Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Climate Positive Energy

Industry Partnerships

Leah Cowen

Sustainability

Subheadline

Strategic industry-academic collaboration aims to accelerate adoption of green energy technologies

The ��߲ݴ�ý has signed a multi-year agreement with Siemens Canada that seeks to transform the energy grid and boost Canada’s ability to provide clean energy to communities.

The partnership will bring together U of T’s cutting-edge research, commercialization and policy expertise with Siemens’s industry-leading experience in sustainable energy management and intelligent infrastructure – all with a view to advancing Ontario’s energy transition goals and contributing to Canada’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

“The ��߲ݴ�ý is delighted to strengthen our relationship with Siemens by entering into this institutional partnership agreement,” said Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, at a signing ceremony held Nov. 21 at Hart House.

“This framework agreement will generate broad and deep mutual value enabling both Siemens and U of T to build a green future together as global organizations with global ambitions.”

The partnership expands on U of T’s existing ties with Siemens: the company is partner in U of T’s Grid Modernization Centre, which brings together companies and U of T researchers to advance decarbonization of the electric grid while supporting innovation in clean energy technologies, policy advocacy and financing. The centre is led by Climate Positive Energy, a U of T institutional strategic initiative that leverages research expertise across the university to support efforts to curb carbon emissions, reimagine energy systems and facilitate an equitable transition to a clean energy future in Canada and globally.

“We are thrilled to strengthen our partnership with the ��߲ݴ�ý through signing this framework agreement,” said Faisal Kazi, president and CEO of Siemens Canada. “Today marks not just another step but the continuation of a collaborative journey we’ve nurtured over many years. I look forward to seeing continued leadership and innovation as a result of this agreement.”

The partnership with Siemens Canada is part of ongoing efforts across the university to address grid modernization and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future powered by clean energy.

For example, researchers on all three campuses are currently contributing to efforts to transform Canada’s energy grid – and the infrastructure that powers homes, buildings and electric vehicles – into an intelligent and secure grid. The resulting “smart grid” will leverage the latest advances in AI to appropriately direct energy to the points of highest need at critical times to avoid power outages.

The undertaking combines two areas where U of T is among the world leaders – sustainability and AI. U of T was named the most sustainable university in the world in the 2024 QS World University Rankings, and is a longstanding leader in AI research, thanks in part to the efforts of luminaries like University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, whose foundational discoveries and inventions were recently recognized with a Nobel Prize.

At the same time, U of T researchers are also at the forefront of addressing emerging challenges associated with the transition to a smart grid. That includes security considerations – which will be among the key areas of focus for U of T’s partnership with Siemens, a leading supplier of electrical components to utilities.

For example, Professor Deepa Kundur, chair of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, leads a research group that’s exploring exploring how to defend power utilities from cyberattacks.

Working with industrial partners across different sectors, these and other U of T researchers are helping companies make better use of resources and enabling safe access to emerging green technologies.

Going forward, U of T’s collaboration with Siemens will expand beyond energy systems to encompass other crucial sectors such as AI, automation and advanced manufacturing.

Learn more about industry partnerships at U of T

Learn more about Climate Positive Energy

Going digital to save lives: ��߲ݴ�ý grad student aims to eliminate barriers to health care

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 13:40:31 +0000

Going digital to save lives: ��߲ݴ�ý grad student aims to eliminate barriers to health care

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 10/07/2024 - 09:40

Cutline

Naturinda Emmanuel, a Mastercard Scholar who grew up in Uganda, studies intelligent medicine and electronic medical records at U of T's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (supplied image)

Tina Adamopoulos

Topic

Global Lens

Black Research Network

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Africa

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Subheadline

Naturinda Emmanuel, a scholar and entrepreneur, says the digitization of medical records, when coupled with AI, will reduce errors in patient care and help spot public health threats before they occur

Growing up in Uganda, Naturinda Emmanuel aspired to be a medical doctor and health leader who eliminates barriers to health-care access for those in underserved, remote communities.

