Research &amp; Innovation

Department of Molecular Genetics

Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research

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(supplied image)

Syed Nabeel Haider Shah, a PhD graduate of the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, has been recognized with the 2024 Donnelly Centre Research Thesis Prize.

The annual prize recognizes the quality, originality and significance of a PhD graduate’s work.

Shah’s research examined newly identified RNA binding proteins, two of which were found to have potential roles in cancer development and treatment. One of the proteins was found to be able to enhance the ability of cancer cells to develop into tumours, while the other was found to perform the reverse role by suppressing growth of tumour cells.

“Nabeel has had an extraordinary PhD career,” said his supervisor Jack Greenblatt, University Professor in the department of molecular genetics. “He published 25 peer-reviewed papers from research he conducted over the course of his studies, with lead authorship on 12 of them – and he continues to publish papers from his thesis work. Nabeel made the most of his PhD by contributing significantly and widely across biomedicine.”

Shah credits Greenblatt for being a supportive adviser who provided guidance while allowing him to work independently to develop research projects. “I believe if I was a PhD student in any other lab, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to accomplish as much as I did,” said Shah.

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Mina Tadrous recognized by Canada's Drug Agency

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:53:19 +0000

Mina Tadrous recognized by Canada's Drug Agency

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 09/30/2024 - 09:53

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

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(photo by Steve Southon)

Mina Tadrous, an assistant professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, has received the Dr. Maurice McGregor Award for a Rising Star in Health Technology Assessment from Canada’s Drug Agency.

This award honours an early-career professional who is pushing the science of health technology assessment (HTA) forward and helping to grow Canada’s reputation for excellence in the field.

Tadrous conducts research that has led to meaningful change at both the policy and patient level. At the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, he played a key role in implementing a novel framework for drug class reviews that enhanced standard HTA methods with patient perspectives and real-world evidence.

Tadrous, who was appointed a tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Real World Evidence and Pharmaceutical Policy earlier this year, has also led work related to drug shortages, devising strategies that will help to safeguard Canada’s drug inventory.

Read about the Canada’s Drug Agency awards

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Lisa Cranley awarded Compassion and Artificial Intelligence Fellowship by AMS Healthcare

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 18:51:47 +0000

Lisa Cranley awarded Compassion and Artificial Intelligence Fellowship by AMS Healthcare

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 09/25/2024 - 14:51

Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

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Lisa Cranley (supplied image)

Lisa Cranley, an associate professor in the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, has been awarded a 2024 Compassion and Artificial Intelligence Fellowship by AMS Healthcare.

The fellowship recognizes researchers for showcasing compassionate leadership in health care through visionary projects that aim to help care providers navigate a complex and rapidly evolving health-care landscape.

Cranley's research involves the co-development of a high-fidelity prototype of a digital app that will support compassionate, person-centred care for residents of long-term care homes by supporting them and their family caregivers in developing care plans that give them a sense of autonomy and voice in their care provision.

“Person-centred care is compassionate care, and for me this means ensuring that my research will advance compassionate care delivery in an innovative way while being relevant and useful to the populations that it will serve," Cranley said.

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34 91��Ƶ scholars receive research infrastructure support from CFI's John R. Evans Leaders Fund

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:00:06 +0000

34 91��Ƶ scholars receive research infrastructure support from CFI's John R. Evans Leaders Fund

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/24/2024 - 10:00

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Faculty of Dentistry

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Thirty-four scholars from the 91��Ƶ will receive research infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

The fund aims to support universities’ research infrastructure and help them compete in recruiting and retaining exceptional researchers. 91��Ƶ projects will receive a total of $10.6 million in the latest round of funding, announced Sept. 13, 2024.

“From exploring the links between neural activity and stress to designing next-generation spectrographs to enhance our understanding of celestial phenomena, these research projects are poised to expand knowledge in an array of crucial fields,” said Leah Cowen, 91��Ƶ’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“I would like to congratulate all the recipients of this funding support, and express 91��Ƶ’s gratitude to the Canada Foundation for Innovation for its continued backing of critical research infrastructure.”

The recipients of John R. Evans Leaders Fund support at 91��Ƶ are:

Myrtede Alfred in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – HFE visual design studio
Artem Babaian in the department of molecular genetics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – The Open Virome: Infrastructure for planetary-scale virus surveillance
Celina Baines in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the Faculty of Arts & Science – Impacts of environmental change on organismal movement
Jaideep Bains at the University Health Network and the department of physiology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Anticipating and buffering stress: from synapse to behaviour
Deryk Beal at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and the department of speech-language pathology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Advancing neuromodulation for pediatric rehabilitation
Robert Bentley at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education – Cardiovascular exercise physiology laboratory: Individual differences in oxygen delivery during physical activity
Laurent Bozec at the Faculty of Dentistry – 21st-century challenge for dentistry: Breaking the cycle of irreversible dental tissue loss
Jennifer Campos in the department of psychology at the Faculty of Arts & Science – Innovative strategies and simulation technologies for sensory-cognitive health of the aging population
Timothy Corson at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy – New targets and therapies for neovascular eye diseases
Niv Dayan in the department of computer science at the Faculty of Arts & Science – Universal filters for storage engines
Tilak Dutta in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Advancing fall prevention research
Micah Freedman in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the Faculty of Arts & Science – Effects of climate change, migratory plasticity, and habitat modification on monarch butterfly migration
Liisa Galea in the Institute of Medical Science at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Sex and sex-specific factors influencing brain health across the lifespan
Michael Hardisty at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the department of surgery at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Enabling precision diagnostics/image-guided therapy: Advanced computational infrastructure for musculoskeletal health
Eno Hysi at Unity Health Toronto and the department of medical biophysics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Structural and Functional Assessments of Diabetic Skin Microvasculature using Photoacoustic Imaging
David Kirsch at the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Dissecting mechanisms of cancer development using genetically engineered mouse models
Caitlin Maikawa in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Biointerfacing materials for drug delivery lab
Kuldeep Meel in the department of computer science at the Faculty of Arts & Science – Scalable discrete integration engines
Juan Mena-Parra in the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Faculty of Arts & Science – An advanced laboratory to enable novel radio telescopes for cosmology and time-domain astrophysics
Emily Moore in the Institute for Studies in Transdisciplinary Engineering Education and Practice at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – A collaboratorium to improve problem framing in engineering design
Seyed Moosavi in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Machine learning for nanoporous materials design
Trevor Moraes in the department of biochemistry at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Upgrade Glacios-2 200 keV cryo-electron microscope
Long Nguyen at the University Health Network and the department of medical biophysics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Molecular regulation of clonal propagation and dissemination in human breast cancer
Kacey Prentice in the department of physiology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Mechanisms of beta cell dysfunction in diabetes
Chenxi Qian in the department of medical biophysics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Next-generation vibrational imaging platform for biomedical research and applications
Laurie Rousseau-Nepton in the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Faculty of Arts & Science – Development of a high-resolution imaging spectrograph
Arneet Saltzman in the department of cell and systems biology at the Faculty of Arts and Science – Heterochromatin regulation in development and inheritance
Wilder Scott at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Mechanisms regulating the stem cell niche in tissue regeneration and aging at single cell and spatial resolution
Mikko Taipale in the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Interrogating cellular pathways with pathogenic effectors
Jiannis Taxidis at the Hospital for Sick Children and the department of physiology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Advanced imaging and manipulation of hippocampal activity patterns linking memories across time
Tatsuya Tsukahara at Mount Sinai Hospital and the department of molecular genetics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Molecular logic and functions of transcriptional adaptation
Anatole von Lilienfeld in the department of materials science and engineering at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering – Large memory compute nodes for generation of quantum machine learning data
Andy Kin On Wong at the University Health Network and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health – Sarcopenia and musculoskeletal interactions (SaMI) collaborative hub
Olena Zhulyn at the Hospital for Sick Children in the department of molecular genetics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Targeting translation for tissue regeneration and repair

Read the Canada Foundation for Innovation press release

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3 91��Ƶ scholars named finalists for 2024 SSHRC Impact Awards

rahul.kalvapalle — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 16:01:54 +0000

3 91��Ƶ scholars named finalists for 2024 SSHRC Impact Awards

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Thu, 09/12/2024 - 12:01

Students

Department of Political Science

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Munk School of Global Affairs

OISE

SSHRC

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(L-R) Lynette Ong, Peter Newman and Louis Busch (supplied images)

Two faculty members and a doctoral candidate at the 91��Ƶ have been shortlisted for the 2024 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Impact Awards.

The annual awards recognize achievements by outstanding scholars and students in research, research training, knowledge mobilization and outreach activities funded by SSHRC, and are considered Canada's highest honours in social sciences and humanities research.

The finalists for the 2024 SSHRC Impact Awards from 91��Ƶ are:

Professor Lynette Ong (department of political science, Faculty of Arts & Science and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy) – Insight Award
Professor Peter Newman (Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work) – Partnership Award
Louis Busch (PhD candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) – Talent Award

The winners in each of the award categories will be announced on Nov. 25, 2024.

Athanasios Litsios and Lucie Wolf receive Donnelly Centre’s Research Excellence Awards

rahul.kalvapalle — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 14:51:45 +0000

Athanasios Litsios and Lucie Wolf receive Donnelly Centre’s Research Excellence Awards

Community

rahul.kalvapalle Wed, 09/11/2024 - 10:51

Students

Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomedical Research

Donnelly Centre Research Excellence Awards

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Athanasios Litsios (L) and Lucie Wolf (supplied images)

Athanasios Litsios and Lucie Wolf, postdoctoral fellows in the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, have been recognized with 2024 Research Excellence Awards.

The awards support researchers who are collaborating across disciplinary boundaries to advance innovations in health and medicine.

Litsios, who is conducting his research under the supervision of Brenda Andrews, University Professor in the department of molecular genetics, led a collaborative effort that generated the first genome-scale characterization of protein movement within the cell throughout the cell cycle.

Wolf, who received the 2023 Charles H. Best Fellowship, was recognized for her work identifying proteins that could function as regulators of the Wnt signalling pathway to target cancer cells – research conducted under the supervision of Stephane Angers, a professor in the departments of biochemistry and pharmaceutical sciences at Temerty Medicine.

“Athanasios Litsios and Lucie Wolf are integral members of the Donnelly Centre community,” said Angers, who is director of the Donnelly Centre. “They have contributed enormously to their respective labs and research fields, while simultaneously working to improve scientific engagement and community building through outreach.

"Both postdoctoral fellows have demonstrated leadership and initiative during their time at the Donnelly Centre.”

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Renée Hložek awarded Rutherford Memorial Medal by Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 18:21:44 +0000

Renée Hložek awarded Rutherford Memorial Medal by Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/10/2024 - 14:21

David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics

Rutherford Memorial Medal

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Renée Hložek (photo by Portmanteau Media Inc

Renée Hložek, an associate professor at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics and the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Faculty of Arts & Science, has been awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Rutherford Memorial Medal.

The annual award recognizes researchers in the early stages of their careers in chemistry or physics. It is presented in memory of Ernest Rutherford, a scientist and a leader in nuclear research who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908.

Hložek's research involves advancing our understanding of the universe’s structure, origin and evolution. She is a member of the recently decommissioned Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration, as well as the active Simons Observatory in northern Chile, where she studies the Cosmic Microwave Background – light from the universe when it was approximately 400,000 years old. She is also investigating dark matter and dark energy through her work with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Large Synoptic Survey Telescope dark energy science collaboration.

“[The medal] was something that I wanted, but not something that I ever really expected to get because there are so many great people in Canada, so I’m kind of shocked – but pleased,” says Hložek.

“I work in big teams, so my work represents a ton of people working together. I wouldn't be here without the support of all the people in my collaborations building instruments and figuring out how to do analysis and all of that good stuff.”

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Read about the Royal Society of Canada award winners

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Janna Shapiro receives Alice Wilson Award from Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 18:07:54 +0000

Janna Shapiro receives Alice Wilson Award from Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/10/2024 - 14:07

Students

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Alice Wilson Award

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Janna Shapiro (supplied image)

Janna Shapiro, a post-doctoral fellow in the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, has received the Alice Wilson Award from the Royal Society of Canada.

The annual award recognizes three women who have demonstrated excellence while entering a career in scholarship or research at the postdoctoral level. It is named for Alice Wilson, a world-renowned paleontologist and geologist who studied at the 91��Ƶ and, in 1938, became the first woman elected to the Royal Society of Canada.

Shapiro's research explores ways to protect children with leukemia – a disease that requires treatments that suppress the immune system – from vaccine-preventable diseases like measles. She has also researched how vaccines can protect older adults and pregnant women.

“I was so surprised and honoured to win this award," Shapiro says. "Trailblazers like Alice Wilson have paved the way for researchers like myself to pursue and excel in the sciences. This award feels extra special as a chance to honour her legacy and the role of women in science in Canada."

Read about Janna Shapiro's research at CVPD

Read about the Royal Society of Canada award winners

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Jacob Tsimerman receives John L. Synge Award from the Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:55:08 +0000

Jacob Tsimerman receives John L. Synge Award from the Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/10/2024 - 13:55

Department of Mathematics

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Jacob Tsimerman (photo by Richard Poissant)

Jacob Tsimerman, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of mathematics, has received the prestigious John L. Synge Award from the Royal Society of Canada.

The annual award recognizes outstanding research in the mathematical sciences. It is awarded in honour of the late John Lighton Synge, former head of 91��Ƶ's department of applied mathematics and one of the first mathematicians working in Canada to receive international recognition for his research.

Tsimerman’s research focuses primarily on analytic number theory and arithmetic geometry. He studies whole number solutions to certain types of polynomial equations. One of his most notable research accomplishments is his contribution to a proof for a longstanding mathematical hypothesis called the André-Oort conjecture.

“I am truly honoured to accept the Synge Award,” says Tsimerman. “Mathematics is a collective endeavour and I am thrilled to share this honour with a wonderful community of friends, colleagues and students. I am grateful to be given the opportunity to delve even deeper into the challenges and beauty that mathematics offers.”

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4 faculty members named to Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 17:02:54 +0000

4 faculty members named to Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 09/09/2024 - 13:02

Department of Medical Biophysics