Part II: Lightning talks

A series of lightning talks, seven minutes each with three minutes of questions, in which practitioners describe how they are actually exploring or using generative AI in their work. Case studies are drawn from across the production pipeline and not limited to visual output.
Have an idea for a lightning talk? Submit here!

Details coming soon (October 2026)

Michael Corrin
Faculty, University of Toronto
Moderator

2:45 - 3:00

Break & coffee

3:00 - 4:15

Industry Panel

Industry specialists–from studio leaders to sole practitioners–will discuss the perceptions and operational implications of AI in biomedical visualization. From client demands and legal restrictions to in-house experiments and creative problem-solving, the conversation will evolve through varying topics, including those proposed by registrants.

Desmond Ballance
LifeLearn, Director, Veterinary Affairs

Katie McCormack
Bridgeable, Partner & Co-Owner

Kevin Millar
Red Nucleus, Global Head of Creative Services

Azuravesta Rastan
Biophile Media, Founder; Freelance Medical Illustrator

Jason Sharpe
AXS Studio Inc., President

Stephen Mader
Faculty, University of Toronto; President, Artery Studios
Moderator

4:15 - 4:30

Break & coffee

4:30 - 5:15

Closing keynote: What now? Moving forward without all the answers

A candid, critically reflective closing conversation about where our field stands, what we’ve learned, and what remains uncertain. Rather than offering easy answers, this keynote invites us to grapple with the challenges ahead, consider what we stand to gain, and explore how we can move forward with intention, curiosity, and hope.

Gaël McGill
Founder & CEO, Digizyme, Inc.; Faculty, Harvard Medical School

5:15 - 5:30

Conference close

November 22, 2026

CMI Exam Toronto

The Master of Science in Biomedical Communications is hosting the Certified Medical Illustrator (CMI) exam in Toronto. The exam is administered independently of the symposium, but the timing should make travel and scheduling easier if you are doing both.

Deadline to register: October 30, 2026 at midnight ET
Exam date: Sunday, November 22, 2026
Check-in: 8:30 AM ET
Exam: 9 AM to 2 PM ET
Location: Room 102, Old Administration Building, University of Toronto, 263 McCaul, Toronto, ON M5T 1W7
Proctor: Dr. Shelley Wall, Associate Director, MScBMC program

Register for the CMI Exam

Speakers

Opening keynote

Shm Garanganao Almeda

Artist, computer scientist, and creativity researcher

Shm ("shim") Garanganao Almeda is an artist, computer scientist, and creativity researcher. Shm is currently imagining new encounters with cultural collections as a postdoctoral fellow with the Smithsonian, but they were recently spotted researching HCI+AI in the UC Berkeley EECS PhD program, Adobe Research, and the Midjourney Storytelling Lab; teaching Creative Programming & Electronics at the Jacobs Design Institute; pushing new paradigms of puppetry as a Stochastic Labs resident, and driving two rabbits cross-country to NYC. shmuh.co

Closing keynote

Gaël McGill

Founder & CEO, Digizyme, Inc.; Faculty, Harvard Medical School

Gaël McGill is Director of Molecular Visualization at Harvard Medical School, where his teaching and research focus on visualization design. He is the founder & CEO of Digizyme, Inc., a team of scientist-artists dedicated to the visualization and communication of science. Dr. McGill has authored several textbooks—Biology, Essential Cell Biology, and Molecular Biology of the Cell—as well as worked with the United Nations and the Institute for Planetary Thinking on issues of biodiversity loss and the metacrisis.

Registration

Attend the symposium

DRAWING THE LINE is open to practitioners, students, and educators working in medical and scientific visualization. Registration includes access to all sessions, the Industry Panel, and Lightning Talks on November 21, 2026 at The Conference Centre, UofT. Space is limited, so register early to lock in a spot. This symposium is being organized as a community event, with registration fees set to fund the execution of the symposium.

Student rates are for those actively enrolled in a degree or diploma program.

Category Early Bird
closes Oct 16 Regular
closes Nov 13

General $125 CAD $200 CAD

Student $50 CAD $75 CAD

Registration includes breakfast, coffee breaks, and lunch, and access to all sessions, the Industry Panel, and Lightning Talks. Please note: besides water bottles, no outside food or drink is permitted in The Conference Centre.

Register through the link below. Early bird registration closes on October 16 (11:59 PM, ET). Regular registration closes November 13 (11:59 PM, ET) or when capacity is reached.

Refund policy: Cancellations will be processed subject to handling fees related to the costs of hosting the symposium. Percentage refunded: Up to October 21 = 50%. After October 21 = No refund.

Register & Purchase Ticket

Lightning Talks

Call for lightning talks

We're looking for contributors to talk about how they're exploring or using generative AI in their workflows. Seven minutes, followed by three minutes of questions. We plan to select eight talks. Selected speakers will be asked to share slides/visuals in advance of the session.

Treat this as a discussion of how you either 1) actually used or 2) explored AI technology, built around a case or series of experiments. We're looking for submissions that focus on the visual production pipeline in medical/scientific visualization, but not limited to visual output alone. Audio, text, and process uses all count, including work where nothing generated appears in the final deliverable.

Example topics

Supporting the development of interactive experiences
AI capabilities and limits in producing scientifically accurate imagery
Human-AI collaboration in ideation and concept development
Voice, narration, and sound design in animation and interactive work
Storyboarding, previsualization, and pitch material
Texturing, lookdev, and asset generation in 3D pipelines
Upscaling, cleanup, rotoscoping, and other post-production work
Working with molecular and structural data alongside generative tools
Building custom tools, node-based pipelines, or fine-tuned models for a studio
Cases where you tried it and stopped, and what made you stop
Embedding anti-AI scraping technology in your media

Who can apply: Practitioners, students, and educators are welcome to submit.

Submissions close October 2, 2026
(11:59 PM ET)

Format 7 min talk
3 min Q&A

Submit a Lightning Talk

Organizers

Hosted by

Master of Science in Biomedical Communications
with the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto

Organizing committee

Co-Chairs

Stephen Mader
University of Toronto & Artery Studios

Shay Saharan
University of Toronto

Vice-Chairs

Michael Corrin
University of Toronto

Derek Ng
University of Toronto

Maeve Doyle
University of Toronto

Nick Woolridge
University of Toronto

Contact

drawingtheline.bmc@utoronto.ca

Venue

Getting there

The Conference Centre UofT

89 Chestnut Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1R4

Transit. From St. Patrick Subway station, walk east on Dundas Street. Chestnut Street is at the first set of lights east of University Avenue. Travel time is approximately a 2 to 5 minute walk.

Driving. On-site underground parking , approximately $21 per day.

Accessibility. The Conference Centre features barrier-free entrances, wide interior pathways, accessible washrooms, and elevators equipped with low buttons, Braille markings and audible floor indicators.

From Pearson Airport. Airport taxis and limousines are available at the terminals. Travel time is approximately 45 minutes.

Accommodation

Where to stay

There are many places to stay near The Conference Centre. Hotel chains such as the Hilton and Sheraton are close by, as are The Holiday Inn and the Chelsea Hotel. Here are a few hotel options:

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Toronto Downtown, 108 Chestnut St (across the street)
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen St W (10-minute walk)
Hilton Toronto, 145 Richmond St W. (15-minute walk)
Chelsea Hotel Toronto, 33 Gerrard St W (15-minute walk)
Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre, 30 Carlton St (20-minute walk)
The Marriott Eaton Centre, 525 Bay St., Toronto, ON (3-minute walk)