“I always wanted to address different health-care issues in my country – that is my motivation,” he says. “I want to gain the skills and expertise to strengthen health-care systems to ensure that those who need care can receive it.”

Naturinda (his surname) is now a graduate student at the ��߲ݴ�ý, where he studies intelligent medicine and electronic medical records in the master of health informatics program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME).

He’s also actively involved with the startup community, having launched a successful, impact-focused enterprise in Uganda and training other entrepreneurs.

Naturinda joined IHPME with the support of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, a global education initiative focused on the next generation of African leaders, and Africa Higher Education Health Collaborative (AHEHC), a partnership between U of T, the Mastercard Foundation and leading African universities. The AHEHC was established in 2022 to drive primary health-care workforce education, entrepreneurship and innovation across Africa.

This is Naturinda’s second time studying abroad with the Mastercard Foundation. He became the first in his family to study outside the country when he was awarded a scholarship to pursue an undergraduate degree in laboratory medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

He later returned home during the COVID-19 pandemic to volunteer in the clinical microbiology and immunology departments at a local hospital. The experience prompted him to think about how to improve systems that were suddenly facing new pressures at already burdened hospitals – namely the continued use of paper records.

Medical records are the building blocks for developing efficient and effective intelligent medicine models, he says, while intelligent medicine refers to the use of machine learning models to process medical data and reduce errors in patient care. Large datasets may also allow medical professionals to spot health patterns – an emerging epidemic, for example – to better prepare for public health threats.

However, low-to-middle-income countries face many barriers to digitizing medical data, including limited access to technology and the absence of standardized data formats. The use of paper records also causes delays in retrieving laboratory results and makes it difficult to understand patients’ medical histories efficiently.

“The digitization of medical records is essential for developing and training predictive models,” Naturinda says. “Unique electronic datasets from these communities provide the more accurate and reliable information needed to account for unique socio-cultural factors and effectively develop models tailored to address those specific challenges.”

Naturinda will work under the guidance of Karim Keshavjee, an assistant professor and director of the master of health informatics program. In addition to intelligent medicine, Naturinda says he also has a key interest in implementation science, or the study of methods to ensure research is translated into policy, programs and startups.

One of Canada’s few professional graduate programs in the field, the master of health informatics program provides students with the skills and strategic vision to take on leadership positions in health-care landscape.

The opportunity to learn industry-specific knowledge from health leaders is what made the program a perfect fit, Naturinda says.

“One of the reasons I chose the MHI program is because it is training us to be leaders, innovators and policymakers. I wanted to seek mentorship from people who were making a big impact in strengthening health-care systems in Canada.”

Public health isn’t the only field where Naturinda is hoping to make an impact. He also wants to help others as an entrepreneur – a journey that’s already well underway.

During his undergrad, he co-founded the Nugget Poultry Farm to help smallholder farmers in western Uganda raise poultry more effectively and improve food access back home. The venture aims to support 1,000 farmers in 20 communities by 2027 and has received a Social Venture Challenge Award from the Mastercard Foundation and the Resolution Project.

Naturinda enhanced his business knowledge through the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship at Queen’s University. Now a program coach, he has trained more than 500 entrepreneurs from Africa-based startups addressing various issues in agribusiness, climate change and health care.

Naturinda is eager to tap into U of T’s network of entrepreneurs and has wasted no time reaching out to various groups, including the Black Founders Network.

“When I train entrepreneurs, I see the impact of them pitching their ventures or winning a grant. It’s the type of impact that I want to see with my research, and bridging those two passions is an ideal step forward,” Naturinda says.

“As I progress at U of T, I look forward to leveraging opportunities that speak to my background in entrepreneurship, health care and research to make sure that I implement them together.”

