"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."
Cutting-edge neural reprogramming strategy could transform the future of MS treatment
Cristina Nostro, senior scientist at McEwen Stem Cell Institute, UHN, is a pioneer in developing insulin-producing cells as a cell therapy. She collaborates with UHN’s Sara Nunes Vasconcelos, a senior scientist who’s a vasculature, or blood vessel, expert. Together, they are developing a cell therapy for type 1 diabetes. Read more.
A team led by Andras Nagy, senior investigator at Sinai Health System, has been developing a method called cloaking to enable treatments for type 1 diabetes. The cloaking technology turns off certain genetic switches in the cells to avoid detection and rejection by the immune system. Read more.
A team led by Sunnybrook Research Institute’s Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker, is working on immune-engineering techniques to enable a treatment for type 1 diabetes. The team’s strategy is to finely tune the immune system to maintain a healthy system while not rejecting a therapeutic transplant. Read more.
Sarah Crome, a scientist at UHN, is working on an innovation that could have an impact on type 1 diabetes as well as the success of organ transplants. Her team is testing a new immune-cell therapy approach using a subset of immune cells with anti-inflammatory properties. Read more.
Michael Sefton, scientific director of Medicine by Design and University Professor at U of T, is developing a method to transfer insulin-producing cells to a patient under the skin. Read more.
Myoxa Therapeutics and Specifix Dx win the Building a Biotech Venture Pitch Competition
Medicine by Design-funded researchers are leading the way in ground-breaking cardiac research
Teams are working on a range of innovations including discovering new drug compounds, engineering cell therapies, preventing neurodegeneration and revolutionizing eye treatments
New funding to accelerate previous research efforts including large, multi-disciplinary projects funded by Medicine by Design
Phyllis Billia is part of a Medicine by Design team working on a screening tool that can predict the risk of cardiac disease and other inflammatory diseases of aging using only a blood test. Billia is a heart failure specialist, and the director of research at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network (UHN). Read more.
Michael Garton, an assistant professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto (U of T), is focused on designing tissues that are better than nature. To accomplish this goal, Garton is leading a team funded by Medicine by Design’s Grand Questions Program. Read more.
Plaque build-up in the arteries can be dangerous, often leading to a blocked artery and heart or arterial disease. Researcher Clinton Robbins, who leads a Medicine by Design team project, is focusing on how immune cells, primarily two types called monocytes and macrophages, contribute to this problem. Read more.
Stephanie Protze, a scientist at the McEwen Stem Cell Institute at UHN, is focused on developing a biological pacemaker from stem cells, which could one day be transplanted into a patient to be a long-lasting, potentially permanent, therapy for those with too slow heart rhythm. Read more.
