Princess Margaret Hospital

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Coronavirus

Cancer

Institute of Medical Science

Like many other aspects of society, the way doctors care for cancer patients has been transformed in the face of COVID-19.

Fei-Fei Liu is the chair of the department of radiation oncology at the ��Ƶ’s Faculty of Medicine. She is also a professor in the departments of medical biophysics, otolaryngology, the Institute of Medical Science and the department of radiation oncology, and is the chief of the radiation medicine program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

She also served as the chair of the medical advisory committee at the University Health Network from 2018 to 2020.

Liu recently spoke to Faculty of Medicine writer Ciara Parsons about how the pandemic has affected patients with cancer and how the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has responded.

Can you tell me about your role as the chief of radiation medicine at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre?

As the chief, I help to manage and operate one the world’s largest single-site radiation departments. We have a team of about 350 highly dedicated professionals, and the world’s largest collection of cutting-edge equipment for radiation therapy.

At the Princess Margaret, we deliver more than 11,000 courses of radiation to patients each year.

How has cancer care changed in the face of COVID-19?

The way we deliver radiation therapy to patients has changed. Traditionally, radiation therapy is delivered to patients over several weeks. The patient comes in every single working day to receive their treatment.

However, when COVID-19 hit, we started to think about how we could change this process so that patients have less exposure to hospital settings, especially for our older patients.

Emerging research has shown that we can actually treat patients using a much shorter radiation regimen, reducing the total time from the traditional five weeks, down to three weeks, or even one week in some instances.

Our team at the Princess Margaret worked extremely hard on modifying the processes in switching to this shorter delivery method, and have pivoted rapidly because of the pandemic. In mobilizing this approach, we are ensuring that we can still deliver the safest and highest quality radiation care for our cancer patients, but in a much shorter time period.

What are some ways COVID-19 has impacted patients with cancer?

One of the major ways COVID-19 has impacted patients receiving cancer care is the deferral of radiation and other treatments. This was done so that we could limit patients’ visits to the hospital and keep them at home, unless it was absolutely necessary for them to come in.

As part of our role, we look closely at the window of time that we have between patients’ surgery and the time when we must start the radiation treatments and try to optimize that interval. We need to ensure that care is delivered safely. We also need to make sure it’s done within the appropriate time frame and that it will ensure the best clinical outcome for our patients.

This can be challenging sometimes because some patients do not wish to defer their radiation treatments, even if it’s safe to do so. I remember having a challenging conversation with a patient who wanted to have all of her radiation treatments over with and was upset at the idea of having to defer her care despite COVID-19.

However, when patients need treatment urgently, we will treat them immediately.

What has your experience with virtual care been like?

Since we are trying to avoid asking patients to come into the hospital for appointments, we have rapidly switched much of our care to a virtual format, and are now having these appointments either through video or phone calls. Right now, approximately 50 per cent of the activities we perform in our clinics are being done virtually. To deliver virtual care, we have been using the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN).

The OTN has been around for a long time, but with COVID-19 there has been a massive shift in our use of this platform. When we first switched to virtual care, there were a few technical issues to work through, but we have now landed on other solutions that also work well for our group of providers.

Virtual care is a good solution to delivering cancer care under the right circumstances. However, there are some aspects of in-person care that it cannot replace.

For instance, seeing new patients whom I have never met before and explaining radiation treatment to them is different when this meeting is now being conducted over the phone or on video calls. You cannot see the patients’ body language or have as acute a sense of their anxiety or fear.

I think this is difficult because the rapport that we have built with our patients over time has been developed based on face-to-face connections and this type of virtual interaction, particularly with new patients who have never met us, might potentially impact their sense of trust in us as physicians.

There can be benefits, though. For patients with whom I already have established relationships, virtual care is proving to be very effective and follow-up clinics are a lot easier for these patients since they no longer have to come down to the hospital.

What have you learned during the pandemic?

Pre-COVID-19, we used virtual care mostly for patients who lived far away from the hospital.

Our use of virtual care has increased during the pandemic – in a good way. Everyone sees value in continuing with virtual care and integrating it as part of our routine workflow in a post-pandemic setting. This approach streamlines a lot of the care we deliver, and is definitely easier for patients.

Of course, there are limitations to virtual care in that phone calls and video visits do not replace the type of in-person care that patients would normally receive. There is no question that for patients who are sick or who need to be examined, in-person care is the only way to properly assess and care for them.

Do you think the pandemic has highlighted any specific issues?

I think the pandemic has underscored the harsh realities of health disparities.

With data showing that specific populations have been more affected by COVID-19, it’s clear that socio-economic status and geography play a large role in health outcomes.

In cancer care as well, we sometimes see that patients who are economically disadvantaged might experience more distress as they may not have access to the necessary supports or resources they need.