Healthy aging in place: New pilot program to provide high-tech cognitive, physical enrichment for seniors

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 13:32:02 +0000

Healthy aging in place: New pilot program to provide high-tech cognitive, physical enrichment for seniors

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 08/22/2024 - 09:32

Cutline

2RaceWithMe, a tool developed by Professor Mark Chignell from the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in U of T's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, combines physical and cognitive engagement by requiring users to pedal to be able to watch scenic videos (photo by Justin Greaves/Centivizer)

Safa Jinje

Topic

department of mechanical and industrial engineering

Connaught Fund

Subheadline

The initiative, supported by a Connaught Community Partnership Research Program award, explores the use of interactive tools to promote active lifestyles among older adults

Older adults living in a Toronto co-operative apartment building will soon have access to high-tech activity spaces designed to promote cognitive, physical and social enrichment, thanks to a new pilot project led by the ��߲ݴ�ý’s Mark Chignell.

The activity spaces aim to promote healthy aging for older adults who are aging in place – meaning they have the social and health supports to live safely and independently. They will be located in the communal area of a City Park co-op building that is considered a naturally occurring retirement community, where more than 30 per cent of occupants are over the age of 65.

The initiative was launched by Chignell, a professor in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering in U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, in collaboration with HelpAge Canada, a non-profit that supports community-based services for seniors, and AGE-WELL, a research network and U of T institutional strategic initiative.

It’s one of nine projects to be supported by 2024-25 Community Partnership Research Program awards, given by U of T’s Connaught Fund with the aim of accelerating research carried out in collaboration with community partners and driven by their needs and priorities.

“My work is motivated by the fact that physical and cognitive health can decline very quickly for older adults,” says Chignell.

“We know the physical body and brain work together, and that physical exercise is important for cognitive status and preventing dementia. So being able to promote more active lifestyles for people who are still living independently in the community can have an immense benefit for our society.”

The activity spaces will feature products from Centivizer, a U of T startup spun off from Chignell’s research, that specializes in creating interactive activities, games and cognitive assessment tools to support healthy aging.

These include 2RaceWithMe, a device that promotes both physical and cognitive engagement by having users pedal while watching scenic videos that only play when the pedals are in motion.

Centivizer has also developed a suite of whack-a-mole-style games for cognitive assessment that Chignell hopes can be used to promote cognitive safety in clinical practice.

A two-time recipient of Connaught Innovation Awards, Chignell says he feels honoured to now receive support from the Connaught Fund's Community Partnership Research Program.

“The Connaught is a great validation as I start this project in naturally occurring retirement communities,” says Chignell. “I am also continuing to work with retirement homes and long-term care centres, including a new collaboration with a long-term care home in Tokyo, Japan.

“I’m hoping that this project will demonstrate the value of using our products in the community to help older people retain their physical and cognitive abilities for longer.”

U of T’s Grid Modernization Centre receives $10 million in federal funding to advance energy transition

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 14:52:38 +0000

U of T’s Grid Modernization Centre receives $10 million in federal funding to advance energy transition

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 07/29/2024 - 10:52

Cutline

(Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Sayyeda Masood

Topic

City & Culture

Climate Positive Energy

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Leah Cowen

Sustainability

Subheadline

Founded by the Climate Positive Energy institutional strategic initiative, the Grid Modernization Centre will help accelerate integration of novel green technologies

The ��߲ݴ�ý has received $10-million in federal funding in support of the Grid Modernization Centre, a state-of-the-art facility in Toronto’s Downsview area that aims to accelerate progress towards a decarbonized, decentralized and digitalized power system for Canada.

Founded by Climate Positive Energy, a U of T institutional strategic initiative, the centre will serve as a hub that provides utilities, regulators, municipalities and enterprises with the equipment and expertise needed to test, develop and commercialize a range of green technologies.

The Government of Canada announced the investment – which includes $5 million apiece from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and Natural Resources Canada – at U of T's Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship on Friday, July 26.

“On behalf of the ��߲ݴ�ý, we thank FedDev Ontario and Natural Resources Canada for their $10-million investment in the Grid Modernization Centre,” said Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “By convening stakeholders across the electricity ecosystem, Climate Positive Energy and their partners will help ensure the electrical grid remains safe and reliable, while supporting the development of clean technologies and jobs.”

