Nanotechnology / en ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researcher explores use of DNA nanotechnology to regenerate teeth /news/u-t-researcher-explores-use-dna-nanotechnology-regenerate-teeth <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researcher explores use of DNA nanotechnology to regenerate teeth</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-03/Research-Day_2024-02-13_019-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=Y25nufpk 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2024-03/Research-Day_2024-02-13_019-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=ncbeDYCP 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2024-03/Research-Day_2024-02-13_019-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=BdxeLLH9 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2024-03/Research-Day_2024-02-13_019-crop.jpg?h=81d682ee&amp;itok=Y25nufpk" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2024-03-25T09:19:34-04:00" title="Monday, March 25, 2024 - 09:19" class="datetime">Mon, 03/25/2024 - 09:19</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p><em>Mercedes Ing, who is in her first year of ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s&nbsp;pediatric graduate dentistry program,&nbsp;talks about her research into using DNA nanotechnology to regenerate teeth during a recent Three Minute Thesis competition (photo by Jeff Comber)</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rachel-boutet" hreflang="en">Rachel Boutet</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-dentistry" hreflang="en">Faculty of Dentistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">"Most treatments currently in dentistry involve filling the tooth with materials that donā€™t make the tooth stronger ā€“&nbsp;in fact, they actually weaken themā€</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers in the University of Torontoā€™s Faculty of Dentistry are exploring the use of DNA nanotechnology to regenerate biologic materials ā€“&nbsp;including teeth.</p> <p><strong>Mercedes Ing,&nbsp;</strong>who is currently in her first year of the facultyā€™s pediatric graduate dentistry program,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>is taking research related to bone regeneration thatā€™s being conducted by a PhD student in the faculty and applying it in a way that could one day reduce the need for cavity fillings.</p> <p>She says the bone regeneration research has already shown promise in pre-clinical studies.&nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œTwo different solutions of DNA are mixed together to make a gel where the DNA forms a structure that acts like scaffolding, attracting minerals to help regenerate the bone,ā€ says Ing, who is working in the lab of Assistant Professor <strong>Karina Carneiro</strong>.</p> <p>She adds that injecting&nbsp;DNA gel has aided with bone healing and that by applying the bone results to teeth, ā€œwe want to see how the gel performs in the environment of human saliva and human cells, and how it can help remineralize dentin in teeth.ā€</p> <p>Ing says the developing field of nanotechnology has a lot of potential, which she can already see with this research ā€“&nbsp;even in its preliminary stages.</p> <p>ā€œThe cool thing about this is most treatments currently in dentistry involve filling the tooth with materials that donā€™t make the tooth stronger ā€“&nbsp;in fact, they actually weaken them,ā€ says Ing, who chose her area of research, in part, because of Carneiro, who taught her biomaterials during her dentistry degree. ā€œThis could be extremely promising if weā€™re able to use the DNA gel to rebuild the dentin of the tooth.ā€</p> <p>Using DNA as a tool for regeneration could also yield other benefits for patients, including preventing root canals and additional invasive dental visits, she says.</p> <p>ā€œNowadays, in pediatric dentistry especially, we are trying to move towards minimally invasive dentistry and fewer visits,ā€ says Ing. ā€œThe ultimate goal is to be able to apply this gel to help promote more healing.ā€</p> <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media align-center"> <div> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/scale_image_750_width_/public/2024-03/Research-Day_2024-02-13_050-crop.jpg?itok=79VN17TP" width="750" height="497" alt="&quot;&quot;" class="image-style-scale-image-750-width-"> </div> </div> <figcaption><em>Morris Manolson, the Faculty of Dentistryā€™s vice-dean, research,&nbsp;and Mercedes Ing at the faculty's 2024 Three Minute Thesis award presentation (Jeff Comber)</em></figcaption> </figure> <p>Ing presented her research at the Faculty of Dentistryā€™s Three-Minute-Thesis competition earlier this year and was chosen as the winner, moving on to the larger, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ-wide competition.</p> <p>ā€œI was happy to win for my supervisors ā€“ they were really encouraging and supportive,ā€ says Ing, referring to Carneiro and&nbsp;<strong>Anuradha Prakki</strong>, associate dean, undergraduate education. ā€œIā€™m excited to represent the faculty in the next round and also to see the breadth of research from around the entire university.