Fortunately, at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, we do provide access to social supports for our patients who require these services. As a health-care leader, it is really important to me that we address these gaps successfully and ask what we can do to help.

I also believe the pandemic has shone a light on the racism that exists in our society. At the beginning of the pandemic, we heard a lot of concerns about how COVID-19 had spread globally, which led to a lot of anti-Asian racism.

As an Asian physician, I want people to know that there are a lot of Asian health-care leaders and front-line providers who have been working extremely hard in treating patients during these very challenging COVID-19 times and trying our best to mitigate the effects of this pandemic on all of our patients.

Researchers at U of T Faculty of Dentistry explore rapid, low-cost COVID-19 test

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 04 May 2020 16:42:11 +0000

Researchers at U of T Faculty of Dentistry explore rapid, low-cost COVID-19 test

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 05/04/2020 - 12:42

Cutline

Researchers at U of T and local hospitals are looking to develop a mouth-based test for COVID-19 that would be quick and easy to administer to patients (photo by iStockphoto via Getty Images)

Topic

Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research

A simple mouth swab and rinse with testing technology adapted from a common viral detection method – the pap smear – could provide an easy, low cost and rapid diagnostic tool for COVID-19 infections, according to researchers at the ��Ƶ.

Michael Glogauer, professor at the university’s Faculty of Dentistry and head of dental oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, is working with partners at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, North York General Hospital, Sinai Health Systems and the University Health Network to research the viability of the platform.

The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 infections invades epithelial cells, such as those lining the lungs. But these epithelial cells are also prevalent in large numbers in the mouth, and especially on the tongue, where respiratory droplets are expelled. COVID-19 binds to the body’s epithelial cells through ACE-2 receptors – and, as Glogauer notes, “It just so happens that the tongue expresses extremely high levels of ACE-2 receptors.”

That makes the mouth, which is also one of the most easily accessible sites on the body – requiring no needles, and, unlike the nose, causing no pain when swabbed – an ideal place from which to cull samples.

“The tongue is a big net,” says Glogauer. “It will always be positive if an infection is present.”

Recently, Canada has launched a number of detection platforms to help with the fight against COVID-19. Some proposed detection methods require specialized technology or equipment. Others, like the common nasopharyngeal swab method, utilize certain chemicals for testing that are currently in short supply around the world.

But Glogauer says there’s a testing platform already in use which could make a significant difference in making COVID-19 testing more widely available: the pap smear.

“Pap smears show viral changes and inflammation in epithelial cells,” he says, adding that’s what technicians are on the hunt for with COVID-19.

The test is also routine and simple: epithelial cells are scraped, mounted onto slides, stained and viewed under a microscope. The cost? Approximately $30 per test.

Glogauer adds that laboratories across Canada could rapidly employ the platform.

“All labs are set up to do pap smears,” he says.

The process of adapting the test would be virtually painless, too. Samples could be easily collected by giving subjects an oral rinse and brushing their tongue. Results can be returned in a matter of hours. Importantly, the smear test could represent an easy ally for COVID-19 detection in developing nations, where lab technology is limited.

“If it works, it will be a real game changer for everyone,” Glogauer says.

While Glogauer cautions that the technology needs to be fine-tuned in order to prevent false positives, he says there’s significant potential to develop a fast and relatively inexpensive tool in the arsenal to find and detect COVID-19.

“Ideally, you want different testing modalities,” says Glogauer. “This could be one of them.”

Leukemia drugs may help patients with treatment-resistant lung cancer: U of T researchers

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:42:25 +0000

Leukemia drugs may help patients with treatment-resistant lung cancer: U of T researchers

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 02/24/2020 - 11:42

Cutline

Lung cancer poses a major challenge for new targeted therapies because of drug resistance, but a new study involving U of T researchers suggests leukemia drugs could offer new treatment options (photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Jovana Drinjakovic

Topic

Breaking Research

Hospital for Sick Children

Molecular Genetics

Mount Sinai Hospital

Pharmacology

Ecology & Environmental Biology

Two recently approved leukemia drugs could be enlisted against treatment-resistant lung cancer, with a clinical trial for one of them expected to launch later this year in Toronto and Zagreb, Croatia.

Researchers at the ��Ƶ, led by Igor Stagljar, a professor of molecular genetics and biochemistry at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, made the findings using a new live cell-based method developed by his team for identifying small molecules that target specific mutations in cancer cells.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

“Drug resistance is a big problem for lung cancer patients,” says Stagljar. “Our new technology allows us to find molecules that could be used against cancers for which no other treatment options are available.”

The researchers identified gilteritinib and midostaurin – two drugs already approved for patients with a particular form of leukemia – as potential treatments for lung cancer patients with triple mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The tumours in these patients are highly resistant to available therapy.

The Toronto team hopes to demonstrate the efficacy of these drugs in patient trials, with the gilteritinib trial to launch first. If it proves successful, gilteritinib could in a few years become a new standard-of-care treatment for an estimated 60,000 lung cancer patients worldwide who have triple mutant EGFR.

“We already have a sense of gilteritinib doses that are safe to give to humans,” says Dr. Adrian Sacher, an oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, at University Health Network, and an assistant professor of immunology at U of T who will lead the trial. “We only need to demonstrate efficacy and hopefully make them a novel treatment option for lung cancer patients that have developed resistance to current targeted therapies.”

Lung cancer remains a leading cause of death from cancer in Canada and the world. Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of the disease, with about one fifth of cases in North America caused by EGFR mutations.

EGFR is a cell surface receptor that regulates cell proliferation and belongs to a class of proteins known as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Oncogenic mutations make the receptor overactive, spurring on cell division.

There are dozens of approved kinase inhibitor drugs that target specific mutations in the receptor’s catalytic domain, but tumours quickly gain new mutations and become drug resistant. A third of lung cancer patients on osimertinib, a last resort drug approved in 2017 against the double mutant EGFR, will develop the treatment-resistant C797S mutation within six to nine months.

“Our new technology allows us to find molecules that could be used against cancers for which no other treatment options are available,” says Igor Stagljar, a professor of molecular genetics and biochemistry at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (photo by Sam Motala)

In a bid to stay one step ahead of the disease, scientists seek to identify drugs that can target the mutations which arise in response to treatment. However, most methods are test tube-based and focus on finding new kinase inhibitors. Consequently, promising drug candidates are often not suitable as therapeutics because they don’t penetrate the cells well or because their effects are altered by other cellular factors.

The tool developed by Stagljar’s team overcomes these hurdles by testing potential drug molecules directly in living cells. Named MaMTH-DS, for Mammalian Membrane Two-Hybrid Drug Screen, the all-in-one method allows identification of drug candidates that both enter the cells and target the receptors in their natural environment.

“The advantage of our method is that we are doing it in living cells, where we have all the other molecular machineries present that are important for signal transduction,” says Stagljar. “Also, the compounds are fished at very low dose, which allows us to test for both permeability and toxicity at the same time.”

MaMTH-DS allows identification of drug molecules that target not only the receptor’s kinase activity, but also its interactions with other cellular proteins.

In a proof of principle study, the team looked for small molecules that can target the resistance-conferring C797S mutation in the triple mutant EGFR. A screen of almost 3,000 molecules revealed four promising compounds that had no effect on the normal receptor, meaning the drugs would be less likely to harm healthy cells.

In addition to midostaurin and gilteritinib, the latter of which will be tested in a pilot trial of about 20 lung cancer patients whose tumours harbor the C797S mutation, the study also revealed two more promising molecules.

One of these molecules, known as EMI1, acts on the mutant EGFR in a completely new way – not by inhibiting its kinase activity, but by targeting the receptor for degradation with the help of other molecular machineries. The researchers think that EMI1’s more complex mechanism of action will make it more difficult for tumours to develop resistance to it.

Stagljar is working with Rima Al-awar, an associate professor in U of T's department of pharmacology and toxicology, and the head of therapeutic innovation and drug discovery at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), and her medicinal chemistry team to create an improved version of the EMI1 molecule before its ability to shrink tumours can be evaluated in animal cancer models and eventually patients.

"The unbiased screening approach by the Stagljar's group has the merit of identifying small molecule inhibitors that could act via new mechanisms of action that would otherwise escape detection by conventional drug development strategies, as shown in this proof of principle study, " says Marino Zerial, the managing director of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany. Zerial is one of Stagljar’s collaborators.

The research also included collaborators from the Hospital for Sick Children and Sinai Health System’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, as well as Utrecht University in the Netherlands, the Department for Lung Diseases Jordanovac in Zagreb, Croatia, Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences in Split, Croatia and Yale Cancer Center.

The research was supported by funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Genome Canada and the Ontario Research Fund, among others

Three U of T faculty appointed members of the Royal Society of Canada’s college for new scholars

perry.king — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 16:31:36 +0000

Three U of T faculty appointed members of the Royal Society of Canada’s college for new scholars

perry.king Tue, 09/10/2019 - 12:31

Cutline

From left to right: U of T researchers Jean-Philippe Julien, David Evans and Daniel De Carvalho are being recognized for demonstrating a high level of achievement in their careers to date (all photos by Perry King)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Hospital for Sick Children

Immunology

Royal Ontario Museum

One researcher wants to beat cancer. Another is developing a better malaria vaccine. Yet another is one of Canada’s leading paleontologists.

The three ��Ƶ faculty members – Daniel De Carvalho, Jean-Philippe Julien and David Evans – have been named to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

The college recognizes up-and-coming researchers who have demonstrated a high level of achievement in their careers to date.

“Daniel De Carvalho, Jean-Philippe Julien and David Evans are leaders in their respective fields who exemplify the important work that takes place at the ��Ƶ every day across a wide range of disciplines,” says Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“We’re extremely proud of their admission to the college and look forward to seeing their research make an impact in Canada and beyond. U of T congratulates them for this impressive appointment.”

Established in 2014, the college seeks to recognize and foster academic leadership and collaboration among those who have received their PhD within the last 15 years. The appointment honours excellence and appointees are granted a seven-year membership. Up to 80 members may be elected each year.

Daniel De Carvalho

An associate professor in the department of medical biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine and a senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, De Carvalho is being named to the college the same year that he becomes a Canadian citizen.

“It’s a big honour,” says De Carvalho, who joined U of T in 2012. “I feel like it’s a really exciting welcome to Canada. I’m really happy.”

The Brazil-born researcher’s work focuses on epigenetics, or the changes brought on by modification of gene expression, and better understanding the mechanisms behind tumour growth and translating this knowledge into more efficient approaches for therapy.

Some of his research has uncovered possible cancer treatments.

“When we’re thinking about cancer in general, [we’re thinking about] how can we beat cancer – make new therapies and so on,” De Carvalho says.

His lab is focused on early detection since cancers evolve, cell mutations occur within patients and, in some cases, can become metastatic. His team wants to get ahead of such threats.

“If you detect early, it’s much easier to treat. But it’s very difficult to detect. Later on, it’s very easy to detect but it’s very difficult to treat,” says De Carvalho. “We’re trying to break this in a way that can be more useful to the patient.”

The opportunity to work with researchers across multiple disciplines, from immunology to computational biology, helps keep De Carvalho motivated.

“I have to trust and believe everyone here,” he says. “I’m really hands off so it gives space to trainees – post-docs, visiting scientists, PhD students – so they’re all working together.”

As he joins the Royal Society of Canada, De Carvalho wants to spread the idea that curiosity-driven research like his needs broad support.

“We need to figure out ways … to create an ecosystem in Canada where science can move faster from basic science to the clinical side.”

Jean-Philippe Julien

Julien, an assistant professor in the departments of biochemistry and immunology in the Faculty of Medicine and a scientist at the SickKids Research Institute, studies how the immune system works and harnesses that information to design interventions, including vaccines.

In particular, Julien investigates B cells, which produce antibodies that neutralize invading pathogens like bacteria, viruses and parasites.

With a focus on infectious diseases – in recent years, his team has been unpacking the complexities of malaria and HIV – his lab seeks to understand health at an atomic scale.

“We think that if you understand the molecular basis of immune responses, you can intervene more precisely,” says Julien.

His lab, which has recently been leading several research fronts toward the development of a malaria vaccine, partners with numerous collaborators. They include research sites with unique samples from individuals exposed to infectious disease, and from clinical trial sites that offer opportunities for researchers to learn how humans respond to vaccine candidates.

“We learn from the human response as much as we can – natural settings, but also in testing new technologies and interrogating them at the molecular level,” says Julien, who received his PhD from U of T in 2010.

Julien says his membership in the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists is a reflection of his team’s success – not only his own. He also sees it as an opportunity to grow as a thought leader.

“The biggest aspect to it, for me, is the ability to be part of an organization that mentors junior colleagues – not just in science and research but also in leadership and outreach,” he says. “I really look forward to that.”

As for the future, Julien says he’s focused on gaining a better understanding of the molecular basis of disease to guide the development of next-generation biomedical interventions.

David Evans

An associate professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science who oversees dinosaur research at the Royal Ontario Museum, Evans studies the Cretaceous Period to understand Earth’s biodiversity crisis today.

The paleontologist is trying to build the fossil record from that “data-rich” period – the one before the mass extinction event 66 million years ago wiped out over 75 per cent of species on Earth, including all the non-avian dinosaurs.

Speaking at his office at the ROM, Evans says his work focuses on fundamental questions about life on Earth at that time. In turn, the data contributes to ecological models that test the resilience of different organisms to extinction, and ecosystems to collapse.

Such work will help us understand the “causes and consequences of mass extinctions,” Evans says. His work takes into account what makes a robust ecosystem, what species are more likely to survive an extinction event and what happens to ecosystems as a result of habitat destruction and sea level and climate change.

“We have a lot of these particular scenarios that have played out in Earth’s history that we can go back to and study to see what the particular consequences of those types of changes have been on the Earth’s biota through time,” says Evans, who joined the ROM in 2007.

From “boots on the ground” fossil digs to collaborations with global research teams, Evans has personally been involved with the discovery of 11 new dinosaur species in the last six years, including a 76-million-year-old armoured dinosaur in 2017.

But there is still work to be done. Only about 900 dinosaur species have been verified in the 150 million years of recorded dinosaur history, says Evans. That pales in comparison to the number of known bird, mammal and reptile species in the present day.

“That’s what I tell a lot of the up-and-coming young paleontologists that I see here at the museum and around the world – that dinosaur discoveries are not running out anytime soon,” Evans says.

“There will be generations and generations of new discoveries to be made and they can make them. We’re not even close to knowing everything.”

From healthy babies to green energy storage: U of T researchers share $9 million in new funding

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 19:12:30 +0000

From healthy babies to green energy storage: U of T researchers share $9 million in new funding

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/03/2019 - 15:12

Cutline

Deborah O’Connor (right) is one of 32 U of T researchers to receive Canada Foundation for Innovation funding. She's working with Richard Bazinet (left) and others to develop new technologies to process donor milk for babies (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Pediatrics

Cell and Systems Biology

Biochemistry

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Chemical Engineering

Chemistry

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Hospital for Sick Children

Immunology

Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering

Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Molecular Genetics

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Nutritional Sciences

Pharmacology

Physics

Psychiatry

Psychology

St. Michael's Hospital

Sunnybrook Hospital

U of T Scarborough

Babies born very prematurely face a serious nutritional challenge since their mothers are often unable to produce sufficient breast milk, a problem the ��Ƶ's Deborah O’Connor is looking to tackle by testing cutting-edge technologies for processing pasteurized donor milk.

O’Connor, a professor and interim chair of the department of nutritional sciences in the Faculty of Medicine, is one of 32 U of T faculty members who are sharing $9.1 million in federal funding via the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

The fund, named for U of T President Emeritus John R. Evans, aims to support researchers' infrastructure and equipment needs.

“Donor milk really helps with babies’ early hospital course, but the technology used to process this milk is very old,” said O’Connor. “This award will help us replace that technology with new equipment so we can evaluate its impact on retaining important nutrients and bioactive components in human milk.”

O’Connor’s research, carried out in collaboration with Professor Harvey Anderson and Associate Professor Richard Bazinet, both from the department of nutritional sciences, also explores the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages, plant-based beverages and cow’s milk on children’s appetite regulation and body composition as part of a broader investigation into how milk can be leveraged to improve the health of Canadians.

Vivek Goel, vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives, emphasized the impact the funding could have on projects like O’Connor’s, and on the university as a whole.

“We are incredibly proud that U of T had so many important research projects funded by the John R. Evans Leaders Fund,” Goel said. “The support from the federal government will ensure that our researchers have access to research facilities that enable them to continue tackling the most pressing challenges of the day, and support us to attract diverse scholars from around the world.”

“Researchers in Canada know that cutting-edge tools and labs are necessary to make discoveries and innovate,” said federal Minister of Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan. “That is why our government is announcing funding for the infrastructure needs of Canadian researchers.

“Their groundbreaking contributions to science and research have an enormous impact on the breakthroughs that help make our visions for a better future a reality.”

For Linda Trinh, that means exploring how exercise can manage the cognitive health of cancer survivors, who often experience impairments in memory, information processing and executive functioning long after their treatment has ended.

“There has been research, especially in aging literature with healthy adults, which shows positive effects of exercise for increasing cognitive function,” says Trinh, an assistant professor of exercise and cancer survivorship at the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education.

“We’re hoping this might apply to cancer survivors and patients as well, given that cognitive impairment is largely underdiagnosed and there are no proven treatments beyond symptom management.”

The award will enable Trinh’s Exercise Oncology Lab to expand its work on exercise-based strategies to support the long-term health and well-being of cancer survivors.

At U of T Scarborough, Oleksandr Voznyy is focusing his efforts on developing next-generation technologies for low-cost, large-scale storage of renewable energy.

Voznyy’s funding will support his Clean Energy Lab’s high-throughput design, synthesis and testing of novel materials that could facilitate an affordable transition towards cleaner energy.

“It was recently calculated that the cost of energy storage needs to go down by 10 times in order for us to be able to completely switch to renewable energy,” says Voznyy, an assistant professor of chemistry in the department of physical and environmental sciences.

His lab incorporates machine learning to optimize experimental design, allowing for on-the-fly learning with fewer experiments.

“Machine learning is making the high-throughput smarter, and not just by brute-forcing it,” says Voznyy.

“Really, it’s like high-throughput on steroids.”

Laura Niemi’s CFI award will go towards studying how morality unfolds in language and thought, and how this connects to behaviour on the global stage.

“I believe that research that investigates the psychology behind social conflict and diverse moral values can help us figure out practical solutions to conflict,” says Niemi, an assistant professor at the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.

Niemi’s Applied Moral Psychology Lab maintains a dual focus, investigating an array of basic concepts in moral and social psychology while exploring how these topics manifest in the real world.

“On one level, we want to understand the basic science of moral psychology … that’s the part that deals with detailing patterns in language and cognition, and how they relate to people having these diverse moral values,” says Niemi.

“The other leg of the lab is focused on how we can apply these findings to things people care about such as pro-sociality, charitable giving and violence.”

Here’s the full list of 32 U of T experts who have received funding from the Canada Foundation of Innovation's John R. Evans Leaders Fund:

Andrew Advani, department of medicine and St. Michael’s Hospital: Exploration of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying diabetes and its related complications

Joyce Chen, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education and Sunnybrook Hospital: Optimizing motor learning through music-based behavioural interventions

Sarah Crome, department of immunology and Toronto General Hospital: Harnessing regulatory immune cells to promote transplantation tolerance

Carolyn Cummins, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy: Regulation of whole-body metabolism by nuclear hormone receptors

Michael Garton, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering: Expanding cell capabilities to sense their environment for therapeutic applications

Sergio Grinstein, department of biochemistry and the Hospital for Sick Children: Investigation of organelle dynamics and remodeling using lattice light-sheet microscopy

Frank Gu, department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry: Automation and intelligent design of nanostructured materials

Shane Harding, department of medical biophysics and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre: DNA damage and cellular physiology: rewiring for a cure

Tony Harris, department of cell and systems biology: Spinning disk confocal microscope to probe molecular networks of cell and tissue morphogenesis

Boris Hinz, Faculty of Dentistry: Slide scanner system to study and develop novel diagnostic tools for oral fibrosis and cancer

Rama Khokha, department of medical biophysics and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre: Developing new interventions for breast and lung cancer

Patrick Lee, department of mechanical and industrial engineering: Multi-material characterization system for developing and testing micro-/nano-layered composites and foams

Fa-Hsuan Lin, department of medical biophysics and Sunnybrook Hospital: Multi-modal functional brain technology

Xinyu Liu, department of mechanical and industrial engineering: Infrastructure for advanced microfluidic nanobiosensing

Philipp Maass, department of molecular genetics and the Hospital for Sick Children: Live-cell imaging of inter-chromosomal contacts by confocal super-resolution microscopy

Andreas Mandelis, department of mechanical and industrial engineering: Facility for advanced non-destructive testing/imaging instrumentation development

Rebecca Neel, department of psychology: A functional approach to stigmatization, motivation, and social judgment

Peter Newman, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work: MFARR-Asia computer-assisted survey interview and participatory video production lab

Laura Niemi, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy: Moral psychology and global affairs

Justin Nodwell, department of biochemistry: Platform for antibiotic discovery and investigation

Deborah O’Connor, department of nutritional sciences and the Hospital for Sick Children: Maximizing milk in a changing food environment

Alison Olechowski, department of mechanical and industrial engineering: Design Observation Studio

Stephanie Protze, department of molecular genetics and McEwen Stem Cell Institute: Generation of stem cell-derived pacemaker cells for biological pacemaker applications

Amy Ramsey, department of pharmacology and toxicology: Study of disease-causing mutations in NMDA receptor genes

Jessica Sommerville, department of psychology: The origins of social learning and behaviour

Yu Sun, department of mechanical and industrial engineering: Infrastructure for image-guided magnetic micromanipulation of cells and tissues

Margot Taylor, departments of medical imaging, paediatrics, psychology and the Hospital for Sick Children: It’s all about time: Optimising infrastructure for functional brain imaging in children

Linda Trinh, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education: Exercise Oncology and Cognition Lab

Neil Vasdev, department of psychiatry and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: Automated apparatus for PET radiopharmaceuticals to image the living human brain

Oleksandr Voznyy, department of physical and environmental sciences, U of T Scarborough: High-throughput facility for design, synthesis and characterization of novel materials for large-scale energy storage

Kaley Walker, department of physics: Measurements of atmospheric gases using a deployable infrared interferometer

Scott Yuzwa, department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology: Extrinsic control of neural precursor cells: molecular mechanisms of brain development and repair

Christine Allen appointed U of T's first associate vice-president and vice-provost, strategic initiatives

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 16:31:38 +0000

Christine Allen appointed U of T's first associate vice-president and vice-provost, strategic initiatives

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 07/05/2019 - 12:31

Cutline

In her new role, Christine Allen will serve as the university’s point person for cross-divisional initiatives and will foster collaboration among experts spread across U of T’s various faculties and departments (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Rahul Kalvapalle

Topic

Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society

Resarch & Innovation

School of Cities

Cheryl Regehr

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy

Medicine by Design

Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

Vivek Goel

Christine Allen, a world-renowned researcher in nanomedicine and image-guided drug delivery, has been appointed the ��Ƶ’s first-ever associate vice-president and vice-provost, strategic initiatives.

In the newly created role, Allen will work with academic and administrative bodies across the university’s three campuses to seed and scale interdisciplinary initiatives.

Examples of such endeavours include the School of Cities, Medicine by Design and, most recently, the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, which draws on U of T’s strength in the sciences, humanities and social sciences to explore the benefits and challenges of AI, biotechnology and other technological advances on society.

“The idea is to help foster collaboration so that we can move big, cross-disciplinary, multi-unit ideas forward,” said Allen, who is a professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and served as the faculty’s interim dean in the most recent academic year.

“That means breaking down silos that may exist and providing support where needed to ensure that we can take something – which might have grown to a certain extent – to the next level.”

U of T created the new position following broad consultations over the past year that identified the need for a new role dedicated to forging cross-divisional initiatives to advance knowledge and produce solutions for complex problems. The new position will also have a key role in supporting cross‐divisional initiatives with expertise in areas such as budget and finance, human resources, proposal development, fellowship models, events and public engagement so that individual initiatives do not have to duplicate efforts at smaller scales.

“Many of the world’s toughest problems can only be solved by working across disciplines – an approach U of T is uniquely equipped to undertake because of the scope of our world-class scholarship and our location in one of the most diverse and globally connected cities in the world,” said Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.

“Building and maintaining such collaborative initiatives with multiple partners is challenging, and particularly complex in the highly decentralized U of T environment. Nevertheless, our faculty and students expect to be able to develop and engage with such initiatives.”

Allen is an internationally recognized pioneer in the research and development of novel delivery technologies for cancer detection and treatment. A successful entrepreneur, she co-founded Nanovista, a startup that is commercializing technology developed at U of T and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre to help surgeons identify and remove cancerous tumors. She was also appointed chief scientific officer of Avicanna, a company devoted to the development of plant-based cannabinoids for medical applications.

Allen joined the Leslie Dan Faculty as an assistant professor in 2002 and went on to serve as the faculty’s associate dean, academic from 2011 to 2012, and as associate dean, graduate education from 2013 to 2015.

“Our faculty leadership are looking forward to working with Professor Allen to harness our inter-disciplinary strengths and create innovative research and teaching programs,” said Vice-President & Provost Cheryl Regehr.

“Over the course of her career at U of T, Professor Allen has established herself as a world-leading researcher, a committed mentor to faculty and a passionate educator with a talent for fostering interdisciplinary research approaches.

“Her leadership will help foster innovative research and teaching programs at the convergence of diverse fields, which, in turn, will provide extraordinary opportunities for faculty and students alike.”

In her new role, Allen will serve as the university’s point person for cross-divisional initiatives and will work to foster collaboration between the vast pool of experts spread across U of T’s various faculties and departments. She will also coach and guide faculty members to oversee and champion interdisciplinary research initiatives themselves.

“I see my office as being the one that will help bring these different people together,” she said.

Allen added that the decision to create the position of Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, Strategic Initiatives demonstrates U of T isn’t keen to simply rest on its laurels.

“U of T is getting ahead of the game,” she said. “We’re going to be one of the few universities with a position like this in place that’s truly focused on breaking down barriers and increasing collaboration.

“We’re going to have the teams in place, we’re going to be scanning to see what opportunities are out there. We’re going to be ready.”

U of T researchers improve classification of pancreatic cancer to better predict patient outcomes

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 18:14:49 +0000

U of T researchers improve classification of pancreatic cancer to better predict patient outcomes

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 06/24/2019 - 14:14

Cutline

Sangeetha Kalimuthu, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at U of T and a gastrointestinal pathologist at UHN, is the lead author of a study in the BMJ journal Gut (photo courtesy of University Health Network)

Topic

Researchers at the ��Ƶ and University Health Network have found that standard pathology grading for the most common type of pancreatic cancer can be improved to better predict patient outcomes.

The research shows that conventional, histological analysis of pancreatic tumours – based in part on morphology, or shape and structure – can better predict outcomes by taking into account particular tissue patterns that correlate to molecular analyses.

The researchers were able to stratify the tumours into two groups. Those that showed 40 per cent or more aberrant, destructive patterns – such as cells with punched out spaces resembling swiss cheese – matched the molecular profiles of tumours from patients with poorer rates of survival. The BMJ journal Gut recently published the findings online.

“Although we have been aware of these patterns, putting them together with an established threshold indicating levels of aggressive tumour patterns is new and helpful for our clinicians,” says lead author Sangeetha Kalimuthu, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at U of T and a gastrointestinal pathologist at UHN.

The study involved over 800 tumour tissue slides from 86 patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The study group included senior author Runjan Chetty, a professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at U of T and a clinician-scientist at UHN, and colleagues at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

For decades, histological evaluation has been the gold standard for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Recently, large-scale studies have shown that molecular subtypes of the cancer are associated with various prognoses.

But molecular profiling is expensive and requires specialized equipment. With the new, easily applicable pathology classification, Kalimuthu and her colleagues believe that clinicians can obtain similar information using standard pathology stains, with a rapid turn-around time.

“Any pathologist in any part of the world can do this,” says Kalimuthu. “It’s the bread and butter of what pathologists do. It’s fast, cheap and accessible.” The new classification should help clinicians better tailor treatments to patients, she adds.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is one of the most lethal cancers, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10 per cent. Each year more than 350,000 people worldwide are diagnosed and more than 340,000 die of the disease. Some reports project a twofold increase in the number of new cases and deaths by 2030.

“Pathologists have had a long, rich history in their vital roles to diagnose and stage pancreas cancer,” says Steven Gallinger, a co-author on the study who is a professor of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at U of T and a clinician-scientist at UHN.

“This study is an elegant demonstration of the potential of personalized medicine, with the promise of improved outcomes for our patients.”

The next step for the researchers is to carry out a multi-institutional validation study. They also hope to develop deep-learning algorithms to further reduce turn-around times and increase accuracy. The longer-term goal is to help pathologists accurately quantify even large amounts of data.

Honorary degree recipient Carlo Fidani made a lasting impact on local health care

perry.king — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 17:46:38 +0000

Honorary degree recipient Carlo Fidani made a lasting impact on local health care

perry.king Wed, 06/05/2019 - 13:46

Cutline

Carlo Fidani, a U of T honorary degree recipient, has contributed generously to the ��Ƶ Mississauga and the Faculty of Medicine (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

Perry King

Topic

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Convocation 2019

Health

Honorary Degree

U of T Mississauga

Carlo Fidani’s generosity is making a difference in education, health care and research.

The chair of Mississauga, Ont.-based Orlando Corp., which owns, leases, and manages over 40 million square feet of industrial, office and retail property, has helped spearhead the growth of health care institutions throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

In 2010, Fidani made a $10 million pledge – via the FDC Foundation, where he serves as president – to the ��Ƶ Mississauga and U of T’s Faculty of Medicine. The gift laid the foundation for the Mississauga Academy of Medicine and inspired broad support from the community, including a $12 million gift from philanthropist Terrence Donnelly to complete the project.

“A well-placed gift made at the right time and to the right opportunity can have an exponential effect on donors and institutions,” Fidani told the ��Ƶ Mississauga Magazine (now M Magazine) in 2011.

Fidani today receives a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from U of T “for his “outstanding service for the public good, through his impressive leadership and vision, in education, health care and the sciences.”

Watch Carlo Fidani deliver his remarks:

Fidani’s leadership and vision was felt immediately when the Mississauga Academy of Medicine welcomed its first medical students in 2011. Considered the cornerstone of U of T Mississauga’s Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex, the academy adds about 54 doctors to Ontario with each graduating class. A 2013 economic impact report by consulting firm KPMG said the academy “addresses a pressing need for more physicians, including more family doctors, in the Region of Peel.”

“It’s gratifying to be part of something that’s certain to have a direct impact on the community,” Fidani is quoted as saying on U of T’s Boundless campaign website.

“The Academy will contribute to the growth of local hospitals and encourage young medical students to work where they trained.”

Fidani’s philanthropic vision didn’t stop there. In 2015, Orlando Corp. launched a gift-matching initiative on behalf of the William Osler Health System. The following year, the company gifted another $7 million for cancer research at the U of T Mississauga campus.

He’s also a major donor to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Princess Margaret Hospital and Credit Valley Hospital, where the cancer centre carries his name.

Fidani’s philanthropic achievements are matched by his success in the corporate world. Orlando has a reputation for building quality and customer satisfaction, and is at the helm of a number of LEED-certified projects. Some of its clients include Amazon Canada, Walmart, Oracle Corporation and the Royal Bank of Canada.

In 2017, Fidani was named to the Order of Canada for his contributions to medical research and service to the country.

'Discover everything there is': U of T's Tak Mak awarded prestigious Gold Leaf Prize for pioneering research

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 23 May 2019 15:42:29 +0000

'Discover everything there is': U of T's Tak Mak awarded prestigious Gold Leaf Prize for pioneering research

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 05/23/2019 - 11:42

Cutline

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has named U of T's Tak Mak the recipient of its prestigious Gold Leaf Prize for Discovery, which recognizes groundbreaking health research (photo courtesy of University Health Network)

Topic