Leah Cowen (left), U of T's vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, was joined by Ya'ara Saks (centre), minister of mental health and addictions, and Julie Dabrusin (right), parliamentary secretary to the minister of the environment, at the $10-million funding announcement for U of T's Grid Modernization Centre (photo by Liz Beddall)

The first facility of its kind in Canada, the Grid Modernization Centre will foster innovations pertinent to electricity demand, which is estimated to double in the next 30 years according to Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator.

“Through initiatives such as the Grid Modernization Centre here at U of T, we are collaborating to unlock a brighter future for our energy systems on the path to net-zero,” said Julie Dabrusin, parliamentary secretary to the minister for environment and climate change and the minister of energy and natural resources.

“By supporting advancements in clean energy technologies, we are not only protecting our environment but also positioning Canada at the forefront of the clean energy revolution,” said Ya’ara Saks, minister of mental health and addictions and MP for York Centre, who attended the announcement on behalf of Filomena Tassi, the minister responsible for FedDev Ontario.

Ya'ara Saks and Julie Dabrusin speak with Associate Professor Ali Hooshyar during a tour of the Centre for Applied Power Electronics (photo by Liz Beddall)

Ontario’s existing grid faces a number of challenges, including extreme weather events, the increasing popularity of electric vehicles and concerns around capacity, reliability, and security.

To address these challenges, the Grid Modernization Centre will enable an array of green technologies – from electric vehicle charging stations to battery energy storage systems – to be tested and refined before they are integrated with the grid.

It will also provide training opportunities for students and thought leadership on policy, regulatory and climate financing models.

Prior to Friday’s announcement, MP Saks and Parliamentary Secretary Dabrusin enjoyed a tour of the Centre for Applied Power Electronics led by Ali Hooshyar, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Electric Power Systems in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. The centre specializes in research and development around electric power systems in areas such as integration of renewable resources into power grids and energy storage and distribution in microgrids.

(L-R) Chris Yip, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, and Deepa Kundur, chair of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering, said the Grid Modernization Centre will help address crucial challenges around sustainable energy (photo by Liz Beddall)

Professor and chair of the department Deepa Kundur hailed the Grid Modernization Centre as a “crucial step” toward a safer and more sustainable society. "At ECE, we actively contribute to the technological landscape by addressing challenges in vehicle electrification, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. This new centre represents U of T's proactive response to society's energy needs, and I'm thrilled about its potential impact,” Kundur said.

Professor Christopher Yip, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, described the clean energy transition as arguably the most important shift facing companies and communities today. “U of T has responded to this challenge by developing the Grid Modernization Centre," Yip said.

"Today’s investment is key in supporting the centre and propelling us towards a reliable, resilient and sustainable electricity grid that will power a clean energy future for generations.”

Read the Climate Positive Energy story

Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI)

laurie.bulchak — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 01:52:41 +0000

Institutional Strategic Initiatives (ISI) laurie.bulchak Thu, 07/25/2024 - 21:52

URL

https://isi.utoronto.ca

With U of T innovators front and centre, Collision conference wraps up five-year Toronto run

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:52:23 +0000

With U of T innovators front and centre, Collision conference wraps up five-year Toronto run

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 06/21/2024 - 10:52

Cutline

U of T alumna Nuha Siddiqui, co-founder and CEO of Erthos, on stage at the Collision tech conference (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Adina Bresge

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

U of T Entrepreneurship

Alumni

Artificial Intelligence

Computer Science

Geoffrey Hinton

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Innovations & Partnerships Office

Startups

Budding entrepreneurs, leading scientists and future business leaders from the ��߲ݴ�ý community played a leading role at the 2024 Collision tech conference in downtown Toronto.

Running over three days this week, the conference drew some 40,000 attendees from across the spheres of tech, business and media, including more than 1,600 startups and 700 investors.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies and their impact on business and society were key themes for many of the conference’s keynotes and exhibits – so it was no surprise that U of T’s AI luminaries were front and centre.

They included U of T alumnus Aidan Gomez, co-founder of language processing startup Cohere – which has raised hundreds of millions from investors and generated significant industry buzz.

He urged businesses to commit to adopting AI tools to support their workers.

