Geoffrey Vendeville

U of T startup targets harmful side effect of cancer treatment

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:17:45 +0000

U of T startup targets harmful side effect of cancer treatment

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 03/06/2024 - 11:17

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Nabanita Nawar and Pimyupa Manaswiyoungkul, co-founders of HDAX Therapeutics, met while they were pursuing doctoral studies at U of T Mississauga’s department of chemical and physical sciences (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Black Founders Network

Entrepreneurship Week

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Entrepreneurship

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HDAX Therapeutics is focused on developing treatments for peripheral nerve damage, which can result from chemotherapy or radiation

Pain, numbness, sore muscles and even paralysis. These are some of the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, an often-debilitating condition associated with chemotherapy, radiation and other cancer treatments.

Such peripheral nerve damage can be temporary, but for some, it never goes away.

“There’s often really nothing for these patients except just symptom management and putting fingers and toes in a bucket of ice,” says Nabanita Nawar, who holds a PhD in medicinal chemistry from the ��Ƶ.

Nawar is the CEO and a co-founder of HDAX Therapeutics, a startup that grew out of technology developed in U of T Mississauga’s department of chemical and physical sciences. The company is currently working on treatments that focus on HDAC 6, a protein that has been implicated in cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative disorders – including the peripheral nerve damage experienced by many cancer patients.

“We are essentially developing new medicine for diseases that have a transport problem in the body,” Nawar says, referring to the protein’s key role in multiple cellular processes.

HDAX’s patented mechanism targets HDAC 6 to return damaged neurons to health.

“Our target, HDAC6, plays a key role in regulating microtubule stability and thus, affects axonal transport,” explained Pimyupa Manaswiyoungkul, who also earned a PhD at U of T and is now chief operations officer at HDAX. “In diseased states for indications that we are targeting, these axonal transports are impaired resulting in nerve degeneration, which results in symptoms in patients.”

By using a “two-site binding modality,” the startup’s technology essentially holds the target with two figurative hands instead of one – like many of its competitors – providing a tighter grip on the protein and a key competitive advantage.

The treatment, still in pre-clinical testing, would be delivered in the form of an oral pill.

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

The HDAX team also plans to apply the startup’s technology to target transport mechanisms in cardio-metabolic diseases, including heart failure.

Manaswiyoungkul met Nawar in the lab when they were pursing doctoral studies. She says Nawar, who was on the medicinal chemistry side, would give her compounds to evaluate.

“The flow of how we worked in the lab helped us connect,” Manaswiyoungkul says.

Working with fellow researchers Elvin de Araujo and Olasunkanmi Olaoye, it wasn’t long before Nawar and Manaswiyoungkul shifted their focus to the challenges of translating their promising research into a viable business.

The team established HDAX in 2021 and received its first big funding injection – and a confidence boost – a few months later when it won a bio-venture pitch competition hosted by Medicine by Design, a U of T institutional strategic initiative focused on regenerative medicine and cell therapy.

“That was the first thing that made us think, ‘OK, this may be a real company – this could really be something.’ It wasn’t just in our heads,” Nawar says.

HDAX has since attracted a total of $1.3 million in funding, Manaswiyoungkul says, noting the company and its five full-time employees is now preparing for its first seed round funding.

The work of Nawar, Manaswiyoungkul and their teammates hasn’t gone unnoticed. The two founders recently earned an unexpected individual accolade: inclusion in the Forbes list of 30 under 30 Torontonians. When the Forbes email landed in Nawar’s inbox, she says she was so surprised she wondered if it was spam.

As it turns out, the duo were nominated by one of their early U of T mentors, Paul Santerre, a professor in the Faculty of Dentistry and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

“The [HDAX] technology circumvents toxicity in neuro and cardiac drugs, with amazing efficacy demonstrated in their neuro models,” Santerre says, adding that Nawar and Manaswiyoungkul “not only accomplished novel, impactful findings during their PhD/post doc training, but did the work to accelerate their evolution to becoming serious entrepreneurs.”

Along the way, the startup received extensive support from the U of T entrepreneurship community, which ranks first in Canada for research-based startups and among the top five globally for university startup accelerators. In particular, HDAX worked with UTEST, the Health Innovation Hub (H2i) and the Black Founders Network.

Santerre says one of the keys to U of T’s successful entrepreneurial support network is its “no wrong door” policy.

“This means, regardless of where you come from at U of T, you will be supported by the incubators that best fit your venture,” he says.

Manaswiyoungkul’s advice for students thinking about making the leap into entrepreneurship? Just go for it.

“U of T is a very accepting community and there’s always someone who has more experience and the willingness to help take your ideas forward.”

From nature to the lab: U of T startup brews more sustainable food ingredients

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:22:34 +0000

From nature to the lab: U of T startup brews more sustainable food ingredients

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/04/2024 - 10:22

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Pratish Gawand, who graduated from the ��Ƶ with a PhD in chemical engineering in 2014, says many natural flavouring ingredients are produced in small quantities and end up being shipped long distances to the companies that use them (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Entrepreneurship Week

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Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

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UTEST

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Using precision fermentation, Ardra Inc. aims to replace natural flavour ingredients with more sustainable alternatives

Natural ingredients may seem better for the planet, but that’s not always the case.

Consider rose oil. It takes thousands of kilograms of rose petals to extract a single kilogram of the popular fragrance ingredient.

“If a multinational cosmetics or consumer goods company said tomorrow, ‘We’re not going to use any artificial rose oil,’ we couldn’t grow enough roses in the world to supply such a big company,” says Pratish Gawand, who graduated from the ��Ƶ with a PhD in chemical engineering in 2014.

Pratish Gawand (photo by Matthew Volpe)

Gawand’s startup, Ardra Inc., aims to replace natural flavour ingredients in food with more sustainable alternatives manufactured using precision fermentation. Think of the fermenting tanks in a brewery, but instead of yeast, Ardra’s technology involves microbes that are genetically engineered to produce high-value compounds rather than ethanol.

Following fermentation, the ingredients must be purified to the high standards of “flavour houses,” where scientists known as flavourists formulate the flavours of food products.

“Humans are much more sensitive to detecting odours than even gas chromatography instruments,” says Gawand, who is Ardra’s chief executive. “We have to meet those kinds of standards, and we have done it.”

Typically produced in small quantities from plants and animals, most natural ingredients end up being shipped long distances to the companies that use them, which comes with a cost to the climate. Ardra’s process, on the other hand, would provide manufacturers with a local and more sustainable source of necessary ingredients.

“This addresses major challenges in the food industry – mainly around sustainability and supply,” Gawand says.

Ardra’s list of products includes heme, the iron-carrying molecule that turns blood red and gives meats their distinctive taste. Fermented heme can be used not only to enhance the taste of plant-based meats but also to give it other meat-like qualities. For example, Gawand says heme is thought to be among the reasons that meat chars on a grill.

Ardra can also ferment leaf-aldehyde, which replicates a variety of flavours including green apple, berry and citrus. And it makes natural petroleum-free butylene glycol, a versatile moisturizing agent often used in shampoos, lotions and cosmetics that is otherwise largely petroleum-based.

Gawand co-founded Ardra in 2016 with his U of T PhD supervisor Radhakrishnan Mahadevan, a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Metabolic Systems Engineering. “U of T was our very first investor,” Gawand says, adding that Ardra received its first investment from the university’s UTEST (��Ƶ Early Stage Technology) program.

(photo by Matthew Volpe)

“The university helped us put the company together, put the patent together and it wrote us our very first cheque.”

Ardra began its journey with butylene glycol technology.

“Krishna [Mahadevan] and I were inventors on that patent, along with Associate Professor Alexander Yakunin and PhD student Kayla Nemr. We assigned the patent to the university and licensed it out,” Gawand says.

Mahadevan, for his part, says his prior experience working with startups, including Geno – a San Diego, Calif.-based company that currently makes a more sustainable version of nylon, among other products – made him keen to explore the commercial potential of his group’s research.

He says Gawand had the passion and drive necessary to translate bench research into a viable business.

“He had a tough work ethic and would go to great lengths to achieve his research goals,” Mahadevan recalls.

He adds that Gawand’s commitment to sustainability also made a strong impression, recalling an essay that his former student wrote and shared with the lab describing the urbanization of the landscape near his hometown in India. (Gawand, an avid birdwatcher in his youth, lamented that new construction near his home drove out the egrets, cormorants and other birds that he remembered seeing on his walks to and from school.)

Ardra has come a long way since it was founded less than decade ago. It has raised more than $4 million in funding and has strategic partnerships with a U.S.-based flavour house and a European company.

Gawand says he hopes Ardra’s success will pave the way for other Canadian companies in the bio-manufacturing sector.

“I want to put the wheels in motion for Canadian bio-manufacturing and precision fermentation,” he says. “From Ardra’s success, I want to get Canada started on bio-industrial innovations.”

Robarts Library at 50: How Fort Book became the ‘campus living room’

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 13:58:01 +0000

Robarts Library at 50: How Fort Book became the ‘campus living room’

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 09/26/2023 - 09:58

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As many as 18,000 people visit U of T’s Robarts Libary in a single day, while countless more access its collection online (photo by U of T Communications)

Topic

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Subheadline

As it celebrates its half-centennial, Robarts Library is reflecting on its past – and looking towards its future – with an exhibit that traces the library’s history

The ��Ƶ’s campus weekly, The Varsity, greeted students with a front-page photograph of John P. Robarts Library in 1973 – then a new, impossible-to-miss concrete giant on St. George Street.

“Welcome to U of T and Fort Book,” the headline shouted.

Cover of The Varsity newspaper from September 12, 1973 (��Ƶ Archives)

Now, as it celebrates its half-centennial, Robarts is reflecting on its past – and looking towards its future – with an exhibit that traces the library’s history, including the architecture, technology and social movements that shaped its evolution.

Originally built to house 2.7 million volumes and accommodate 4,100 people in reading rooms and study carrels, Robarts aimed to be the largest academic library building in the world, intended to make room for U of T’s growing library collection and the influx of students born during the Baby Boom.

Then-U of T President Claude Bissell, who played a central role in its construction, called it “the final, climactic stage in the development of the higher learning at the ��Ƶ.”

The triangular library complex included the School of Library Science and what is now the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The building’s namesake, Premier John Robarts, said the buildings – which came with a $41.7-million price tag – should not be judged based on cost, “but in terms of how many people would pass through them over the next fifty years.”

These days, as many as 18,000 people visit Robarts in a single day, while countless more access its collection online. The index card catalogue and coat check for visitors are long gone, but Robarts is now home to spaces for nursing, meditation, and mindfulness – even a family study room designed for parents and children, the first space of its kind in a Canadian academic library. Although the U of T Libraries collection contains more than 11 million physical items in total, it now mainly acquires electronic material and hosts data centres with a storage capacity of 1.5 petabytes.

Yet, while the library’s layout and technology have changed, its role remains the same: to support research, discovery and community, Chief Librarian Larry Alford said. “When Robarts Library opened, it was very much seen as a place for students – and faculty, but especially students – to come together to study and work together,” he said. “That hasn’t changed at all. I think it’s as important now as it was in 1973.”

Robarts Common (photo by Matthew Volpe)

To create much-needed study space, the library recently underwent its first expansion in 42 years with the addition of a free-standing, five-storey building on its west side. The project was made possible through the generous support of the late Russell and Katherine Morrison, along with one thousand other donors. Robarts Common came equipped with 1,200 new study spots – a 25 per cent increase – including soundproofed rooms with big-screen TVs for group study.

A group of students on the second floor of Robarts Common (photo by Hanna Borodina)

In the realm of technology, Robarts Library has long been a centre for innovation. Under the leadership of Robert Blackburn, chief librarian from 1954 to 1981, U of T Libraries became an early adopter of an automated catalogue. And while it was not the first institution to have a computer-output microfilm catalogue, Blackburn said Robarts was the first large research library anywhere that had converted its entire catalogue. “Our pioneering in the field was not unnoticed or unappreciated,” he wrote in Evolution of the Heart, a history of U of T Libraries.

The first online catalogue, “Felix,” came into service in 1987.

Today, Robarts Library supports digital scholarship including in the field of non-destructive analysis of ancient books by examining the physical properties of ancient volumes using techniques such as atomic force spectrometry.

Jesse Carliner, a user services librarian and co-curator of the Robarts Library exhibit with university archivist Tys Klumpenhouwer, said technology was not the only important driver of change at the library – so, too, was the U of T community.

Student sit-in protesting stack access to Robarts Library (photo by Robert Lansdale)

“The library has evolved from being this very formal, book centre to being more of a socially oriented student centre,” Carliner said. “It went from being an imposing concrete monolith to kind of the campus living room.”

While initially only faculty and graduate students were supposed to be granted access to the bookstacks, undergraduate students staged protests to open the stacks to everyone – and the library has continued to reshape itself over the years, hosting 2SLGBTQ+ events and adding prayer rooms and an ablution room for Muslim students. Just last summer, Fisher Library hosted Raymond Frogner, head of the archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, for a talk about confronting historic biases and promoting Indigenous knowledge within library collections.

What has remained constant, however, is the lively debate surrounding the library’s imposing concrete exterior.

The Brutalist landmark divided opinion from the start, with architect Ronald Thom saying it “represents everything in architecture that is arrogant and wrong.” It has been compared to everything from a “giant chess piece” to a “sci-fi version of a medieval castle.” But for the building’s many critics, there seems to be an equal number of admirers. Italian author Umberto Eco described it as a “masterpiece of contemporary architecture” and, more recently, Robarts topped Monocle’s list of architectural must-sees in its Toronto travel guide.

Larry Alford (photo by Paul Terefenko)

Chief Librarian Alford said he understands why the building’s architecture is controversial, but has always been a fan. “If you look inside the building, as I’ve often done, you stand on the second floor and look up, you can’t help but be impressed and it becomes clear that the architects paid a lot of attention to every detail,” he said.

As for what the library will look like 50 years from now, Alford said it’s impossible to predict – though he imagines it will play an increasingly important role in AI-assisted analysis and authentication of information.

“If you think about the radical changes over the last five decades, I don’t think any librarians could have said where we were headed.”

This story has been condensed. The original can be found here.

U of T chefs bring more sustainable, plant-based food to campus menus

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 16:22:18 +0000

U of T chefs bring more sustainable, plant-based food to campus menus

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 08/26/2022 - 12:22

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U of T Food Services has pledged to convert an additional 20 per cent of its menus to plant-based options as part of the university’s broader sustainability effort (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Topic

“Wow!” was the first word out of Chef Jaco Lokker’s mouth after biting into a vegan burger made of black beans and tempeh that was seasoned with herbs and spices.

The ��Ƶ’s director of culinary operations and executive chef recently joined other U of T chefs in a kitchen at New College for a workshop on how to cook delicious, nutritious and sustainable plant-based foods.

Lokker says U of T students are increasingly conscious of food and agriculture’s impact on the environment – and are asking for more plant-based options.

Jaco Lokker

“It's definitely demand-driven and the demand [for plant-based foods] is up everywhere – in institutional settings, restaurants and grocery stores,” he says.

U of T Food Services has pledged to convert another 20 per cent of its menus to plant-based options as part of the university’s broader sustainability goals, Lokker adds.

The recent workshop by Forward Food for Professionals, a foodservice organization supported by the Humane Society International, was part of that effort. There, U of T chefs learned to make Bolognese with tempeh instead of meat, and meringues with aquafaba (the liquid left over from chickpea cans) instead of egg whites.

U of T News caught up with Lokker for a sneak peek at the delicious, healthy and sustainable foods that will appear on U of T menus this fall.

What kinds of things are you learning in the workshop?

How to make a meringue with aquafaba (the liquid that comes off the chickpea), or how to take tempeh and make it taste like bacon. With different spices and ingredients, you can take it and roast it and it kind of has a bacon flavour to it. It’s just a different way of making a veggie burger.

Then there’s a vegan French toast. Usually you need eggs, right? Well, you can use flax seed – you soak and puree it – and it gives the same effect as the eggs.

Why are you taking this course?

We actually took a pledge. The university has pledged to move toward more plant-based food – an additional 20 per cent of our menu. That’s why we asked Forward Food to come in.

Our overall goal is to continue to grow our plant-based offerings for our students and community – for many reasons. It’s a healthier diet and it’s more sustainable for the environment. I’m not saying that animal protein is bad, but plant-based is better all-around and is a more sustainable product.

Can you share more details about recipes you're adapting to use only plant-based ingredients?

A perfect example is, instead of doing a chicken pot pie, we’re doing a chickpea pie with coconut milk. We’re also making a pasta Bolognese, but instead of using a beef product, we use tempeh for the sauce.

And instead of a grilled barbecue rib, we’re doing a grilled barbecue tofu. Those are the kinds of lessons we’re looking to do over the next few days.

U of T chefs participate in a two-day workshop focused on cooking delicious, nutritious and sustainable plant-based foods (photo by David Lee)

Are these plant-based dishes as tasty as the traditional recipes?

I just had a burger [made of black bean, tempeh, herbs and spices] and went “Wow.” I’ve had a lot of plant-based burgers in my life, but this was phenomenal. I just had a few dishes that were full of flavour. It really comes down to – and this is what it’s all about – saying, “Hey, you can take this to the next level by doing this.”

A lot of the flavour is actually spice-driven. As chefs, I think we’re often guilty of overthinking things a little bit. For the most part you don’t miss the meat.

Falafel sliders with kale, tabbouleh, papaya chutney and spicy tahini sauce (photo by Johnny Guatto)

What do you mean by “overthinking”?

As chefs, we look at a situation and think: How are we going to substitute? What are we going to do to make this chicken à la king not chicken à la king? I wouldn’t have thought of using chickpeas. I would’ve thought, “Oh, we’ll use tofu or seitan [a vegan meat substitute made from hydrated gluten].” But chickpeas are a good protein source. That’s what I'm trying to say. As chefs, we let it run away from us and this [workshop] just kind of grounds us and brings us back to Earth and shows us the options available.

Do you find you're moving towards more of a plant-based diet in your personal life, too?

I definitely cook more plant-based meals at home. We don’t consume a lot of animal protein like we used to. On Instagram, I label myself as a part-time vegetarian. We used to cook steak and have one each, but we now split one three ways. And I cook steak much less frequently than I used to. You just move away from those options.

To be quite honest, there are so many more different products on the market today compared to five, six, seven years ago. In the produce section of the supermarket, plant-based products used to be limited to five or six items in the fridge. Now, it’s an entire fridge. There’s definitely growth in that segment.

The ingredient list on a pair of eye-catching pies includes avocados and dates (photo by Johnny Guatto)

How do you think menus at U of T will change next semester?

There are dishes already from what we're learning today that are being added next year. The pot pie is one example.

In another change, students will have more choice among plant-based options at food stations where they can customize their food. At the pan station, for example, where I would’ve previously had two or three animal proteins and six or seven plant-based options, we’ll now have one animal protein, two plant-based protein options and the vegetables.

Then there’s our Flex Burger. It’s 70 per cent Ontario beef and 30 per cent portobello mushroom stem. That mushroom stem could’ve been composted or thrown out, but instead it’s being consumed.

This isn’t just about offering more plant-based food; we’re also rethinking how we’re building our recipes. When I used to make a beef stew, it was 70 per cent beef and 30 per cent vegetables. Now, we’ve moved all our stews to a 50-50 ratio.

Do you have any tips for people who want to cook more plant-based meals at home?

I remember, many years ago, I was able to find only three cookbooks at Indigo that were plant-based or vegan-based. Today, you can walk into an Indigo and the main roundtable is all plant-based recipe books. There’s no shortage of information on plant-based cuisine.

I think the best place to start is just thinking about what you like to eat. If I like curry chicken, I can make that now with tofu. If I made it before, I’ll substitute the chicken with tofu or with chickpeas.

It’s not about having to cook differently; it’s about rethinking the ingredients.

If you’re on a student budget, is it better for your wallet to cook more vegan dishes, too?

Yes and no. Processed plant-based products can become expensive. In general, there used to be a scale where, if you looked at animal protein, it was double or three times the price of produce. That’s not necessarily the case anymore.

There are still some savings though – no doubt. Carrots, onions and potatoes are much more economical than a steak. So, in theory, yes it's more economical – and legumes and pulses are a good source of protein and there’s so much you can do with them, from making salads to stews and soups. You can even grind some of them out and use them in doughs.

U of T chefs prepare a mango tofu curry and tempeh Bolognese (photo by David Lee)

You said in a recent CBC interview that this move toward plant-based food is in response to student demand.

Yes. Our students are coming to campus today very much aware of climate issues and the impact of animals and diets on our planet. So, we have to be able to accommodate them.

I also think we need to be good stewards of our planet, make sure we’re socially responsible and make sure we do everything we can to protect the environment – local procurement, reducing animal protein on our menus, offering more plant-based options, different sources of packaging or reusable packaging.

It’s definitely demand-driven and the demand is up everywhere – in institutional settings, restaurants and grocery stores. And it will continue to grow over the years. It’s not a fad.

This is the future of how we need to live.

From eSports to K-pop, U of T hosts hundreds of community-oriented clubs and student groups

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:16:05 +0000

From eSports to K-pop, U of T hosts hundreds of community-oriented clubs and student groups

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 08/25/2022 - 15:16

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Members of UTSC Cheer run through a routine at Beach Cheer Athletics in Scarborough. The club is open to all U of T students, regardless of athletic ability (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Our Community

UTogether

Cell and Systems Biology

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Undergraduate Students

For many students, clubs are key part of the ��Ƶ experience – helping them to meet like-minded people, form lasting friendships and learn outside class.

And there are literally hundreds of extracurricular options across U of T’s three campuses.

The Student Organization Portal – a clubs directory – is a one-stop shop for information on recognized campus groups, ranging from “architecture” to “zero waste.” The portal includes information on what each group does and how to go about joining.

Here is just small selection of U of T’s student clubs and other groups:

UTM eSports

The UTM eSports club brings students together to play video games such as Valorant, League of Legends and Super Smash Bros. (photo courtesy UTM eSports)

Last year, about three billion people – more than a third of humanity – were active video gamers, according to Statista, a German market and consumer data company. Within the next two years, that number is expected to grow to 3.32 billion.

While gaming has come a very long way since physicist William Higinbotham invented what’s said to be the first video game, Tennis for Two, in 1958, people are still getting used to the idea of professional gaming competitions, says Peter Ghobrial, president of the UTM eSports club and a computer science major.

“Video games in general are mainstream but the act of competing in them is on its way there,” he says.

At U of T Mississauga, the club provides a friendly space in the Student Centre for gamers to socialize and compete against each other and students at other universities.

Currently, the most popular games are Valorant, League of Legends and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Switch. Although video games can be played at home, they’re often more fun to play with friends in person, says Ghobrial who goes by the username “Serp” (a reference to the serpentine Pokémon “Serperior”).

“When I joined the club as a member in first year, that’s honestly how I met a lot of people I’m friends with now,” he says.

“If you feel like it’s something you’d be interested in but feel shy – don’t be. Everyone in the club is welcoming and wants to have a good time.”

K-Pop Dance Crew

Thy Nguyen (centre), a linguistics major and member of University College and events officer in the K-Pop Dance Crew, teaches choreography at Hart House (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Ada Huang, a student in life sciences at New College, became a fan of K-pop in 2013 when she discovered the girl groups SISTAR, AOA and Girls’ Generation.

Only a year earlier Korean rapper Park Jae-sang, better known as Psy, became an international sensation with the earworm, “Gangnam Style,” which overtook Justin Bieber and Katy Perry on the Billboard charts.

Today, K-pop has become so popular that supergroup BTS was invited to the Oval Office to address anti-Asian racism.

Huang says one of the reasons she was drawn to K-pop was bands’ use of “concepts” – the distinctive styles that groups use in their videos, lyrics and costumes – that range from “high school” to “cute.”

She joined the K-Pop Dance Crew in order to make new friends who shared a love of the genre and dancing. Together, they learn the steps to their favourite videos and sometimes share their performances on YouTube.

“I think what I really appreciate about K-pop,” Huang says, is “how talented these young people are, and their determination in following their dreams of becoming a singer.”

Instagram: @uoftkdc https://www.instagram.com/uoftkdc/?hl=en

Bikechain

Bo Huang, a graduate of the Rotman School of Management, fixes his bike at Bikechain, a campus cycling co-op on the St. George campus (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

On a typical afternoon at the Bikechain cycling co-op at the corner of Huron and College Streets, many grease-stained fingers are busy replacing punctured tubes and worn-out brakes.

The co-op is a place where students can turn to volunteers or full-time staff for guidance on bike repairs and even buy second-hand parts.

“It can be a little hectic, but it’s very collaborative. People end up helping each other out,” says Beth Austerberry, executive director of Bikechain.

Since 2005, the club has subsisted on student levies and donations to make cycling as affordable as possible for students who may already be living on a tight budget.

Bikechain is open four days a week for DIY repairs and once a week for drop-off repairs. U of T students can also borrow a bike for free for one week at a time with a TCard and $100 deposit.

In addition to helping cyclists maintain their rides, Bikechain encourages people to discover the city on two wheels. The club recently began leading group rides to scenic locations in the GTA, including Ontario Place and Leslie Street Spit, a five-kilometre stretch of infill that juts out into Lake Ontario.

“What people like about us is that we’re a pretty social community space,” Austerberry says. “It’s partly about fixing your bike and partly about having fun with other people.”

Instagram: @bikechainut https://www.instagram.com/bikechainut/

Hart House Chess Club

Chess lovers of all skill levels are welcome to join the Hart House Chess Club, which offers lessons and drop-in nights (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Members of the Hart House Chess Club like to say that it’s “where the kibitzer is king.”

In chess-speak, a kibitzer is a spectator who comments on games in progress.

Ahmed Khalf, the club’s communications director, says the motto – which appears on the back of their club t-shirt – speaks to the group’s friendliness.

“Basically, the club is for anyone who’s interested in chess. It doesn’t really matter what level you are,” says Khalf, a computer science major in the Faculty of Arts & Science and a member of Trinity College. Though the club includes players with the rank of FIDE Master and Candidate Master, any and all players are welcome.

Khalf says he only started playing “seriously” three years ago – part of a Queen’s Gambit-inspired influx of players.

The club has a long history – in fact, it was founded in 1895, even before Hart House opened. It runs a weekly drop-in on Fridays and offers lessons that come with the $25 annual membership fee.

Khalf says being a member isn’t just about learning to ambush your opponent’s king. “It’s not so much about the game as it is about the people around it,” he says.

Instagram: @hhchessclub, https://www.instagram.com/hhchessclub/

U of T Trash Team

The U of T Trash Team helps keep green spaces and waterways clean by picking up cigarette butts, plastic and other garbage (photo courtesy of the U of T trash team)

A couple of years ago, Madeleine Milne was looking for an interesting pastime that would allow her to help her community.

The U of T Trash Team – a science-based community outreach group of students, researchers and other volunteers – fit the bill perfectly.

Team members organize clean-ups in parks, ravines and along the waterfront by bagging heavy loads of plastic waste and other garbage. At Sir Casimir Gzowski Park on Humber Bay earlier this summer, Milne and the team collected tiny pieces of plastic, hundreds of cigarette butts and enough litter to fill 10 trash and recycling bags.

Keeping Toronto’s green spaces pristine is its own reward, says Milne, who studied ecology and evolutionary biology and works in the lab of Assistant Professor and Trash Team founder Chelsea Rochman.

But she adds that a key advantage of Trash Team membership is that it offers an opportunity to get involved while maintaining a flexible schedule during the busy school year. Students who would prefer not to get their hands dirty can volunteer to visit grade school classrooms to educate youth about plastic pollution.

On clean-up days, the Trash Team often draws attention from people in the neighbourhood, who ask how they can do their part to reduce plastic waste. “It feels good to know you’re having an impact on the community,” Milne says.

Instagram: @uofttrashteam https://www.instagram.com/uofttrashteam/

U of T Skateboarders Club

Not even sub-zero temperatures prevent die-hard members of U of T Skateboarders from practising (photo by Liam Ogilvie)

Skateboarding got an unexpected popularity boost during the pandemic, when gathering outside was the safest way to socialize, says Karna Goswami, president of the U of T Skateboarders Club and third-year public policy major.

The U of T club is open to everyone – students and the general public alike – and has a supply of extra boards for people to get a feel for the sport.

The club meets regularly and the most enthusiastic members skate throughout the year, as long as there’s no snow on the ground. During the winter, the club also hosts social events so members can stay in touch.

All skaters are welcome, whether they’re still learning to stand on four wheels or able to do a backside tailslide effortlessly.

“Skateboarding doesn’t just expose people to a sport,” Goswami says. “It helps you see the city in a more lively way. Also, doing sick tricks is a good time.”

EmpowART

EmpowART helps forge connections between students and seniors through therapeutic art workshops (photo courtesy of EmpowART)

A beach chair framed by trees faces a calm lake, where a setting sun peeks over the horizon and casts a warm glow on the water’s surface.

The tranquil scene is one of many that seniors have learned to paint in workshops led by the U of T chapter of the EmpowART Foundation, a non-profit that uses art as a therapeutic tool in nursing homes and hospitals.

Founded one year ago, the U of T chapter has taught workshops in person at seniors’ homes around the GTA and online. Student volunteers take a Bob Ross approach to teaching, giving step-by-step instructions to paint a picture of a desert, galaxy or still life. At the end of the workshop, participants put their artwork on display in their rooms or as part of a small exhibition.

Niha Burugapalli, a student in peace, conflict and justice studies and global health and member of Victoria College, co-founded EmpowART with Kenneth Yip, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the department of cell and systems biology in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Burugapalli says the art workshops give seniors a chance to mingle with other residents and youth while doing something out of the ordinary and exercising their creativity.

As for students, they learn how to use their skills to benefit others – and they make new and interesting friends in the process.

“I think that [seniors] really do enjoy spending time with youth and I think that’s a really important connection that we need to foster,” Burugapalli says. “Oftentimes, older folks are cast aside or neglected in society when they have a lot of amazing advice and things to share.”

UTSC Cheer Team

The UTSC Cheer squad has performed at U of T Scarborough sports games and Pride Parade (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

You may have seen the U of T Scarborough Cheer Team revving up crowds at basketball and hockey games, or maybe even dancing at the Pride Parade.

On a recent August night, the squad warmed up in a cheerleading gym in Scarborough with stretches and somersaults before going through a routine to the tune of Beyoncé’s Renaissance.

Prior to the pandemic, the team took part in cheer competitions for the first time and received no deductions from the judges for their performance. Now, new and returning students are planning a comeback.

Although competitive cheerleading generally requires co-ordination and skill, the club caters to everyone, says Jessica Fernandes, who studied philosophy at U of T Scarborough.

“Our club is no-experience-needed,” she says. “We welcome people with absolutely no training, even no athletics at all … All bodies are welcome – anybody can do cheerleading.”

Instagram: @utsccheerleading https://www.instagram.com/utsccheerleading/?hl=en

U of T ranked among the world’s top universities by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 18:18:19 +0000

U of T ranked among the world’s top universities by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 08/17/2022 - 14:18

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(Photos by Nick Iwanyshyn and Daria Perevezentsev)

Topic

Shanghai Ranking Consultancy

The 2022 Academic Ranking of World Universities, released this week, saw the ��Ƶ hold steady at 22^nd in the world among all universities, public and private, while remaining the top-ranked university in Canada.

U of T also ranked sixth among North America’s public universities and 11^th among public schools globally – the same position it held last year – in the ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s latest world university rankings.

U of T continues to occupy its highest highest-ever position since the ranking was first launched in 2003.

“The ��Ƶ is consistently recognized as one of the world’s leading universities,” said U of T President Meric Gertler. “Across a wide range of fields, U of T scholars and researchers are advancing knowledge and understanding, while addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time.”

The Academic Ranking of World Universities is based on six weighted measures related to research and academic performance. They include: the number of alumni and faculty winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals; the number of highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories; the number of papers published in the prestigious journals Nature and Science; articles indexed in major citation indices; and each institution’s per capita academic performance.

In all, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy scrutinizes more than 2,500 institutions and publishes a list of the top 1,000 performers.

U of T did particularly well in the research category, earning high marks for its output in the sciences and social sciences.

The top three universities in this year’s edition of the ranking were Harvard University, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Four other Canadian universities placed within the top 100: the University of British Columbia (44^th), McGill University (73^rd), McMaster University (90^th) and the University of Alberta (92^nd).

Overall, U of T continues to be one of the world’s top-ranked public universities in the five most closely watched international rankings: U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities, Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s Academic Ranking of World Universities, and National Taiwan University World University Rankings.

U of T economist unpacks soaring inflation – and how Canadians can cope

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:23:23 +0000

U of T economist unpacks soaring inflation – and how Canadians can cope

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 08/03/2022 - 13:23

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(Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Our Community

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Economics

Economy

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global

Rotman School of Management

With inflation at its highest level in decades, are storm clouds gathering on Canada’s economic horizon?

Inflation hit 8.1 per cent year over year in June, eating away at Canadians’ savings amid rising prices for everything from gas to groceries.

The following month, the Bank of Canada responded by hiking its benchmark lending rate by a full percentage point, the largest such increase in more than two decades – and more tightening is likely on the way. Rising rates, in turn, have implications for anyone who borrows money, including businesses, consumers and homeowners. In one ominous sign for the tech sector, Ottawa-based Shopify cut 1,000 jobs, equal to 10 per cent of its workforce, last week.

Yet, despite some predictions that Canada is hurtling toward a painful recession, ��Ƶ economist Peter Dungan remains optimistic that sunnier days are ahead. In his research, he uses computer simulations to forecast the short- and long-term trajectory of Canada and Ontario’s economies.

“If we have a recession, it will be from a state at which the economy actually is in very good shape in terms of low unemployment and a high level of output,” says Dungan, an associate professor emeritus of economic analysis and policy at the Rotman School of Management who is cross-appointed to the department of economics in the Faculty of Arts & Science and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

U of T News recently spoke with Dungan about the state of the Canadian economy, where it’s headed, and how households and students can cope with sky-high inflation.

Peter Dungan (photo by Rick Madonick/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

What, exactly, is inflation?

Inflation is a change in the average price level. Inflation can be temporary in the sense that if the price level goes up, but then doesn’t keep rising, then inflation goes up and comes back down.

We’ve seen a significant change in the price level for a number of key items recently: oil, gas, wheat, stuff like that. But if the prices of things don’t keep rising – even if they stay where they are – the inflation rate goes back down again. It’s only if prices keep rising faster than they have before that you get a rise in the inflation rate.

Why would that happen? It could be the world keeps throwing disasters at us. The other big danger is people expect inflation to rise, so they keep bidding up their wages and demands, and that gets built into higher prices and then you’re into a “wage-price spiral,” as they call it. That second scenario isn’t happening yet. That’s not what's causing our inflation so far – and, so far, the evidence seems to be that expectations in the longer term are not rising significantly.

How did we get here?

There’s no easy answer.

In a way, if you allow an economist to use demand and supply, like we always do, this is a supply-side shock. This is something coming from weakness of supply, or a shortage of something. There was a certain amount of that having to do with microchips, and all kinds of other key ingredients that were being held up at ports or in China because of COVID-19 lockdowns there. To some extent, that’s still happening.

But it’s also fairly clear – at least in some countries – there’s what is called “demand pull” going on as well. Coming out of the [pandemic-induced] recession, people have started to buy things again – goods and services. The economy was in fairly good shape before we went in and it was well supported – as it had to be, at least in Canada and the U.S. – when we were in the pandemic, but that’s left people with a lot of money to spend as we once again emerge.

When you have a relatively large number of people pursuing a limited supply of goods, that tends to cause prices to increase. So, we have a mixture of “cost-push” and “demand-pull” inflation going on at the same time in varying degrees in different countries.

For example, there’s a bit more demand pull going on in the U.S. than in Canada because they had somewhat more expansionary fiscal policies more recently because they were worried about Omicron. On the other hand, in Europe – where there’s also significant inflation – it’s less about demand pull and more of a supply problem related to oil and natural gas due to the war in Ukraine.

Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer.

Why are some experts predicting a recession at the same time as we are experiencing record-low unemployment?

One of the things to distinguish is level versus change. A recession, technically speaking, is a change in the state of your economy. If it doesn't grow at its usual amount – especially if it contracts – then we call it a recession. But the state of the economy could be very high or very low when the change occurs.

As it happens, if we have a recession, it will be from a state at which the economy is actually in very good shape in terms of low unemployment and a high level of output. That would be much less serious than a recession that occurred when the economy was already weak because we hadn’t recovered from a previous recession, or there were other problems affecting the economy.

By the way, a recession can be -0.1 per cent growth or it can be minus five per cent. And there’s a huge difference between those two. It’s only indicative of the direction the economy is heading as opposed to the scale.

A lot of people who are talking about a recession – not all, but some – are only talking about something that would be much milder than either the one induced by the pandemic or the recession that’s sometimes called the Great Recession that started in 2008-2009.

There are some people who are ringing alarm bells, saying it’s going to be a bad recession. I do not happen to agree with them myself. But there’s all kinds of possibilities out there and it depends on what happens in the geopolitical realm, too.

What’s the economic forecast for Canada?

On the inflation front, I am very confident that we will eventually get back to two per cent. It’s the Bank of Canada’s target, they have the tools to be able to achieve it, and they seem to be determined to do it. The thing is, it will take longer than we thought because there was more of this “cost-push inflation.” Before the Ukraine war broke out, nobody saw that coming: the huge increase in oil, gas and food prices occurring as a result. That’s just a nasty surprise.

How much damage has to occur to the economy to get back to two per cent? That’s a more open question. If, in effect, there’s no more supply shocks and the Bank of Canada’s and other central banks’ rate hikes cool demand, then we may be able to that low inflation rate in two or three years with relatively modest losses in employment and GDP.

On the other hand, if shocks to the supply side of the economy keep coming at us, we’re in different territory. Then you really need to push on the demand side to weaken inflation. The big question in the backs of central bankers’ minds, is: Is high inflation getting into people’s expectations of the future and their wage and price bargaining? Once that happens, then you’re in the nasty world of the late 70s and early 80s. Those decades required a huge recession to literally bleed the inflation out of the system. And nobody wants to go there.

Many Canadians haven’t experienced high inflation, but you were in university during the hyperinflationary 1970s. How did that compare to now?

The similarity, though it’s extremely limited, is that we’re temporarily getting back to rates of inflation we haven’t seen since that period. So, yes, that was a time in which inflation was like eight, nine, 10 per cent per year for a number of years. But I don’t think that’s going to happen this time around.

There’s a big difference, too. Nowadays, central banks have clear inflation targets and are determined to hit them. That’s a policy goal that only began in the 1990s, partly in reaction to the failures from before.

Unless there's an absolute, major change in the way our central banks operate or are allowed to operate – which I consider highly unlikely for North America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand – we’re going back to low inflation.

The other major difference between then and now is that, in those days, because central banks didn’t have a target for inflation, and because inflation was all over the map for a significant period, people’s expectations were, in a sense, unanchored. When unions went into wage bargaining, they didn’t know what inflation was going to be – only that it was likely to be high. So, of course, they bargained for a big wage increase. That gets passed through into other prices, which then validates the inflation and then: “Oh my God. We’re in trouble.”

Today, so far as we can tell, people expect inflation to be high for a year or two, but the expectation for the longer term doesn’t seem to be moving yet. People still trust that this is temporary. If that that changes, then it’s a new world – or maybe I should say old world. We’re back to the 70s and 80s again. And it would take higher levels of unemployment and more significant recessions to get inflation down and convince people to drop thier expectations. But we aren’t seeing it yet.

What tools do countries have to rein in inflation?

Largely, the job falls on the central bank. It uses higher interest rates to slow down particular parts of economic activity like housing and purchasing cars and things like that. That’s your first line of defence.

If it wanted to help, a federal or provincial government could also raise taxes or cut spending, but it’s very politically difficult to do that – and it’s not clear at this point that it’s necessary. It’s not that serious a problem. Some provincial governments are actually throwing money at people. I don’t mind that if it’s going to people who are more affected by inflation, including those living on fixed incomes, low-income people and others who are suffering. But you don’t want across-the-board tax cuts or spending programs to boost the economy. The economy is boosted already. The unemployment rate is at historic lows. We don’t need boosting. If anything, we need to un-boost.

What do you make of the news that Shopify laid off 10 per cent of its staff?

Shopify’s problem was that they took a real boost during the pandemic because, of course, there was more online shopping. What we didn’t know coming out of the pandemic – regardless of whether there was going to be recession and inflation-fighting – was whether people were going to go back to brick-and-mortar stores or continue shopping online. It looks like Shopify was excessively optimistic about how much online would occur. So, they’re cutting back. I have a feeling that would have happened anyway.

What can the average person and household do to protect themselves from inflation? What about students?

There’s no magic wand on this one. It’s possible some prices will come down in the future, in which case it’s much less of a problem. But to the extent that some things cost more because of ongoing problems in Europe – if the Ukraine war is going to continue, isolating Russia as a major supplier of oil, gas and wheat – what this means is that the world is not going to be quite as generous as it was before to a student or household. Some things are just going to be more expensive, including food items and fuel. It may not keep getting worse, but it may not get back to the way it was a year ago either.

That pain has to be recognized. It’s a cost that has to be borne. The world is not making wheat available for us to buy burger buns and oil – and then to move the burger buns around between restaurants – as generously as it was before, so there’s going to be a hit.

What that means is you’ll have to review your budget. Review what’s important to you and make changes to move away from the more expensive things and toward the less expensive things –realize that the budget is tighter than it was before. There’s really no way around it.

Again, I’ll hold out the small hope that there will be some adjustment on the supply-side effects as time goes by, so that we may be able to see perhaps even lower rates of inflation than two per cent in times to come. Certain things that we really like might get cheaper again. That’s definitely a possibility, but it depends on how the world evolves.

Faces of leadership: U of T welcomes its newest deans

geoff.vendeville — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 16:27:41 +0000

Faces of leadership: U of T welcomes its newest deans

geoff.vendeville Tue, 07/26/2022 - 12:27

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A recent event at the Faculty Club brought together U of T's deans, including those who took on their senior leadership roles during the pandemic (photo by Johnny Guatto)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

Our Community

UTogether

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Faculty of Law

Faculty of Music

John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Rotman School of Management

School of Continuing Studies

Like many during the pandemic, Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life Heather Boon spent a lot of time interacting with her colleagues through the rectangle of her computer screen.

It struck her that many of the more recent additions to the ��Ƶ’s senior leadership had probably never even met one another. So, Boon organized an event at the Faculty Club in late June where new and long-standing deans – an increasingly diverse group of leaders – could get together in-person.

“It’s really exciting,” Boon says. “Deans at U of T are responsible for defining and implementing the academic vision and priorities for their units, including academic programs for students and faculty hiring.

“Their leadership decisions have a tremendous impact on the university.”

She adds that deans also play a significant role in advancing a culture of inclusive excellence at the university, which contributes base funding for Black and Indigenous faculty through the provost’s Diversity in Academic Hiring Fund.

Here is a snapshot of the diverse range of backgrounds and scholarly experience that U of T’s newest deans are bringing to the university’s senior ranks:

Jutta Brunnée

Faculty of Law

Brunnée, a well-known scholar of international and environmental law, has been at the helm of the faculty since January, 2021.

She taught a course at the Hague Academy of International Law and was elected to the renowned Institut de droit international based in Geneva. She taught at McGill University and the University of British Columbia before joining U of T, in 2000.

“I am eager for the faculty to be as visible and engaged as possible across Canada and around the globe,” she said.

With smiles and stoles, student-run event celebrates U of T's Black graduates

geoff.vendeville — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 14:15:29 +0000

With smiles and stoles, student-run event celebrates U of T's Black graduates

geoff.vendeville Mon, 07/04/2022 - 10:15

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Black graduates recognized one another's achievements at a student-led event held at Hart House following U of T's spring convocation ceremonies (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

Hart House

St. George

St. Michael's College

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

Undergraduate Students

Victoria University

Women and Gender Studies

“Understand that your presence here, and what you achieved here, is monumental and that cannot be denied.”

The words of Adriana Williams, president of the ��Ƶ's Black Students' Association (BSA), echoed through Hart House’s Great Hall, where dozens of Black U of T students who graduated earlier this spring gathered recently to celebrate their achievements.

Students at U of T began organizing Black Grad celebrations in 2017 and over the years the events have been held on the St. George and U of T Mississauga campuses, as well as virtually during the pandemic.

The theme of this year's student-run celebration was “trials and tribulations.” It was meant to underscore challenges each student overcame to earn their degree – both as Black students and as students navigating university during a pandemic.

The event itself marked a triumph over difficulties since it was the first in-person celebration in two years due to COVID-19. “I feel the biggest thing about this entire ceremony is it's a really good example of overcoming adversity, which is something our community does all the time,” Williams told U of T News.

“Post-secondary was never created with people of colour – let alone Black people – at all,” said Williams, who graduated this spring with a degree in linguistics, history and African studies as a member of St. Michael's College. “I feel like the Black student experience in general is just very unique, so I think it's imperative that we highlight what we've done here.”

U of T News senior reporter and associate editor Geoffrey Vendeville captured the following images of this year’s event: