Unity Health

Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation

Alumni

Chemistry

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Hospital for Sick Children

Faculty of Music

University Health Network

Order of Canada

Political Science

St. Michael's College

University College

Victoria College

Subheadline

"The Order of Canada recognizes individuals who have made positive and lasting impacts on communities here in Canada or who have brought honour to our country abroad"

An innovator in chemical catalyst development. A global leader in cardiac surgery and care. And a public health expert who led the rollout of Canada’s first colon cancer screening program.

These are a few members of the University of Toronto community who were recently honoured with appointments or promotions within the Order of Canada.

The Governor General recently announced 83 new appointments to the Order of Canada, including two promotions within the Order.

They include Doug Stephan, a University Professor of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science; Lee Errett, a professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of surgery, and Linda Rabeneck, a health executive and professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Established in 1967, the Order of Canada is one of the country’s highest honours, recognizing extraordinary contributions across all sectors of society.

“The Order of Canada recognizes individuals who have made positive and lasting impacts on communities here in Canada or who have brought honour to our country abroad,” Gov. Gen. Mary Simon said in a statement.

Here is a list of ��οfaculty, alumni and supporters who were appointed to, or promoted within, the Order of Canada in the latest round of honourees.

Current and former faculty

Edward Cole, a staff nephrologist at Toronto General Hospital and professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of medicine, was named a Member of the Order for his dedication to advancing and delivering care to people living with kidney disease, his instrumental role in establishing a globally impactful kidney-paired donation program and his leadership as former physician-in-chief at the University Health Network.

Lee Errett, a professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of surgery, was appointed a Member of the Order for his transformative leadership in cardiac research and care, including his role in establishing St. Michael’s Hospital as a world-class centre for cardiac surgery, his dedication to educating future medical leaders and providing care in underserved areas worldwide.

Franklyn Griffiths, a professor emeritus and George Ignatieff Chair Emeritus of Peace and Conflict Studies in the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science, was appointed a Member of the Order for his scholarship on Russian affairs which has advanced the Western world’s understanding of Soviet politics. An expert in Arctic international relations, Griffiths helped create the Arctic Council and pushed for Indigenous voices to play a central role in the council’s workings.

Beverley Johnston, an internationally renowned percussionist who is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Music, was appointed an Officer of the Order for her work developing and promoting Canadian music to audiences around the world. Working in a male-dominated field, Johnston’s unconventional performances combine classical transcriptions, contemporary music and an element of theatre.

Daphne Maurer, a professor emeritus of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour at McMaster University who holds a status appointment at U of T’s Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, was appointed an Officer of the Order for her research on visual and cognitive development in early childhood.

Linda Rabeneck, a gastroenterologist, health executive and professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, was named a Member of the Order for her leadership in colorectal cancer screening and prevention. Formerly the director of the Division of Gastroenterology at U of T, she led the rollout of ColonCancerCheck, Canada’s first province-wide screening program.

Stephen Randall, who earned his master's degree and doctorate at ��οand taught at the university from 1971 to 1974, was named a Member of the Order for his academic contributions and advisory role in international relations. A professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, Randall’s expertise in myriad issues affecting the United States and Latin America, notably Colombia, has informed Canada’s foreign policy.

Bibudhendra Sarkar, senior scientist emeritus at the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children and professor emeritus at U of T’s department of biochemistry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, was named a Member of the Order for his achievements in advancing medical research in Canada and abroad. He discovered a novel treatment for patients with Menkes disease, a rare genetic condition, and led international efforts in South and Southeast Asia to address public health crises from contaminated groundwater.

Jonathan Scott Rose, a professor in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, was named a Member of the Order for his pioneering work in architecture and software used in field-programmable gate arrays. Rose served as the chair of the department from 2004 to 2009 and received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from ��οin 1986.

Doug Stephan, a University Professor in the department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts & Science, was named an Officer of the Order in recognition his world-leading research in inorganic and organometallic chemistry. His many achievements include discovering – and commercializing – a new class of catalysts that is now used in one of the largest chemical manufacturing facilities in the world. He also achieved global renown for founding the field of “Frustrated Lewis Pair” chemistry.

Alumni and friends

Sleight-of-hand artist David Ben, who graduated from University College in 1983, was named a Member of the Order for his four decades of dedication to the exploration, development and preservation of magic, including penning several books on the subject and co-founding the Magicana organization.