“Making sure that you’re delivering the tools that your employees need to be competitive and effective is crucial,” Gomez said during his talk on Tuesday.

He added that augmentation of workforces with AI co-pilots and assistants is inevitable – including in industries that might not stand out as obvious adopters of the technology. He shared the example of a natural resources insurance firm that built an AI co-pilot – powered by Cohere – to help their actuaries speed up their research, craft more accurate bids and win more contracts.

“I never would have thought a natural resources insurance company would be adopting LLMs [large language models], but they are, and it’s having an impact. It’s actually helping them win more business,” Gomez said. “So I think the technology is completely horizontal.”

Gomez also cited the medical sector – particularly, drug discovery – as another area that’s poised to benefit massively from AI advances.

Aidan Gomez, a U of T alumnus, talked about how AI will be used to augment the workforce (photo by Polina Teif)

University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton, the influential computer scientist often dubbed the “godfather of AI,” also identified medical care and productivity as two key areas that will see significant improvements thanks to AI. However, much of his discussion, titled "Can We Control AI?", focused on his previously-cited concerns about how AI development could ultimately wrest control from humans given the current race to develop the technology and the absence of sufficient safeguards.

“Even if I’m totally benevolent and I just want to achieve what you asked me to achieve, I’ll realize that if I get more control, it will be easier to do that,” Hinton said of AI agents.

“And actually, if these things are much smarter than us, they’ll realize: Just take the control away from people and it will be much more efficient … and that seems to be like a very slippery path.”

Geoffrey Hinton warned of the existential dangers posed by unchecked AI development (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Gomez, for his part, said he doesn’t believe AI poses a serious threat.

“The notion that the technology is going to start self-improving, that it’s going to start manipulating people, that it’s going to take over, seize power and displace humans: that’s a sci-fi narrative,” he said. “I am empathetic to it – we’ve been writing stories about that exact scenario for decades, since before computers, and so it’s very deeply embedded in our cultural brainstems ... I just don’t think it’s true.”

Earlier at the conference, Raquel Urtasun, founder of self-driving trucking startup Waabi, spoke about generative AI and how Waabi is applying the technology to autonomous trucks. Her keynote took place following the company’s announcement that it raised US$200 million in Series B funding to support the deployment of driverless trucks in 2025.

“Everything will be controlled by generative AI systems inside the vehicle and nothing else. This is a breakthrough for the industry, where such a thing has never happened before,” said Urtasun, a professor in the department of computer science in U of T's Faculty of Arts & Science.

Raquel Urtasun spoke about her self-driving truck startup Waabi (photo by Polina Teif)

The conference also featured demos from other promising U of T startups including Erthos, which has invented sustainable alternatives to plastics and is now using machine learning to accelerate biomaterials discovery.

“Our platform allows us to design effective biomaterials five times faster and with 92 per cent less cost compared to our industry,” said co-founder and CEO Nuha Siddiqui.

Collision’s final year in Toronto was expected to draw some 40,000 attendees (photo by Johnny Guatto)

During the conference, U of T’s booth near the main stage featured exhibits from campus-linked accelerators, institutional strategic initiatives, academic divisions and the Innovations and Partnerships Office. U of T’s Black Founders Network was also at Collision as one of the organizers of the Black Innovation Zone.

Collision 2024 marked the fifth and final edition of the annual conference in Toronto.

Fighting malaria with math? How one U of T researcher is studying the evolution of a parasite

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 15 May 2024 14:23:46 +0000

Fighting malaria with math? How one U of T researcher is studying the evolution of a parasite

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 05/15/2024 - 10:23

Cutline

(photo by Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Betty Zou

Topic

Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Subheadline

PhD student Youngseo Jeong is using a mathematical model to explore the effect of vaccination on the parasite that causes malaria

A ��߲ݴ�ý PhD student is shedding light on a poorly understood phenomenon that could impact vaccination strategies for malaria and other infectious diseases.

The phenomenon, called vaccine-driven evolution, describes possible scenarios where immunization could drive a pathogen to become better at causing disease – for example, by evading the immune system.

