People of Medicine by Design logoMeet the world-class researchers who are building the future of regenerative medicine. These are the people of Medicine by Design.

Blair Gage

“In the future, we may be able to replace damaged complex organs. What was once constrained to the imagination and movies is becoming possible. Regenerative medicine is not shrinking, instead it is exploding.”

Blair Gage

Scientist

The Ottawa Hospital

Amy Wong

“This is a very exciting time for regenerative medicine. We can make all sorts of cell types from stem cells and potentially use these cells for cell replacement therapy or use them to understand diseases or find new therapies.”

Amy Wong

Scientist

Hospital for Sick Children

Jacqueline Getfield

“That’s what I’ve been doing over the past 25 years as a communications professional and educator — helping people to talk with each other and understand each other. I love transferring knowledge and talking about social inequities and discussing geopolitical and socio-historical issues.”

Jacqueline Getfield

Project Manager

Caribbean African Regenerative Medicine (CARM)

Michael Garton

“It’s an incredibly exciting time in regenerative medicine. It’s a quickly maturing field, where clinical applications are in sight. There are a few hurdles in the way to achieving what we want, but I believe great things that will have a positive impact on society are absolutely possible.”

Michael Garton

Assistant Professor

Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto

Sushant Singh

“The technology we are working on is exciting, as is biotech in general. There is great potential to have an impact in improving people’s mental and physical state of health, which motivates me daily.”

Sushant Singh

PhD Candidate

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering,
University of Toronto

Nabanita Nawar

“In our work in the Gunning lab and with HDAX Therapeutics, the spinoff company I co-founded, we’re trying to understand the biology behind diseases and target the abnormal behaviour that actually happens inside the cells.”

Nabanita Nawar

Co-Founder

HDAX Therapeutics

Adriana Migliorini

“I truly believe we’re on the brink of understanding our science in a way that will enable us to really move forward and help people living with type 1 diabetes.”

Adriana Migliorini

Post-Doctoral Fellow

McEwen Stem Cell Institute,
University Health Network

Jesse Gillis
“By building up these cell atlases across healthy brains to serve as a reference, we’re now at a point where we can apply this knowledge to try to understand brain disorders.”

Jesse Gillis

Associate Professor

Department of Physiology,
University of Toronto

Matthew Buechler

“I think we’re at an important inflection point in fibroblast research. Now, with the work of many people, there is a possibility that we will be able to develop therapeutics to fight cancers and fibrosis.”

Matthew Buechler

Assistant Professor

Department of Immunology, University of Toronto

Katie Lye

“I hope that my work will one day be used across a wide range of applications. I hope to inspire researchers to think outside the box. With all the complexities and unknowns of degenerative diseases, it’s important for us to explore new ideas.”

Katie Lye

PhD candidate

Sinai Health
Co-Chair, Healthy & Inclusive Lab Committee

Mayam Faiz

“The infiltration of new technologies into mainstream scientific research is incredible. I mean, synthetic biology, AI, machine learning, resolution at the single cell level. I love interdisciplinary science and I love technology.”

Maryam Faiz

Assistant Professor

Department of Surgery,
University of Toronto

Sidhartha Goyal

“My research is at the intersection of biology and physics. It’s really the fundamental questions that drive me. I hope that one day my work on these questions might lead others to develop new therapies.”

Sidhartha Goyal

Assistant Professor, Department of Physics,
University of Toronto

John Calarco

“It’s been amazing to witness the marriage of biological engineering and cell and molecular biology, which will generate regenerative medicine’s next wave of discoveries and therapeutics.”

John Calarco

Assistant Professor

Department of Cell & Systems Biology
University of Toronto

Photo of Ashton Trotman-Grant

“I want to democratize medicine so all these amazing breakthroughs in regenerative medicine, immunotherapy and synthetic biology are accessible to communities that need them.”

Ashton Trotman-Grant

PhD candidate

Department of Immunology,
University of Toronto

Phyllis Billia
“I’m really interested in understanding why and how the heart fails, and how we can help the heart to regenerate itself. As a cardiologist who looks after patients with end-stage heart failure waiting for heart transplants and mechanical hearts, it’s really important to me to think outside the box about these questions.”

Dr. Phyllis Billia

Cardiologist and Director of Research

Peter Munk Cardiac Centre,
University Health Network

Omar F. Khan
“Today, I’m applying that model of combining fundamental science and applied engineering to my work. In my lab, we approach regenerative and preventative medicine from a genetic angle. Our goal is to help people’s own cells repair damage and prevent disease.”

Omar F. Khan

Assistant Professor

Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Immunology,
University of Toronto

Clinton Robbins
“Science is about interpreting hard numbers and data, but I’ve realized that science is also an exercise in creative storytelling. I love the visual arts and literature, and I can see the drama in science.”

Clinton Robbins

Senior Scientist

Toronto General Research Institute,
University Health Network

Sarah Crome

“I hope my impact on science is two-fold. It’s enjoyable to mentor young scientists who are getting started and developing their scientific thinking and their love of discovery. I also hope work that I do one day translates into something that helps patients.”

Sarah Crome

Scientist

Toronto General Hospital Research Institute,
University Health Network

Allysia Chin

“My next career goal is to become a physician-scientist. This role would enable me to practice the two areas I love – applied research and caring for people’s health. My interest is in elucidating mechanisms of cancer growth and invasion using biomaterials.”

Allysia Chin

Lab Technician

Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research
University of Toronto

Yun Li

“I’ve always been fascinated by the brain. It’s such a beautiful object. Along my path of training, I’ve looked at it in different ways. I’m fascinated with questions of basic science, but I’d like my bigger impact to be teaching and educating young scientists.”

Yun Li

Scientist

Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program,
The Hospital for Sick Children

Keith Pardee

“As scientists, we don’t want our research to sit on the shelf in a journal. We want to translate our discoveries and technologies as quickly and efficiently as possible so they can benefit society.”

Keith Pardee

Assistant Professor

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Toronto

Leo Chou
“Whether regenerative medicine is headed towards translation or even more fundamental discovery, I think now is a time of just an explosion of possibilities.”

Leo Chou

Assistant Professor

Institute of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Toronto

melanie Woodin
“I’m proud of making discoveries. But my proudest accomplishment is training the future generation of scientists. I see how creative they are and how much they’ve bridged the gap between different disciplines. I can’t wait to see what they discover.”

Melanie Woodin

Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science, and Professor

Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto

Vera pieters
“Our lab’s work is a good example of why it’s an exciting time to be in regenerative medicine: tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies enable us to model a disease in the lab, which can help us answer big unknowns.”

Vera Pieters

PhD Candidate

Institute of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Toronto

Sara Nunes Vasconcelos
“We simplify the problems so we can start nibbling at them. With each step, you contribute to the body of knowledge that we can all use to improve people’s health. I like helping to make that impact.”

Sara Nunes Vasconcelos

Scientist

Toronto General Hospital Research Institute,
University Health Network

Maria Abou Chakra

“I think working together to tackle problems using different tools and perspectives is the way to new discoveries that will shape the future.”

Maria Abou Chakra

Research Associate

Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research,
University of Toronto

Antigona Ulndreaj

“I wanted to be a researcher since I was 14. As I studied more, I became inspired by the idea of developing treatments for challenging diseases that have limited treatment options…like spinal cord injury and abdominal aortic aneurysm.“

Antigona Ulndreaj

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute,
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network 

Arturo Ortin Martinez

“I didn’t expect to become a regenerative medicine researcher. My background is in nursing and I wanted to stay in the hospital taking care of patients because I wanted to help people. I realized that I would be helping people if I pursued science, and if I did it well, I might help hundreds of thousands of people.”

Arturo Ortín-Martínez‬

Scientific Associate

Krembil Research Institute
University Health Network

Khalid Al-Zahrani

“What’s exciting to me is the development of new bio-informatic tools, and the interface of computational biology with basic science. The sky is the limit to what we can do now.”

Khalid Al-Zahrani

Post-Doctoral Fellow,
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System

Shana Kelley

“We have an aging population. Our biggest problems are degenerative diseases that we need to learn how to stall or turn around. Disease comes in so many forms; it affects all of us. It’s an amazing set of problems to work on because of the potential for impact.”

Shana Kelley

University Professor, Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biomedical Engineering,
University of Toronto 

Stayed tuned for more People of Medicine by Design stories. Please visit often to learn more about the remarkable people in our community.

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