ā€</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:19:34 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 307018 at Nanoparticles show promise in defeating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researchers find /news/nanoparticles-show-promise-defeating-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-u-t-researchers-find <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Nanoparticles show promise in defeating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researchers find</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT22696_Ruby_Sullen-23.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=acv1kD0K 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/UofT22696_Ruby_Sullen-23.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=eikrTw3A 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/UofT22696_Ruby_Sullen-23.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=PLshCXhg 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/UofT22696_Ruby_Sullen-23.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=acv1kD0K" alt="Ruby sullen"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-08-24T12:03:10-04:00" title="Monday, August 24, 2020 - 12:03" class="datetime">Mon, 08/24/2020 - 12:03</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Ruby Sullan, an assistant professor at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ Scarborough, says her team has designed an approach that can curb the onset of drug resistance in bacteria (photo by Ken Jones)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/spotlight" hreflang="en">In The Spotlight</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A new therapy developed by researchers at the University of Toronto may bring us one step closer to effectively killing deadly drug-resistant superbugs.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œThe threat posed by pathogens that are increasingly becoming resistant to all known antibiotics is an alarming and pressing health care problem,ā€ says&nbsp;<strong>Ruby Sullan</strong>, assistant professor in the department of physical and environmental sciences at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ Scarborough.</p> <p>ā€œItā€™s resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths&nbsp;and billions of dollars in health-care costs annually, so thereā€™s an urgent need to seek alternatives to antibiotic-only therapies.ā€</p> <p>The therapy developed by Sullan and post-doctoral researcher&nbsp;<strong>Nesha Andoy</strong>&nbsp;uses nanoparticles made from polydopamine, a naturally occurring hormone and neurotransmitter that makes it highly compatible with the human body.</p> <p>The therapy can kill bacteria in two ways. The surfaces of the nanoparticles are coated with an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) that targets and kills bacteria by binding to its membranes and destabilizing them. Since the dopamine-based particles are also highly photosensitive, they are able to heat up when exposed to low-powered laser light, killing the bacteria through heat. &nbsp;</p> <p>The research is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.202004503">published in the journal&nbsp;<em>Advanced Functional Materials</em></a>.</p> <p>Sullan says a major benefit of using these nanoparticles is that it allows the bacteria to be killed at a lower temperature using lasers, leaving the surrounding healthy cells unharmed.</p> <p>ā€œSince the mechanisms that this therapy use&nbsp;are different from most antibiotics, we envision that they can be designed and developed to target other drug-resistant bacteria,ā€ she says.</p> <p>Antimicrobial resistance happens when bacteria or fungi evolve to become immune to antibiotic drugs. While Sullan and her team tested this therapy on&nbsp;<em>E.coli</em>&nbsp;as part of their research ā€“ some strains can cause serious health problems in humans ā€“ it may eventually be used to kill a range of drug-resistant pathogens, including the bacteria that result in hospital staph infections.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Sullan says the team drew inspiration from cancer therapies.</p> <p>ā€œPolydopamine is a well-studied nanomaterial for anti-tumor applications, but our twist is that we used it to target infection caused by bacteria,ā€ she says.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sullan notes that the therapy doesnā€™t eliminate bacterial resistance, which is likely impossible. Bacteria were among the first life forms on earth, can be found living in the most extreme environments&nbsp;and will likely survive long after weā€™re gone.</p> <p>ā€œThe technology weā€™ve developed is designed to curb the onset in which bacteria resistance develops,ā€ says Sullan, whose research explores bacterial adhesion.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œIf we can confuse the bacteria by killing it several different ways, it will have difficulty evolving quickly enough to develop resistance to these different types of mechanisms that can kill it.ā€</p> <p>Sullanā€™s lab is looking at ways to decrease the size of the nanoparticle to make it more suitable for use in living organisms&nbsp;and exploring ways to improve its efficiency. Since the system the team has developed is highly modular, she says it can be modified to change its killing mechanisms, including changing the coating to different antimicrobial agents or loading it with antibiotic drugs.</p> <p>ā€œThat could make a third bacteria-killing mechanism, so it would really enhance it as a multi-functional therapy for drug-resistant pathogens.ā€</p> <p>The research received funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation&nbsp;and Science, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ Connaught Fund&nbsp;and the ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ Scarborough Research Competitiveness Fund.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 24 Aug 2020 16:03:10 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 165527 at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ cancer imaging startup raises funding for clinical trials /news/u-t-cancer-imaging-startup-raises-funding-clinical-trials <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ cancer imaging startup raises funding for clinical trials</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/17-05-08-Pendant-Allen-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=anBO5pFa 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/17-05-08-Pendant-Allen-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bLVl9s9Z 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/17-05-08-Pendant-Allen-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=8u7VqYct 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/17-05-08-Pendant-Allen-%28weblead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=anBO5pFa" alt="Photo of Christine Allen"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-02-13T13:56:09-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 13, 2018 - 13:56" class="datetime">Tue, 02/13/2018 - 13:56</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Christine Allen, a professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, co-founded Nanovista with David Jaffray and Jinzi Zheng. The company is developing an imaging agent to assist surgeons removing cancerous tumours (photo by Chris Sorensen)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sorensen" hreflang="en">Chris Sorensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cancer" hreflang="en">Cancer</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innovation-entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Innovation &amp; Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/leslie-dan-faculty-pharmacy" hreflang="en">Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startups" hreflang="en">Startups</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A University of Toronto startup that uses nanotechnology to help surgeons&nbsp;identify and remove cancerous tumours has closed a $2.3 million round of financing ā€“ money that will be used to pay for a Phase 1 clinical trial.<br> &nbsp;<br> The seed funding for Nanovista, which has developed a nanoparticle imaging agent, is being led by Toronto's GreenSky Capital, which invested $750,000 through two of its affiliated venture funds.<br> &nbsp;<br> ā€œItā€™s a homegrown, early-stage success story,ā€ says <strong>Christine Allen</strong>, one of the startupā€™s three co-founders and a professor in ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.&nbsp;ā€œBut weā€™ve still got a lot of work ahead of us.ā€</p> <p>That includes wrapping up preclinical work by this summer and then, with the necessary approvals, proceeding to a Phase 1 clinical trial to test the technologyā€™s effectiveness in head and neck, and lung cancer patients.<br> &nbsp;<br> Nanovista uses a lipid-based nanotechnology to encapsulate two different imaging agents ā€“ one that can be used during computed tomography (CT) scans for pre-operative planning, and another that can be used during surgery.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> ā€œIt helps identify the margins of the tumour so the surgeon will remove just the malignant tissue, but all of the malignant tissue,ā€ says Allen.<br> &nbsp;<br> ā€œIt also highlights the malignant lymph nodes the cancer has spread to.ā€<br> &nbsp;<br> Allen says the technology was developed after discussions with surgeons at Torontoā€™s research hospitals. The advent of screening programs for individuals at risk of certain types of cancer, including lung cancer, has resulted in ever smaller cancerous lesions being identified. That, in turn, presents a challenge to surgeons who are then charged with removing the malignancy.<br> &nbsp;<br> ā€œThe surgeon goes in, but [the tumour] is difficult to see,ā€ Allen says.<br> &nbsp;<br> In addition to Allen, Nanovistaā€™s founders include: Professor <strong>David Jaffray</strong>, a senior scientist at the&nbsp;Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and&nbsp;director of the Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technologies for Health, and <strong>Jinzi Zheng</strong>, who did her PhD at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ in medical biophysics and was an assistant professor at the Institute of Biomaterials &amp; Biomedical Engineering.