Youngseo Jeong (supplied image)

“I’m interested in how interventions like vaccines shape the evolution of virulence and other related parasite traits,” says Youngseo Jeong, a PhD student in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Specifically, she is focused on the Plasmodium family of parasites that are commonly transmitted by mosquitoes and that can cause the life-threatening disease malaria in humans.

The World Health Organization estimates that there were 249 million malaria cases globally in 2022 and 608,000 malaria deaths, with the African region bearing the heaviest burden. With the approval of the world’s first malaria vaccine in 2021and a second vaccine in 2023, vaccination programs have become an important part of the public health strategy to combat the disease.

However, the launch of malaria vaccination campaigns in the African region comes at a time when progress against the disease has stalled and two of the most important tools to prevent and treat malaria are losing their effectiveness. Insecticide-treated bed nets, a mainstay to prevent mosquito bites and kill mosquitoes, offer less protection as mosquitoes become increasingly resistant to the insecticides. Similarly, clinicians are concerned that the spread of Plasmodium parasites resistant to frontline antimalarial drugs will hamper their ability to treat the disease.

Both of these challenges arose as a result of mosquito and parasite evolution in response to a human intervention. Whether a malaria vaccination program could lead to similar changes in the Plasmodium parasite is a key question in the field and one that Jeong aims to answer through her work with Nicole Mideo, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

With the support of a doctoral award from the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium, a U of T institutional strategic initiative, she is applying mathematical approaches to study how parasites evolve in hosts who have been vaccinated versus hosts who have not.

Jeong’s research, based on a mouse model of malaria, builds on a 2012 study from American researchers that found Plasmodium parasites caused more severe disease after repeated infections of vaccinated mice. However, the researchers did not find any changes to the part of the parasite targeted by the vaccine – a common process by which pathogens evade vaccine-induced immunity – and the cause of the parasite’s increased virulence remains unknown.

To identify the specific traits that are responsible for the parasite’s enhanced abilities, Jeong is using a mathematical model of malaria infection fitted with data from the 2012 study. She will determine which parameters, or parasite traits, in her model can explain the differences between parasites that evolved in vaccinated and unvaccinated hosts.

In the second phase of her PhD project, Jeong will refine the model by including relevant biological processes such as vaccine-induced immunity and the specific parasite characteristics she identified earlier. She will also create a new mathematical model to simulate evolution in a vaccinated host and validate her earlier findings.

“I want to highlight not just evolution at the vaccine target sites, which receives more attention generally, but I also want to draw attention to other pathogen traits and their interactions with host processes that could have consequences for how effective the vaccines are,” says Jeong.

She hopes that her work will contribute to a better understanding of how vaccine-driven evolution in parasites can lead to more severe infection outcomes in both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, and underscore the importance of considering this phenomenon when designing new malaria vaccines and immunization programs.

U of T researchers' approach to producing neural cells could yield new treatments for Parkinson’s

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 13 May 2024 13:03:19 +0000

U of T researchers' approach to producing neural cells could yield new treatments for Parkinson’s

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 05/13/2024 - 09:03

Cutline

PhD Student Andy Yang, left, and Professor Stephane Angers, right, at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology are advancing a novel approach to developing dopaminergic neurons (supplied images)

Anika Hazra

Topic

Breaking Research

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research

Graduate Students

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Medicine by Design

Parkinson's

Subheadline

An antibody was used to selectively activate a receptor in a molecular signalling pathway to develop dopaminergic neurons

Researchers at the ��߲ݴ�ý believe they’ve found a way to better control the generation of key neurons depleted in Parkinson’s disease – suggesting a potentially new approach to addressing a disease with no cure and few effective treatments.

In preclinical studies, the researchers used an antibody to selectively activate a receptor in a molecular signalling pathway to develop dopaminergic neurons. These neurons produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter critical to brain health.

While researchers around the world have been working to coax stem cells to differentiate into dopaminergic neurons to replace those lost in patients living with Parkinson’s disease, the efforts have so far been hindered in part by an inability to target specific receptors and areas of the brain.