William Fox, a research fellow and adjunct professor at Trent University who earned his honours bachelor of arts and master of arts in archeology at U of T, was named a Member of the Order for his distinguished contributions to Canadian archeology, his leadership in the Ontario Archaeological Society, and his steadfast advocacy for the involvement of Indigenous communities in preserving their material heritage.

Martha Friendly, who founded the Childcare Resource and Research Unit at U of T’s Centre for Urban and Community Studies in the early 1980s, was appointed an Officer of the Order for her work with the now-independent non-profit and her advocacy for accessible, publicly funded early childhood education and care, and women’s equality.

Rosemary Ganley, a writer, activist, teacher and an alumna of St. Michael’s College, was named a Member of the Order for her lifelong advocacy for human rights, gender equity, and social justice, including co-founding Jamaican Self Help, an organization of Canadians working to support the development of healthy Jamaican communities.

Arnie Gelbart, a member of the Chancellors’ Circle of Benefactors, was named a Member of the Order for his decades-long leadership in independent film and television in his role as founder, executive producer and CEO of Galafilm Productions Inc.

Judy Kent was named a Member of the Order for championing sport as a catalyst for social change, her advocacy for gender equality and inclusion and her leadership in international support. Among her achievements: She was the first woman to serve as both president of Commonwealth Sport Canada and Canada’s chef de mission for the Commonwealth Games, and her paper on sport for international development laid the foundation for the SportWORKS program.

James David Meekison, with a 45-year career spanning investment banking, cable television and private equity, was named a Member of the Order for his extensive philanthropy. The Jim Meekison and Carolyn Keystone Foundation supported U of T’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy’s efforts to launch the Discovery Pharmacy on the St. George campus.

Michael Perley, a ��οalumnus who completed a master’s degree in French language and literature, was named a Member of the Order for his lifelong dedication to tackling environmental and health challenges. He has been an advocate for tighter tobacco control laws, reducing second-hand smoke exposure and has led coalitions on acid rain and air pollution.

Dan Poenaru, a pediatric surgeon and professor at McGill University who earned two degrees at U of T, was named a Member of the Order for his contributions to pediatric surgery in Africa, including establishing a surgical unit and training program in Kenya, co-founding three medical schools and leading initiatives for children's surgery globally.

Vaira Vike-Freiberga, an alumna of Victoria College and the first woman to serve as Latvia’s president, was named an honorary Officer of the Order for her work enriching Canada-Latvia relations and for reflecting Canadian values abroad.

– with files from Mariam Matti and Rahul Kalvapalle

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

Leah Cowen

PRiME

Sinai Health

Chemistry

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 University of Toronto'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 University of Toronto 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 ��οand 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 ��οand scientific director of PRiME Next-Generation Precision Medicine, a ��οinstitutional 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.”

What Now? AI, Episode 3: Innovation for Good

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 20:47:11 +0000

What Now? AI, Episode 3: Innovation for Good Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:47

Topic

Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

What Now? AI

Artificial Intelligence

Computer Science

Faculty of Information

Institute of Biomedical Engineering

Startups

��οMississauga

While the news headlines about AI often focus on dangers and risks, the potential for life-saving innovation in fields such as health care is huge.

In the third episode of What Now? AI, co-hosts Beth Coleman and Rahul Krishnan of the University of Toronto are joined by experts Christine Allen and Andrew Pinto to discuss AI’s potential to advance drug development and dramatically improve primary care.

Listen to episode three on Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud, iHeartRadio and Amazon. Watch episode three on YouTube.

Allen, a professor in U of T’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and an expert in drug formulation and development, co-founded Intrepid Labs Inc. with Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a professor in the departments of chemistry and computer science in U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science.

One of the first startups to emerge from the Acceleration Consortium at U of T, Intrepid Labs is accelerating pharmaceutical drug development through the integration of AI, automation and advanced computing.

“It’s this concept of using AI to explore the unexplored,” Allen says.

“What if that formulation could really transform the properties and performance of your drug is one of those unexplored formulations. That will then take that drug through clinical development smoothly and get it to patients faster, which is really the goal.”

Meanwhile, Pinto, a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and director of the Upstream Lab, Unity Health Toronto, focuses his research on addressing the social determinants of health by running clinical trials of interventions and using AI tools for surveillance of respiratory illness.

“When we started to do this work around AI in primary care, we wanted to be directed by primary care providers and patients,” says Pinto, an associate professor in the department of family and community medicine in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Reducing health-care inequities is top of mind for Pinto. His lab focuses on implementing AI to prioritize community engagement and bridge socioeconomic gaps to mitigate biases.

“We’re using these tools to look at all of the patients in a population and then focus our attention on the people who need it most.”

About the hosts:

Beth Coleman is an associate professor at ��οMississauga’s Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information. She is also a research lead on AI policy and praxis at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. Coleman authored Reality Was Whatever Happened: Octavia Butler AI and Other Possible Worlds using art and generative AI.

Rahul Krishnan is an assistant professor in U of T’s department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is a Canada CIFAR Chair at the Vector Institute, a faculty affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and a faculty member at the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).

Heart-on-a-chip model used to glean insights into COVID-19-induced heart inflammation

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 19:06:23 +0000

Heart-on-a-chip model used to glean insights into COVID-19-induced heart inflammation

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 04/08/2024 - 15:06

Cutline

Researchers worked in the Toronto High Containment Facility at U of T to examine the effects of COVID-19 on heart inflammation (photo by Lisa Lightbourn)

Betty Zou

Topic

Breaking Research

Alumni

University Health Network

Subheadline

Researcher dedicates study to her late grandmother, who died from COVID-19-induced heart failure

Researchers at the University of Toronto and its partner hospitals have created a unique heart-on-a-chip model that is helping untangle the causes of COVID-19-induced heart inflammation and uncover strategies to reduce its impact.

While COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory infection, clinicians and researchers are increasingly aware of the virus’s effects on other organs – including the heart. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 2020 and January 2021 had 15 times higher risk for developing myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, compared to patients without COVID-19.

But the biology behind the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and heart inflammation had remained unclear – in part because there have not been good models with which to study infection-related heart inflammation.

“Conventionally, people grow heart cells in a 2D setting and then expose it to SARS-CoV-2 to see how the virus damages the heart. But that’s not actually what happens in our body,” says Rick Lu, a PhD graduate from U of T’s Institute for Biomedical Engineering who is currently a postdoctoral researcher at U of T’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

Lu is the first author of a new study published in Science Advances that describes a miniature 3D heart-on-a-chip model that more accurately captures the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its associated immune response on cardiac dysfunction.

The first-of-its-kind model builds on previous work led by Milica Radisic, Lu’s PhD adviser, a senior scientist at University Health Network and a ��οprofessor of biomedical engineering. The approach uses a lab-made network of blood vessels surrounded by heart tissues grown from stem cells to mimic a real human heart with its tangle of vessels going in and out.

From left to right: Researchers Milica Radisic, Rick Lu and Claudia dos Santos (supplied images)

To examine the effects of COVID-19 on heart inflammation, Lu and his colleagues first had to adapt their model to work in the Toronto High Containment Facility, a specialized lab that allows researchers to study high-risk pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 in a safe and secure way.

“This work would simply not be possible without the Toronto High Containment Facility,” says Radisic, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Organ-on-a-Chip Engineering.

In the high containment lab, the researchers added live virus and immune cells to the blood vessels and allowed them to flow through their mini hearts-on-a-chip, replicating the immune response that happens after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found that the combination of SARS-CoV-2 and immune cells reduced the heart’s ability to contract and pump. To understand why, the researchers turned to mitochondria, the tiny energy storehouses that power the muscle’s beating movements. They showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection led to loss of mitochondria and a release of mitochondrial DNA from the heart cells into the nutrient broth used to grow the organoids.

Working with Claudia dos Santos, a scientist and critical care doctor at Unity Health Toronto, associate professor of medicine and Pitts Research Chair in Acute Care and Emergency Medicine at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the researchers then asked whether the presence of freely circulating mitochondrial DNA is also seen in patients experiencing COVID-19-induced heart complications.

They analyzed blood samples from patients with and without COVID-19 and found nearly two-and-a-half times higher levels of mitochondrial DNA in patients who were COVID-19-positive. Their findings point to mitochondrial DNA levels as a powerful predictor of a person’s risk of experiencing cardiac problems after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The team also showed that a new type of cell-based therapy called exosomes – little cargo vessels that bubble off cells – could reduce inflammation and mitochondria loss, as well as improve heart function, after SARS-CoV-2 infection, highlighting their potential to repair COVID-19-associated heart damage.

By integrating blood vessels and immune cells, Lu hopes that the innovative heart-on-a-chip model can help researchers and clinicians understand and identify treatment strategies for other infection-related heart conditions.

“The good thing about our system is that it’s readily adaptable to any kind of infectious disease,” says Lu. “The other benefit is that we don’t have to rely as much on animal models. Since we’re already using human-derived cells, the clinical translatability is much higher.”

As a next step, Radisic’s group plans to use the miniature organs to uncover why males are more likely than females to experience COVID-19-associated heart complications and to examine the cardiac issues commonly seen in people with long COVID-19.

Radisic says the motivation for this work was deeply personal. She dedicated the study to her late grandmother who died from COVID-19-induced heart failure after six weeks in the intensive care unit.

“The feeling of helplessness is rather profound when a loved one is dying,” she says. “As scientists, we can take small steps toward new cures so that other people do not meet the same fate. For me, this work meant overcoming the feeling of helplessness.”

The work was supported by investments from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the creation of the ��οCOVID-19 biobank and the Precision Medicine in Critical Care (PREDICT) Biobank at Unity Health Toronto – and by the contributions of patients and families that donated biological samples, making significant advances in research possible.

How will AI change our world? ��οpodcast explores technology’s impact on society

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 15:17:45 +0000

How will AI change our world? ��οpodcast explores technology’s impact on society

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 04/04/2024 - 11:17

Mariam Matti

Topic

Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

What Now? AI

Alumni

Artificial Intelligence

CIFAR

Computer Science

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Information

Faculty of Law

Geoffrey Hinton

Startups

��οMississauga

Vector Institute

Subheadline

In What Now? AI, hosts Beth Coleman and Rahul Krishnan explore – and demystify – artificial intelligence and its impact on society with the help of leading experts

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are posing profound questions about the future – and about us.

Can we ensure safety and alignment within AI systems? How might AI forever transform fields like health care? What ripple effects could AI have on jobs and livelihoods, including in creative industries?

University of Toronto researchers Beth Coleman and Rahul Krishnan explore – and demystify – these and other topics by tapping into the knowledge of leading AI experts in What Now? AI, a new ��οpodcast that launches this week.

It can be found on Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio and Amazon.

An associate professor at ��οMississauga’s Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology and the Faculty of Information, Coleman says she hopes the episodes help audiences make sense of new AI tools and systems by cutting through “all the noisiness and controversy that has taken over the headlines.”

“It can be complex and technical, but it’s also social,” says Coleman, a research lead on AI policy and praxis at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology & Society.

“What we do with AI makes a difference and more people need to be able to share that knowledge.”

Coleman’s own research centres around technology and society with a focus on data and cities, AI and policy, and generative arts. Inspired by Octavia Butler’s 1980 Xenogenesis trilogy, Coleman authored Reality Was Whatever Happened: Octavia Butler AI and Other Possible Worlds using art and generative AI.

Krishnan, meanwhile, is an assistant professor in U of T’s department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. A Canada CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute and Canada Research Chair in computational medicine, Krishnan and his team focus on teaching neural networks about causality, building deep learning models that analyze cause and effect from data.

“I’m excited to co-host this podcast to explore and demystify for a broader audience AI through the lens of an accomplished and diverse set of experts,” says Krishnan, who is also a faculty affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and a faculty member at the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).

What Now? AI picks up where the conversation started last year by Geoffrey Hinton, the cognitive psychologist and University Professor emeritus of computer science who is known as the “Godfather of AI.” After a lifetime spent developing a type of AI known as deep learning, Hinton stepped back from his role at Google to warn about the existential threats of unchecked AI development.

Since then, there have been ongoing advancements in AI research, technological applications and policy development.

Coleman and Krishnan will tackle these and other topics with guests:

Gillian Hadfield, professor of law and strategic management at the Faculty of Law and the Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology and Society.
Roger Grosse, associate professor of computer science in the Faculty of Arts & Science and founding member of the Vector Institute.
Christine Allen, professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and co-founder and CEO of Intrepid Labs Inc.
Andrew Pinto, a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, and associate professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Nick Frosst, co-founder of Cohere, singer in Good Kid band and a ��οcomputer science and cognitive science alumnus.

“The What Now? AI podcast highlights the incredible researchers at the University of Toronto who are exploring the profound implications of this transformative technology,” says Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “These discussions tackle critical questions surrounding AI safety and alignment and its myriad implications across various domains.

