Peter Zandstra

Molly Shoichet awarded 2016 Till & McCulloch Award

ullahnor — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 15:54:36 +0000

Molly Shoichet awarded 2016 Till & McCulloch Award

ullahnor Thu, 10/06/2016 - 11:54

Cutline

University Professor Molly Shoichet holds the hyaluronic acid (HA)-based injectible hydrogel developed in her lab that helps transplanted stem cells survive, integrate and repair damaged tissue in the brain and eye (photo by Roberta Baker)

Engineering Strategic Communications

Author legacy

Engineering Strategic Communications

Topic

Global Lens

Research & Innovation

Stem Cells

Molly Shoichet

Peter Zandstra

Subheadline

Pioneering stem-cell researcher developed hydrogel platform to deliver stem cells to brain and eyes, restoring vision by 15 per cent

University Professor Molly Shoichet, a world-renowned researcher and leader in the use of biomaterials to enhance stem-cell delivery for treating disease conditions from stroke to blindness, is the recipient of the 2016 Till & McCulloch Award.

The award recognizes both Shoichet’s contributions to global stem cell research, and her 2015 paper on the use of hydrogels for stem cell transplantation as the most impactful stem cell research publication authored in Canada in the past year.

Shoichet is a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the ��Ƶ. The Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering, she is a leader in the use of biomaterials to enhance cell delivery and to guide stem cell fate for tissue engineering. She is also a principal investigator in Medicine by Design, a leading regenerative medicine initiative at U of T that is designing and manufacturing cells, tissues and organs that can be used in research, drug discovery and clinical treatments.

Read about Molly Shoichet winning L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award

“Dr. Shoichet, an expert in polymers to advance our understanding of drug delivery and regeneration to promote healing in the body, has made numerous significant contributions to the field of regenerative medicine,” says University Professor Peter Zandstra (IBBME), executive director of Medicine by Design, chief scientific officer of Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine and a member of the selection committee. “This paper demonstrates that specific interactions between the cells and HA support their survival, migration and integration in animal models of retinal degeneration. The selection committee was impressed with the paper because it offers solutions to the cell delivery problem in neural disease. Importantly, the same material also has a pro-survival effect in a separate animal model of stroke, suggesting broad potential applicability of the strategy.”

“While clinical trials in humans are years away, this work is clearly moving in that direction,” says Dr. Michael Rudnicki, Scientific Director of the Stem Cell Network and the 2014 Till & McCulloch Award winner. “Diseases like age-related macular degeneration and stroke don’t yet have cures and today’s medicines only slow the progression of these diseases. Stem cell-based therapies, however, have the potential to outright stop the disease progression and, in the case of blindness, reverse it.”

“It is a thrill and an honour to give a lecture that salutes the incredibly important and pioneering research of Drs. Till and McCulloch,” says Shoichet. “I am humbled to be receiving this award that has been won in previous years by superbly talented, internationally renowned stem cell scientists. I am very grateful and look forward to sharing our research with everyone in beautiful British Columbia.”

$27-million Medicine by Design investment will fast-track stem cell research

lavende4 — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 17:22:18 +0000

$27-million Medicine by Design investment will fast-track stem cell research

lavende4 Thu, 08/25/2016 - 13:22

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Peter Zandstra at the Canada First Research Excellence Fund announcement last year (Johnny Guatto photo)

Jennifer Robinson

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

David McMillen and his team are hard at work designing a new custom-designed probiotic to help the 233,000 Canadians living with Crohn’s and colitis.

The goal of the project, which is among 20 sharing $27 million in funding from university’s newly created Medicine by Design initiative, is to create a bacterium that can help trigger the renewal of the gut lining in people with these chronic bowel diseases.

McMillen, a professor in ��Ƶ Mississauga’s Department of Chemical & Physical Sciences, is among 75 leading scientists, engineers, doctors and mathematicians working on the 20 team projects, which range from attempting to improve failing eyesight in aging populations to treating heart and liver diseases.

“These projects are bringing together leading life scientists, engineers, doctors and computer scientists at U of T and our partner hospitals to tackle and solve some of the biggest hurdles in regenerative medicine,” said Meric Gertler, president of the ��Ƶ, “I look forward to seeing discoveries emerging from these projects that will transform the way we develop cures to devastating diseases.”

See the full list of funded projects.

Regenerative medicine focuses on using stem cells to repair and regenerate damaged tissues and organs. Researchers involved in Medicine by Design are also investigating how drugs, molecules and genes can be used to prompt the body to repair itself. In the McMillen proposal, things are being taken one exciting step further by exploring the use of engineered bacteria.

“This is a tremendously exciting project and we've assembled a great team to work on it,” said McMillen (left), which includes combines a wealth of expertise from a wide variety of areas such as synthetic biology, molecular genetics, intestinal stem cell signalling, biological/chemical engineering and bioinformatics.

“I think it's fair to say that we were a bit unusual among the Medicine by Design projects, which are largely about working directly on or with human stem cells, tissues or organs, so the ‘bacteria team’ is a bit of an outlier,” he added.

“But the gut microbiome is now often being called a neglected ‘organ.’ Its importance to human health is similar to any organ in the body, even if it's not made of human cells.

“The interface between those bacteria and the health of the human they live in is subtle and complex, but a recent spike in research attention makes it clear that it has important and wide-reaching implications in diseases ranging from inflammatory bowel disease to metabolic diseases and immune disorders.”

Last summer, the federal government gave the ��Ƶ the largest single research award in its history — $114 million — to support Medicine by Design, which builds on a rich legacy of U of T contributions to regenerative medicine, starting with the identification of blood stem cells by biophysicist James Till and hematologist Ernest McCulloch in 1960. This discovery was instrumental in the use of blood stem cell transplants to treat diseases such as leukemia.

The funding for Medicine by Design was the first grant announced under the government’s Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

In the decades since the Till and McCulloch discovery, stem cells have come to be seen by scientists as potentially offering ways to treat — and perhaps cure — a host of devastating and costly illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, blindness and neurodegenerative disorders.

Globally, the regenerative medicine industry is expected to grow in value to tens of billions of dollars in the next five years.

“In addition to researching fundamental questions, the Medicine by Design projects include innovations slated to be ready for clinical trials within a few years, as well as enabling technologies with the potential to accelerate their cost-effective implementation,” said Vivek Goel, U of T’s vice-president of research and innovation.

“They will help strengthen U of T’s reputation as a global centre in the growing field of regenerative medicine and cell therapy, power Toronto’s vibrant biomedical ecosystem and — most importantly — lay the foundation for improved outcomes for patients around the world,” he said.

The funding marks Medicine by Design’s first investment in collaborative team projects.

The teams were selected through a rigorous competitive process, which involved international reviewers and Medicine by Design’s scientific advisory board, which is composed of eight global academic leaders in regenerative medicine.

“These projects launch at a very exciting time in biomedical research. We are accelerating the use of engineering design principles and quantitative biological modelling to nurture innovative environments where breakthroughs will emerge. That’s what Medicine by Design is all about,” said Peter Zandstra, executive director of Medicine by Design, the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering and a professor in the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering.

Peter Zandstra

Molly Shoichet awarded 2016 Till & McCulloch Award

Read more about Molly Shoichet's research

Read about Molly Shoichet winning L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award

Read more about hydrogels

$27-million Medicine by Design investment will fast-track stem cell research