“We used synthetic antibodies that we had previously developed to target the Wnt signaling pathway,” said principal investigator Stephane Angers, who is director of U of T’s Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and a professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“We can selectively activate this pathway to direct stem cells in the midbrain to develop into neurons by targeting specific receptors in the pathway. This activation method has not been explored before.”

Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurological disorder after Alzheimer’s, affecting over 100,000 Canadians. It particularly impacts older men, progressively impairing movement and causing pain as well as sleep and mental health issues.

Most previous research efforts to activate the Wnt signaling pathway relied on a GSK3 enzyme inhibitor. This method involves multiple signaling pathways for stem cell proliferation and differentiation, which can have an unintended effect on the newly produced neurons and activate off-target cells.

“We developed an efficient method for stimulating stem cell differentiation to produce neural cells in the midbrain,” said Andy Yang, first author on the study and a PhD student at the Donnelly Centre. “Moreover, cells activated via the FZD5 receptor closely resemble dopaminergic neurons of natural origin.”

Another promising finding of the study, published recently in the journal Development, is that implanting the artificially-produced neurons in a rodent model with Parkinson’s disease led to improvement of the rodent’s locomotive impairment.

“Our next step would be to continue using rodent or other suitable models to compare the outcomes of activating the FZD5 receptor and inhibiting GSK3,” said Yang. “These experiments will confirm which method is more effective in improving symptoms of Parkinson’s disease ahead of clinical trials.”

The research was supported by U of T’s Medicine by Design program, an institutional strategic initiative that receives funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases awarded $72 million

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 06 May 2024 16:07:51 +0000

Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases awarded $72 million

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 05/06/2024 - 12:07

Cutline

(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Topic

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Leah Cowen

PRiME

Sinai Health

Unity Health

Chemistry

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

Federal funding will be used to strengthen talent development and health intelligence in order to respond to emerging health threats

Four research programs in the Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases (HI³) have received $72 million in federal funding from the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) and Biomedical Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF), bolstering the country’s biomanufacturing capacity and readiness to respond to emerging health threats.

Support for HI³ and the four funded research programs through the CBRF and BRIF is part of a larger investment in Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy. The strategy aims to grow a strong, competitive domestic life sciences sector with cutting-edge biomanufacturing capabilities and to improve the country’s ability to respond to future health challenges.

HI³ – a coalition of 87 academic, hospital, research networks, industry, government, not-for-profit and community partners – was one of five national hubs established in March 2023 with CBRF funding.

Together, the four awarded programs will provide critical health intelligence data to guide the co-development of health threat surveillance platforms and next-generation precision interventions by the hub’s academic and industry partners, while building a highly skilled workforce to support Canada’s growing biomanufacturing and life sciences sector.

“Congratulations to HI³ and the collaborative teams behind these CBRF-funded programs. These four programs leverage the tremendous expertise of the ��߲ݴ�ý's researchers and our partners in academia, hospitals, industry and other sectors to develop the talent, tools and data required to be at the forefront of emerging health threats,” said Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“On behalf of the ��߲ݴ�ý and HI³, I thank the government of Canada for its investment in building a strong domestic life sciences sector ready to take on the health challenges of today and tomorrow.”

One of the CBRF-funded programs is the Biomanufacturing Hub Network (BioHubNet), an immersive talent development program based at U of T and led by University Professor Molly Shoichet along with Darius Rackus, an assistant professor of chemistry and biology at Toronto Metropolitan University, and Gilbert Walker, a professor of chemistry at U of T.

“With world-leading scientists and researchers established across Canadian leading research institutions, Canada is home to a competitive and robust biomanufacturing and life sciences sector. We made a promise to Canadians that we would rebuild the domestic sector,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry. “With this investment, our government is delivering on this promise by supporting the excellent innovations, collaborations and infrastructures necessary to rapidly respond to future public health threats and keep Canadians safe.”

The predicted supply of biomanufacturing workers is only enough to fill one-quarter of the positions that will be needed in the sector by 2029, according to a 2021 report from BioTalent Canada.