<br> &nbsp;<br> Nanovista was <a href="/news/jlabs-gives-u-t-startups-place-call-home">a member of the inaugural cohort</a> at JLABS @ Toronto, the first international location of the life sciences incubator created by health giant Johnson &amp; Johnson. (Allen is also<a href="/news/u-t-researcher-and-jlabs-draw-us-drug-delivery-startup-toronto"> involved with a drug delivery startup in JLABS called Pendant Biosciences</a>.)&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Allen said the support from JLABS @ Toronto, created in partnership with ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ, has been invaluable to Nanovista as it seeks to build its business. The same is true of the support provided by GreenSky and the local research hospitals, she said.<br> &nbsp;<br> ā€œI donā€™t think youā€™re going to find a better place to do this in Canada.ā€</p> <h3><a href="http://entrepreneurs.utoronto.ca/">Learn more about ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ Entrepreneurship</a></h3> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 13 Feb 2018 18:56:09 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 129377 at Renewable energy research, clean-tech startups from ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ take centre stage /news/renewable-energy-research-clean-tech-startups-u-t-take-centre-stage <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Renewable energy research, clean-tech startups from ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ take centre stage</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-04-17-summit-nanoleaf-display.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ax0rdxkl 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-04-17-summit-nanoleaf-display.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=WvNX4dNy 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-04-17-summit-nanoleaf-display.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Pz8vBycT 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-04-17-summit-nanoleaf-display.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ax0rdxkl" alt="photo of conference attendees checking out Nanoleaf display"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lanthierj</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-04-17T09:16:38-04:00" title="Monday, April 17, 2017 - 09:16" class="datetime">Mon, 04/17/2017 - 09:16</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Nanoleaf was just one of the ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ startups at the Toronto Sustainability Summit (all photos by Johnny Guatto)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/chris-sorensen" hreflang="en">Chris Sorensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Christopher Sorensen</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innovation" hreflang="en">Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startups" hreflang="en">Startups</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanoleaf" hreflang="en">Nanoleaf</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/phantin" hreflang="en">Phantin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/vive-crop-protection" hreflang="en">Vive Crop Protection</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/lighting" hreflang="en">Lighting</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Toronto Sustainability Summit </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>If Silicon Valley is where big minds fixate on small problems ā€“ a better way to hail a taxi or swap photos on your smartphone ā€“ then the University of Toronto may soon be known as the place where the worldā€™s biggest, most intractable issues are solved.&nbsp;</p> <p>That was the underlying message at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s recent Toronto Sustainability Summit, held at the MaRS Centre in downtown Toronto.&nbsp;</p> <p>The sold-out event brought together leading ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researchers, key government officials and senior industry executives to discuss ways to work together to tackle planet-threatening climate change. Reza Moridi, Ontarioā€™s minister of research, innovation and science, took the opportunity to announce a new, $7 million competition designed to develop breakthrough technologies to help the provinceā€™s industrial plants reduce greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp;</p> <h3><u><a href="/news/u-t-brings-city-together-toronto-sustainability-summit">Read more about the summit</a></u></h3> <p>ā€œUniversities have a crucial role to play,ā€ said <strong>Meric Gertler</strong>, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s president, offering a long list of research areas, from biofuels research to environmental law, where ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ excels. ā€œIn fact, among universities worldwide, I was delighted to recently discover that ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ is the seventh leading producer of research and scholarship in environmental research and environmental sciences ā€“&nbsp;and weā€™re third in North America behind Berkeley and Harvard.ā€</p> <p>Over the past three years alone, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ attracted more than $300 million in funding for clean technology and renewable energy research. The university boasts more than 550 faculty working in the space, including 11 Canada Research Chairs.&nbsp;</p> <p>The breadth of ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s sustainability research, focusing on subjects both large and small, was on full display at the summit.&nbsp;</p> <p><u>Professor&nbsp;<a href="/news/five-visions-future-energy-science-literacy-week-panel"><strong>David Zingg</strong>, the director of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies</a>,</u> talked about trying to overcome the challenges of reducing airplane emissions ā€“ namely the sky-high price of developing new aircraft types ā€“ by applying high-fidelity aerodynamic shape optimization to aircraft designs.</p> <p>At the other end of the spectrum, <u><a href="/news/10000-greenhouses-professor-david-sinton-awarded-ewr-steacie-memorial-fellowship"><strong>David Sinton</strong>, a professor in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></u>, explained how the study of small-scale fluid dynamics is yielding big insights by turning harmful carbon dioxide into useful products like fuels.&nbsp;</p> <p>³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ is not just creating climate change and sustainability knowledge. Itā€™s implementing it, too. Many of ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s researchers are working in partnership with industry or launching their own companies. Some 14 startups in clean tech and renewable energy were launched&nbsp;over the past three years.</p> <p><strong>Cynthia Goh</strong> is&nbsp;the founding director of <u><a href="http://www.impactcentre.ca/">³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s Impact Centre development hub</a>, </u>the academic director of<u><a href="http://entrepreneurs.utoronto.ca/"> University of Toronto Entrepreneurship</a></u> and&nbsp;a professor of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. She cited one young one company with a potentially bright future that she co-founded with <strong>Cheng Lu</strong>. Itā€™s called Phantin and it makes nano-coating that repels dust from solar panels, boosting their energy production.&nbsp;</p> <h3><u><a href="/news/here-comes-sun-phantin">Read &nbsp;more about Phantin</a></u></h3> <p>The hurdles new clean-tech companies face are particularly daunting. Alumnus<u> <a href="/news/meet-darren-anderson-vive-crop-protection"><strong>Darren Anderson</strong> is the founding president of Vive Crop Protection</a></u>, which uses nanotechnology to improve the delivery of fertilizer and pesticides to farmersā€™ crops. Anderson told the panel it takes far longer to build a clean-tech company than one based on a smartphone app.&nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œWe launched our first product literally a month before our tenth anniversary,ā€ said Anderson, who started Vive in 2006 from ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s chemistry department.&nbsp;</p> <p>Clean-tech also tends to be expensive, which can turn&nbsp;off venture capital, or VC, investors. &nbsp;</p> <p>ā€œAnytime I say weā€™re a clean-tech company thatā€™s focused on sustainability, the VC just cringes,ā€ said <strong>Gimmy Chu</strong>, the CEO of <u><a href="https://nanoleaf.me/en/">green lighting company Nanoleaf </a></u>and another ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ alum. ā€œSo the question is: how do you [build] the business model?ā€&nbsp;</p> <p>Nanoleafā€™s solution: make a LED light bulb thatā€™s both eye-catching and two times more efficient than those already on the market ā€“ and then follow it up with modular lighting panels that look more like art installations than light fixtures.&nbsp;</p> <h3><u><a href="/news/federal-government-backs-three-u-t-startups-and-their-clean-tech-innovations">Read more about Nanoleaf</a></u></h3> <p>Fortunately, thereā€™s an expanding universe of accelerators and incubators on the ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ campus to help guide todayā€™s budding entrepreneurs. One of those programs is the Rotman School of Managementā€™s Creative Destruction Lab. The nine-month program pairs startups with experienced technology entrepreneurs and investors to help them scale up their businesses.&nbsp;</p> <p><u><a href="http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/FacultyAndResearch/Faculty/FacultyBios/Blundell"><strong>Richard Blundell</strong>, an adjunct professor at Rotman</a>,</u>&nbsp;said the biggest challenge facing startups in the clean-tech space is seldom technology-related. Rather, itā€™s finding an innovative way to succeed in a crowded marketplace.</p> <p>ā€œIf the business doesnā€™t make money,ā€ said Blundell, ā€œthen it will fail.ā€</p> <p><img alt="photo of panel at summit" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4265 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/2017-04-17-summit-panel-nanoleaf.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p><em>(<strong>Gimmy Chu</strong> shows one of the Nanoleaf light bulbs to, from left: <strong>Tom Rand</strong>, <strong>Richard Blundell</strong>, <strong>Cynthia Goh</strong> and <strong>Darren Anderson</strong>)&nbsp;</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:16:38 +0000 lanthierj 106826 at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ startup QD Solar secures international financing /news/u-t-startup-qd-solar-secures-international-financing <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ startup QD Solar secures international financing</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fe1Uh_3a 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=R3atVtFQ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=o2BHOKbY 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-02-14-sargent-sized.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=fe1Uh_3a" alt="photo of Ted Sargent in lab"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lanthierj</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-02-14T08:17:43-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 14, 2017 - 08:17" class="datetime">Tue, 02/14/2017 - 08:17</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Ted Sargent (photo by Roberta Baker, courtesy Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-and-innovation" hreflang="en">Research and Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/entrepreneurship" hreflang="en">Entrepreneurship</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/startup" hreflang="en">Startup</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/solar" hreflang="en">Solar</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ted-sargent" hreflang="en">Ted Sargent</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sargent-group" hreflang="en">Sargent Group</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/solar-cells" hreflang="en">Solar Cells</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/quantum-dots" hreflang="en">Quantum Dots</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>QD Solar, a Canadian startup co-founded by ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researchers <strong>Ted Sargent</strong> and <strong>Sjoerd Hoogland</strong>, has received a big boost in funding and an important international nod to help bring its solar technology to market.</p> <p>On Monday, the company announced it had closed its first significant round of venture capital financing led by DSM Venturing, based in the Netherlands, with participation from existing investors, KAUST Innovation Fund and MaRS Innovation.</p> <p>Coupled with the $2.55 million the company received from Sustainable Development Technology Canada last March, QD Solar ā€œhas the resources to advance, develop, test and de-risk our solar technology, while concurrently developing the manufacturing processes needed to bring this technology to market,ā€ said Dan Shea, CEO of QD Solar and a former senior executive with Celestica and BlackBerry, in <a href="http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/-2195507.htm">a news release</a>.</p> <p>QD Solarā€™s quantum dot-based solar cells use nano-engineered, low-cost materials that can absorb otherwise wasted infrared light. Solar panels with this technology can boost their overall power generation by 20 per cent, the company says.</p> <p>In the future, QD Solar says, it intends to develop quantum dot-based solar material that can be applied to any flexible surface to generate energy.</p> <p>The technology was developed in labs at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ by Sargent, a <a href="http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards/uprofessors.htm">University Professor</a> in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ and Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology, and Hoogland, director of research, technology and innovation at the Sargent Group.</p> <p>ā€œWeā€™re delighted to see QD Solar and this novel technology created at the University of Toronto receive this substantial investment from Canadian and international sources to advance their bold vision for a new clean energy product,ā€ said <strong>Derek Newton</strong>, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s assistant viceā€“president of innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship.</p> <p>The startup was supported by MaRS Innovation and ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻā€™s Innovations &amp; Partnership Office, which provided seed funding, patent protection and helped the company meet international industry partners and investors.</p> <p>Since 2011, ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ researchers have created more than 830 inventions, founded more than 90 research-based startups and generated $49 million from licensing revenues.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 14 Feb 2017 13:17:43 +0000 lanthierj 104960 at DNA-built nanoparticles safely target cancer tumours /news/dna-built-nanoparticles-safely-target-cancer-tumours <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">DNA-built nanoparticles safely target cancer tumours</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>sgupta</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2014-01-27T09:19:56-05:00" title="Monday, January 27, 2014 - 09:19" class="datetime">Mon, 01/27/2014 - 09:19</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Professor Warren Chan (Photo by Martin Lipman/Lipman Still Pictures courtesy of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/erin-vollick" hreflang="en">Erin Vollick</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Erin Vollick</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nanotechnology" hreflang="en">Nanotechnology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/medicine" hreflang="en">Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ibbme" hreflang="en">IBBME</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/health" hreflang="en">Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/engineering" hreflang="en">Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cancer" hreflang="en">Cancer</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/top-stories" hreflang="en">Top Stories</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A team of researchers at the University of Toronto has discovered a method of assembling ā€œbuilding blocksā€ of gold nanoparticles as the vehicle to deliver cancer medications or cancer-identifying markers directly into cancerous tumors.</p> <p>The study, led by Professor <strong>Warren Chan</strong>, of ³Ō¹Ļ±¬ĮĻ's Institute of Biomaterials &amp; Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and the Donnelly Centre for Cellular &amp; Biomolecular Research, appears in an article in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nnano/index.html"><em>Nature Nanotechnology</em> </a>this week.</p> <p>ā€œTo get materials into a tumor they need to be a certain size,ā€ explained Chan. ā€œTumors are characterized by leaky vessels with holes roughly 50 ā€“ 500 nanometers in size, depending on the tumor type and stage. The goal is to deliver particles small enough to get through the holes and ā€˜hang outā€™ in the tumorā€™s space for the particles to treat or image the cancer.</p> <p>"If particle is too large, it canā€™t get in, but if the particle is too small, it leaves the tumor very quickly.ā€&nbsp;</p> <p>Chan and his researchers solved this problem by creating modular structures ā€˜gluedā€™ together with DNA.</p> <p><img alt src="/sites/default/files/2014-01-27-chou-nanoparticles.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 343px; margin: 10px; float: right;">ā€œWeā€™re using a ā€˜molecular assemblyā€™ model - taking pieces of materials that we can now fabricate accurately and organizing them into precise architectures, like putting LEGO blocks together,ā€ said&nbsp;<strong>Leo Chou</strong>, a fifth-year PhD student at IBBME and first author of the paper. Chou (pictured right) was awarded a 2012-13 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Ontario Region Fellowship for his work with nanotechnology.</p> <p>ā€œThe major advantage of this design strategy is that it is highly modular, which allows you to ā€˜swapā€™ components in and out," Chou said. "This makes it very easy to create systems with multiple functions, or screen a large library of nanostructures for desirable biological behaviors."</p> <p>The long-term risk of toxicity from particles that remain in the body, however, has been a serious challenge to nanomedical research.</p> <p>"Imagine youā€™re a cancer patient in your 30s,ā€ said Chan. ā€œAnd youā€™ve had multiple injections of these metal particles. By the time youā€™re in your mid-40s these are likely to be retained in your system and could potentially cause other problems.ā€&nbsp;</p> <p>DNA, though, is flexible, and over time, the bodyā€™s natural enzymes cause the DNA to degrade, and the assemblage breaks apart. The body then eliminates the smaller particles safely and easily.&nbsp;But while the researchers are excited about this breakthrough, Chan cautioned that a great deal more needs to be known.</p> <p>"We need to understand how DNA design influences the stability of things, and how a lack of stability might be helpful or not,ā€ he said.&nbsp;ā€œThe use of assembly to build complex and smart nanotechnology for cancer applications is still in the very primitive stage of development.</p> <p>"Still, it is very exciting to be able to see and test the different nano-configurations for cancer applications."</p> <p>The project was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and Canada Foundation for Innovation.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Erin Vollick is a writer with IBBME at the University of Toronto.</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-picpath field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">picpath</div> <div class="field__item">sites/default/files/2014-01-27-warren-chan-nanoparticles.jpg</div> </div> Mon, 27 Jan 2014 14:19:56 +0000 sgupta 5833 at