“The university is committed to fostering informed discussions that will shape our collective understanding of AI’s role in our society and in our future.”

Coleman says she hopes listeners come away from the podcast feeling more grounded.

Krishnan, for his part, wants the audience to understand “that there is no one group that has ownership” over the technology” and that “the free exchange of ideas and open-source tools encourage people from all disciplines to come see how accessible AI can be, what AI can do for them and how they can advance the discourse in the field.”

��οreceives $10 million from Ontario government for modernization of high containment facility

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 18:15:01 +0000

��οreceives $10 million from Ontario government for modernization of high containment facility

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/18/2024 - 14:15

Cutline

(photo by Julia Soudat)

Betty Zou

Topic

Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Sinai Health

Hospital for Sick Children

Health

University Health Network

Subheadline

Renewal of the 20-year-old facility, which allows researchers to study high-risk pathogens, will provide increased capacity to develop new vaccines and therapeutics

Canada’s ability to respond rapidly to emerging infectious diseases is taking a step forward with a $9.9-million investment from the Ontario government to support critical research infrastructure updates to the Toronto High Containment Facility (THCF), which houses the largest containment level 3 lab in the province.

The facility, located at the University of Toronto, is specially equipped to allow researchers to study high-risk pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, HIV, tuberculosis and mpox, in a safe and secure way.

Research undertaken at the current facility has advanced our understanding of infectious diseases and strengthened our ability to respond to emerging health threats.

“The THCF strengthens Ontario’s position as a prime location for globally leading companies and top talent to discover and commercialize cutting-edge technologies, while improving our preparedness for future health challenges,” says Leah Cowen, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives. “The updated facility will enhance Canada’s health infrastructure and health security, and ensure that Canadian researchers are trained and ready to respond to emerging infectious diseases.”

The provincial funding builds on a previous $35-million investment from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support efforts to revitalize and expand the THCF and to transform it into the largest academic high-containment research centre in Canada.

The renewal of the 20-year-old facility will provide increased capacity to use state-of-the-art approaches supporting academic research projects as well as collaborative industry-led efforts to develop new vaccines and therapeutics for Canadians. The new provincial investment will also allow the facility to meet the growing demand from industry and public sector partners while maintaining ongoing research projects and an agile responsiveness to future outbreaks.

“The new THCF will allow our researchers to work on the most urgent infectious disease threats, provide greater opportunities to engage with government agencies and industry partners, and allow us to provide unique training opportunities for the next generation of infectious disease leaders, building a strong foundation for Canada’s response to future outbreaks,” says Scott Gray-Owen, academic director of the THCF and a professor of molecular genetics in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

The provincial support is part of a suite of investments through the Ontario Research Fund and the Early Researcher Awards that also include support for quantum and artificial intelligence projects at U of T. Support has also been extended to advance an infrastructure renewal of the province’s Advanced Research Computing (ARC) systems, including U of T’s Niagara ARC supercomputer, used by researchers across the country.

As the only high containment facility of its kind in the Greater Toronto Area, the THCF is a unique asset to the life sciences ecosystem in the region, which is home to 55 per cent of Canada’s pharmaceutical companies. The modernized facility will be able to support greater engagement with industry partners to advance made-in-Ontario therapeutics such as the experimental drug paridiprubart from Markham-based Edesa Biotech, which is currently being tested in a Phase 3 clinical trial to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome, a common complication from COVID-19 or influenza infections.

In addition to industry partners, the THCF has been used by federal and provincial agencies including the Public Health Agency of Canada, Bank of Canada, Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

The THCF renewal will also be undertaken in collaboration with U of T’s hospital partners: The Hospital for Sick Children, Sinai Health, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Unity Health Toronto and University Health Network. Construction of the facility has begun but the university is seeking additional funding to complete the project.

Based at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the THCF is the cornerstone of the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium, a U of T institutional strategic initiative that brings together the university and Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) hospital partners to drive innovative approaches to infectious diseases and prepare for future pandemics. It is also a key infrastructure resource for the Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases (HI3) which was established through the Canada Biomedical Research Fund. The hub brings together over 90 partners across several sectors to bolster Canada’s biomanufacturing capacity to ensure a fast and co-ordinated response to future pandemics and infectious threats.

The revitalized THCF will also have the capacity to train more than 100 new highly qualified professionals over a five-year period with industry-relevant skills, including manufacturing practices and vaccine and therapeutics development.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the THCF was the first lab in Canada – and one of the first in the world – to isolate the new coronavirus in March 2020. The facility and its highly trained staff played a key role in accelerating research breakthroughs that guided the pandemic response including, for example, methods to allow safe reuse of personal protective equipment in health-care settings and to ensure safe human milk banking for premature infants.

The THCF was also a core element of EPIC’s mpox rapid research response, housing a biobank of samples from patients with mpox which are being used by researchers to better understand the dynamics of viral shedding and other important questions about the disease.

In addition to a larger physical space, the updated facility will include a state-of-the-art high containment insectary to enable research on mosquito-borne viruses like Chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever. With its modular design and enhanced safety features, the new facility will also be better positioned to respond to emerging pathogens like highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Mpox DNA can persist in the body for up to four weeks: Study

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 20:04:03 +0000

Mpox DNA can persist in the body for up to four weeks: Study

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 03/12/2024 - 16:04

Cutline

A sign containing information about monkeypox is seen in International Airport Treviso A. Canova, in Treviso, Italy, on Nov. 30, 2022 (photo by Manuel Romano/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Betty Zou

Topic

Breaking Research

EPIC

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

ihpme

St. Michael's Hospital

Sunnybrook

Subheadline

The study is one of several projects supported by the mpox rapid research response launched by U of T's Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC) and its hospital partners

DNA from the mpox virus can be found in different parts of the body for up to four weeks after symptom onset, according to a study led by researchers at Unity Health Toronto, the Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto.

The researchers analyzed samples from 64 men who contracted mpox, including participants from the Mpox Prospective Observational Cohort Study led by Darrell Tan, an infectious disease physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, part of Unity Health Toronto – where some of Toronto’s first patients with mpox were identified and cared for – and associate professor in the department of medicine and the Institute of Medical Science at U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine and in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

They found that persistence of mpox virus DNA varied depending on where the samples were taken from. Among the key findings was that the DNA was detectable in nearly half of genital skin swabs and one in five skin swabs from other sites a week after symptoms had resolved.

The study, which was published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, is one of several projects supported by the mpox rapid research response launched by the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC), an institutional strategic initiative, and its hospital partners during the global outbreak of mpox – previously known as monkeypox – in 2022.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 94,000 confirmed cases of mpox, including 179 deaths, have been reported from 117 countries since January 2022. As of September 2023, 1,515 cases have been confirmed in Canada, mostly in Ontario and Quebec.

“Even though we’ve known about mpox for over 70 years, it was new to us because we hadn’t seen it outside the endemic regions,” said Robert Kozak, one of the study’s authors and a clinical microbiologist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and assistant professor in the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at Temerty Medicine. “There was still a lot about the virus and disease that we didn’t know,”

To answer key questions about viral shedding, Kozak teamed up with Tan and Sharmistha Mishra, an infectious disease physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and associate professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine’s department of medicine and Institute of Medical Science and IHPME.

(L-R) Robert Kozak, Sharmistha Mishra and Darrell Tan (supplied images)

The researchers used a technique called quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to determine the persistence of mpox virus DNA. Samples were taken from six different sites on the body — genital region, nasal cavity, semen, skin, throat and urine — and over an extended period of time.

On average, mpox DNA was detected in skin swabs from the genital and perianal region and from other skin sites at 30 and 22 days after symptom onset, respectively. These findings are consistent with the sexually transmitted nature of mpox during the recent global epidemic, which primarily affected gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men.

The researchers were unable to detect viral DNA in a large proportion of semen samples and nasal cavity swabs taken when individuals first presented with symptoms, whereas in urine and throat swab samples, mpox DNA persisted for roughly two weeks after symptom onset.

Interestingly, the researchers did not observe a difference in the length of viral DNA persistence between people who received the antiviral drug tecovirimat and those who did not. Tan noted that while study participants were not randomly assigned to receive the drug, these results underscore the uncertainty around tecovirimat’s effectiveness in treating mpox infections.

He added the study provides several key learnings for his clinical colleagues. “First, we’ve documented the breadth of clinical samples in which mpox DNA can be identified and therefore can be used to confirm a diagnosis. Our findings also reinforce that it’s worthwhile for clinicians to collect such samples in individuals where an mpox diagnosis is being considered, even after symptoms of feeling unwell are gone," Tan said.

The researchers caution that just because mpox DNA can be detected up to four weeks after symptom onset, it doesn’t mean that individuals are infectious for that long.

“We don’t know for sure whether the presence of detectable viral DNA necessarily means that the virus is transmissible to other people, so more research definitely needs to be done to determine definitively the period of infectiousness,” Tan said.

To that end, Jacklyn Hurst, a postdoctoral fellow in Kozak’s lab, recently started work in the Toronto High Containment Facility to look for live virus in the same samples from which mpox DNA was detected. The researchers are also using the facility’s biobank of mpox patient samples to identify biomarkers that could predict whether a person will have a mild or severe infection.

“Without the Toronto High Containment Facility, we wouldn’t be able to do any of this. Having that facility will help us answer a lot of questions about this virus and how to stop it,” said Kozak.

He acknowledged the immense contributions of the patient community to this work. “A huge thank you to all the study participants. We wouldn’t be able to do this work without their sacrifice and commitment.”

Fewer regenerative blood vessel cells may explain higher cardiovascular risks among South Asians: Study

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 21:50:18 +0000

Fewer regenerative blood vessel cells may explain higher cardiovascular risks among South Asians: Study

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 02/20/2024 - 16:50

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(photo by Fly View Productions/Getty Images)

Marlene Leung

Topic

Breaking Research

Subheadline

Researchers say the findings could lead to tailored strategies and interventions to combat heart disease among the largest diasporic group in the world

A new study led by researchers at Unity Health Toronto and the University of Toronto has found that South Asians with either heart disease or diabetes had fewer vascular regenerative and reparative cells compared to white, European patients.

The findings present a clue as to why South Asians have a greater risk for cardiometabolic diseases, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The new study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, suggests that South Asian patients have deficient vessel repair capabilities, which may be contributing to their excess cardiovascular risk, said study co-lead, Subodh Verma, a cardiovascular surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital and professor of surgery at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“These data provide a novel and previously unrecognized link to explain why South Asians develop early and aggressive heart disease.”

Research shows that South Asians have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and heart disease. People of South Asian ethnicity make up about 25 per cent of the global population, but disproportionately account for more than 50 per cent of cardiovascular deaths worldwide.

A recent Canadian study of more than 70,000 heart disease patients found that South Asian patients were younger and had higher rates of coronary artery disease compared to East Asian and white patients. Other studies have found that when compared with white individuals, South Asians are more susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes, a primary driver of heart disease.

Professors Subodh Verma and David Hess (supplied images)

In the current study, 60 South Asian and 60 white European adults with either heart disease or diabetes and at least one other cardiovascular risk factor were enrolled January 2022 and January 2023.

Both groups provided blood samples, which were analyzed using a new test developed by the research team. The test calculated the frequency of certain key vascular regenerative and reparative progenitor cells in the blood samples. Vascular regenerative and reparative cells are found in all humans, and their function is to promote the growth of new blood vessels and repair damaged blood vessels. These cells are critical to maintaining good blood vessel health.

The researchers found that despite having the same cardiovascular risk profile, South Asian participants had fewer circulating regenerative and reparative cells in their blood compared to the white European participants. The study also found that the South Asian group was younger and weighed less.

It’s been long established that type 2 diabetes results in high levels of glucose in the bloodstream, which is very damaging to blood vessels, said David Hess, study co-author, affiliate scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, adjunct professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Temerty Medicine and professor at Western University. Diabetes coupled with a weakened ability to repair blood vessels appears to create excess risk for South Asians, he said.

“Our research indicates that the South Asian participants who already have increased damage to their blood vessels due to their diabetes also have a decreased ability to repair damaged blood vessels,” Hess said. “It’s like a perfect storm.”

The researchers say the study findings are an important first step towards developing interventions and tailored strategies to combat heart disease among South Asians, who are the largest diasporic group in the world.

“We hope this research can serve as a guide for clinicians to treat South Asian patients on a personalized level,” Hess said. “This could mean earlier intervention with specific medications that could potentially reverse this impairment of vessel repair and regeneration.”

Verma adds, “This is precision medicine. It’s getting a glimpse into a patient’s ability to heal their own blood vessels. It’s getting a glimpse of their future health.”

Academic hospital network joins centre for research on microfluidic devices for human health

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:05:46 +0000

Academic hospital network joins centre for research on microfluidic devices for human health

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 02/14/2024 - 12:05

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Researchers work in the Device Foundry, one of three facilities that are part of the Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (photo by Dahlia Katz)

Tyler Irving

Topic