To address the shortage, BioHubNet will leverage its 26 industry and training partners – which include multinational and homegrown biotechnology companies, as well as five Ontario colleges and nearly $19 million in funding from CBRF – to develop a range of training programs and curricula that provide experiential, hands-on learning to graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and others who are ready to transition to industry.

The program will also outfit entrepreneurs with the skills and resources they need to commercialize their lab-based innovations, further strengthening the translational pipeline. Over the next four years, BioHubNet will produce close to 1,000 highly skilled workers through micro-credential courses, industry internships, academic exchange placements and entrepreneurial training.

A central tenet underlying all BioHubNet’s offerings is a commitment to create more equitable and inclusive participation in the biomanufacturing and life sciences sectors through intentional recruitment and active support for trainees from under-represented groups.

“Canada’s future as a leader in bio-innovation depends on having highly qualified workers, yet the sector is predicted to face severe workforce shortages in the coming years,” says Shoichet, who is the Michael E Charles Professor in Chemical Engineering at U of T and scientific director of PRiME Next-Generation Precision Medicine, a U of T institutional strategic initiative based at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

“By expanding the pipeline of skilled research talent in Canada, BioHubNet will accelerate the translation of promising discoveries from bench to market and ensure that this country’s biomanufacturing sector continues to grow and attract further international investment.”

In addition to BioHubNet, three other research programs were also funded:

The Integrated Network for the Surveillance of Pathogens: Increasing Resilience and capacity in Canada’s pandemic response (INSPIRE) based at the University of Windsor. Co-led by Windsor professor Mike McKay and University of Guelph professor Lawrence Goodridge, the INSPIRE program leverages community-level wastewater surveillance data, infrastructure and expertise to monitor the arrival and spread of infectious threats. The program also received infrastructure funding from BRIF to implement technologies and processes across its network that will streamline wastewater surveillance efforts to be more rapid, agile and sensitive. Importantly, these infrastructure supports will expand wastewater monitoring capacity in northern Ontario and at the Windsor-Detroit border to strengthen supply chains.
The Prepare, React, Collect, Innovate, Share and Engage (PRECISE) Diagnostic Platform, based at Sinai Health and co-led by Jennie Johnstone and Anne-Claude Gingras – who are both faculty members in U of T’s Faculty of Medicine – will advance a comprehensive, streamlined approach for responding to emerging threats by driving the timely development of rapid diagnostic tools that will scale up testing capacity and reduce reliance on global supply chains.
The Pandemic Preparedness Engaging Primary Care and Emergency Departments (PREPARED) program, based at Unity Health Toronto and led by Andrew Pinto, who is a faculty member in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, aims to engage primary care clinics and emergency departments across the country to enhance disease monitoring, improve patient care and health system efficiency, accelerate the development of medical countermeasures and boost recruitment to clinical trials.

All four research programs reflect the hub’s extensive network of nearly 100 partners from academia, hospital, industry, public and other sectors. The programs leverage the collective resources and expertise of this network, including U of T’s position as a global leader in artificial intelligence, data, life sciences and engineering, and the Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network’s strong track record of clinical impact and health-care innovation.

“Our goal at HI³ is to advance mission-driven, team-based science that will help Canada be more prepared, resilient and independent in the face of emerging health threats,” said Jen Gommerman, co-director of HI³ and a professor of immunology in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“As we support and grow these four research programs, we will continue to work closely with our hub partners and with our counterparts across the country to ensure that we have the capacity and resources needed to respond in a co-ordinated, effective and equitable manner.”

U of T, hospitals launch pilot program to boost commercialization of medical innovations

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:19:19 +0000

U of T, hospitals launch pilot program to boost commercialization of medical innovations

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 04/24/2024 - 10:19

Cutline

(photo by Daria Perevezentsev)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Acceleration Consortium

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Artificial Intelligence

Department of Chemistry

Department of Computer Science

Entrepreneurship

Faculty of Art & Science

Hospital for Sick Children

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy