Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (the deadliest form of brain cancer) is associated with poor survival rates (approximately 12-15 months from the time of diagnosis). This is due to the fact that most cases of GBM are resistant to current standards of care. As a result, novel effective treatment options are highly desirable. It has recently been […]

Diphtheria is still a disease causing significant morbidity and mortality in people worldwide that did not received vaccination or suffer from incomplete immunization. The disease is due to a powerful toxin produced by the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheria. A good vaccine already exists but its production is rather complex and involves several steps: cultivation of […]

Many human genetic diseases are associated with defects in post-transcriptional gene regulation and alternative splicing. Despite rapid technological advancements, successful diagnostic rates for rare genetic disorders are still low and clinical interventions and treatments unavailable for most patients. This project aims to address this challenge by developing novel antisense RNA therapies based on the splice-switching […]

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, mainly induced by increased pressure in the eye. Marijuana has been shown to reduce such pressure, thus benefit glaucoma patients. In this project, we test several components from marijuana extracts that are unlikely to cause psychoactive symptoms, for their therapeutic effects on glaucoma. This […]

In this Mitacs project, we examine how nascent technology advocators can successfully implement the technology in highly institutionalized settings. Using the implementation of Blockchain in healthcare data sharing as an example, we compare and contrast the implementation strategies of 6-8 start-ups or divisions of established companies, and examine how the different types of implementation strategies […]

Better understanding Drug-Drug interactions (DDIs) is crucial for planning therapies and drugs co-administration. While, considerable efforts are spent in labor-intensive in vivo experiments and time-consuming clinical trials, understanding the pharmacological implications and adverse side-effects for some drug combinations is challenging. The majority of interactions remains undetected until therapies are prescribed to patients. We propose to […]

Les PROTACs sont de nouvelles molécules thérapeutiques ayant pour but de soigner certaines maladies grave comme les cancers. Ces composés sont des molécules linéaires constitués de trois composants principaux : une extrémité permettant de repérer la cible, une autre extrémité permettant de causer la dégradation de cette cible, et enfin un linker reliant les deux. […]

There are many exciting therapeutic applications for proteins. Many diseases are caused by faulty enzymes, which can sometimes be replaced. Antibodies and antibody-like molecules are being developed to specifically target cancers and other diseases. However, in order to administer these products, they must be made in a way that has minimal effect on the patient’s […]

Many new pharmaceuticals are based on large biomolecules like proteins. Even small differences in the protein structure can cause significant changes in the efficacy and safety of these drugs. Furthermore, these large molecules are difficult to characterize without advanced instrumentation and methods. Current technologies still struggle with robustness and reproducibility. This study aims to introduce […]

Solids exist as crystals, amorphous or subcooled liquids. The degree of crystallinity determines the long range order in a solid phase. Molecules when transferred from the solution to the solid phase may take many different crystal forms (polymorphs, solvates/hydrates, salts, co-crystals). Theoretically, there are 230 space groups describing the diversity of a crystalline material. About […]

The University of Toronto’s Translational Research Program (TRP) is a graduate program that developed the Co-Translational Framework (CTF) to systematically mobilize research towards innovations to improve health outcomes. The Translational Research for Innovation initiative is the research mechanism to help validate the CTF to facilitate meaningful collaboration between industry and academia. Using the CTF, the […]

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) is a lung disease that cause a lot of suffering to the Canadian population. To accelerate the drug discovery process, an old blood pressure lowering medication was tested to block the progression of COPD. A patient study showed that the old medication did provide some protective effect to the lung […]