Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering / en Researchers develop quantum dot smartphone device to diagnose and track COVID-19 /news/researchers-develop-quantum-dot-smartphone-device-diagnose-and-track-covid-19 <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Researchers develop quantum dot smartphone device to diagnose and track COVID-19</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-04/quantum%20dot.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=DiMqQaex 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2023-04/quantum%20dot.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YO5EK8-V 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2023-04/quantum%20dot.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jc6IGRQw 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2023-04/quantum%20dot.jpeg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=DiMqQaex" alt="Ayden Malekjahani and Johnny Zhang"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2021-06-17T16:15:29-04:00" title="Thursday, June 17, 2021 - 16:15" class="datetime">Thu, 06/17/2021 - 16:15</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item"><p>老司机直播 PhD candidates Ayden Malekjahani and Johnny Zhang are co-authors of a study detailing the development of a portable, smartphone-based quantum barcode serological assay device for real-time surveillance of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.</p> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/qin-dai" hreflang="en">Qin Dai</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/6923" hreflang="en">Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donnelly-centre-cellular-biomolecular-research" hreflang="en">Donnelly Centre for Cellular &amp; Biomolecular Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/chemistry" hreflang="en">Chemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mount-sinai-hospital" hreflang="en">Mount Sinai Hospital</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Researchers at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Public Health Ontario&nbsp;and Mount&nbsp;Sinai Hospital, have developed a COVID-19 antibody test that makes use of a smartphone camera.</p> <p>The test could significantly improve the turnaround time and efficiency of infectious disease diagnosis, both for COVID-19 and beyond. The work is&nbsp;<a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c01280">published&nbsp;in the latest issue of&nbsp;<em>Nano Letters</em></a> and involves 老司机直播 researchers from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research.</p> <p>鈥淭he goal of the study is to make COVID-19 antibody tests more accessible.鈥 said&nbsp;<strong>Johnny Zhang</strong>, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and department of chemistry who is one of the co-first authors of the publication.</p> <p>鈥淭he end result is that the patients can take a self-diagnosis for COVID-19 with their phone, and that data can be immediately accessed digitally by medical professionals.鈥</p> <p>The typical workflow for infectious disease diagnostic testing involves obtaining a sample from the patient, sending it to a laboratory for diagnostic testing&nbsp;and distributing the result&nbsp;to clinical personnel for decision making. The processes are often siloed&nbsp;and have a long turn-around time.</p> <div class="imsage-with-caption left"> <div class="image-with-caption left"> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="align-left"> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/2023-04/smartphone_diagnostics_toc.jpeg" width="450" height="636" alt="smartphone diagnostics"> </div> </div> <em>A device developed at 老司机直播's Institute of Biomedical Engineering makes use of an ordinary smartphone camera to rapidly detect COVID-19. (Image courtesy of Matthew Osborne and Hongmin Chen)</em></div> </div> <p>By contrast, the 老司机直播 and hospital researchers developed a portable smartphone-based quantum barcode serological assay device for real-time surveillance of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. They engineered&nbsp;quantum dot barcoded microbeads and a secondary label to search for antibodies against COVID-19 antigen in a patient鈥檚 blood. Finding the antibodies leads to a change in microbead emission colour.</p> <p>The beads are then loaded into the device, activated with a laser, and the signal is imaged using a smartphone camera. An app is designed to process the image to identify the bead鈥檚 emission change. Finally, the data are interpreted and transmitted remotely across the world for data collection and decision making.</p> <p>鈥淭he beauty of the system is that everything is integrated into one portable unit.鈥 said Zhang.</p> <p>This technology, by which quantum dot microbead detection can measure minuscule amounts of key biomarkers in blood, has been in development for the past 10 years.</p> <p>鈥淲e really wanted to improve the performance and utility of the technology this time around,鈥 said PhD candidate&nbsp;<strong>Ayden Malekjahani</strong>, the other co-first author of this study.</p> <p>鈥淏eing able to detect traces of target in patients is not enough. We wanted to add more functions to the device. We designed the device to simultaneously detect multiple antibodies from different sample types, so each test run is packed with information. The results are then uploaded to an online dashboard where medical professionals and the public can see trends in real time.鈥</p> <p>The researchers tested the device with 49 patient blood samples where varying degrees of COVID-19 infection were present, and were able to achieve 84-88 per cent sensitivity. Although this result is not as high as traditional tests, it is still approximately three times higher than lateral flow assays, which are currently the most commonly available portable antibody tests.</p> <p>This result also means detecting COVID-19 antibody can now be done outside of the centralized facilities without a big drop in accuracy.</p> <p>This research was a collaboration with the Public Health Ontario, Sunnybrook Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, where clinical samples were provided to the researchers to test and evaluate this new system.</p> <p>鈥淭his device can be a game-changer in the way we monitor the spread of infectious diseases and a patient鈥檚 response to vaccines.鈥 said Professor&nbsp;<strong>Warren Chan</strong>, director of&nbsp;the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and the corresponding author of this research.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 17 Jun 2021 20:15:29 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 301383 at 老司机直播 and Hebrew University of Jerusalem launch research and innovation partnership /news/u-t-and-hebrew-university-jerusalem-launch-research-and-innovation-partnership <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 and Hebrew University of Jerusalem launch research and innovation partnership</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LntJBazg 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MfpHV3qV 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=gjaoiSvt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LntJBazg" alt="An aerial photo of Jerusalem "> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-07-03T15:49:59-04:00" title="Friday, July 3, 2020 - 15:49" class="datetime">Fri, 07/03/2020 - 15:49</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">老司机直播's partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will allow faculty and students from the two institutions to combine their resources to carry out high-impact research in a variety of fields (photo by Yonit Schiller)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rahul-kalvapalle" hreflang="en">Rahul Kalvapalle</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donnelly-centre-cellular-biomolecular-research" hreflang="en">Donnelly Centre for Cellular &amp; Biomolecular Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cell-and-systems-biology" hreflang="en">Cell and Systems Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">老司机直播</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/anthropology" hreflang="en">Anthropology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/chemistry" hreflang="en">Chemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/computer-science" hreflang="en">Computer Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/molecular-genetics" hreflang="en">Molecular Genetics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/occupational-therapy" hreflang="en">Occupational Therapy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/physics" hreflang="en">Physics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>How did environmental conditions and climate change influence early human evolution? Can protein engineering be harnessed to block the virus that causes COVID-19?&nbsp; How do quantum mechanics affect biological functions, and how do our memory and learning work on a cellular level in the brain?</p> <p>These are some of the big questions that will be explored by researchers at the University of Toronto and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) as part of a new strategic partnership that will allow faculty and students from the two institutions to combine resources to carry out high-impact research.</p> <p>Each year, the University of Toronto 鈥 Hebrew University of Jerusalem Research and Innovation Alliance will select projects to receive funding of $150,000 a year for up to four years, with each research group comprising faculty drawn from both universities and covering a range of disciplines. The alliance will also occasionally provide one-time seed funding to help get promising projects off the ground.</p> <p>Initially launched with endowed funding of $5.9 million from the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University and the family of Roz and Ralph Halbert, the alliance&nbsp;aims to raise another $14 million and eventually construct an innovation pipeline between 老司机直播 and HUJI to connect the entrepreneurship ecosystems in Toronto and Jerusalem and provide student entrepreneurs with exposure to each other鈥檚 universities and markets.</p> <p>鈥淸HUJI鈥檚] mandate with respect to research is very closely aligned to 老司机直播鈥檚 in terms of leading the world in a variety of areas, and that鈥檚 always the kind of partner we鈥檙e looking for,鈥 said <strong>Alex Mihailidis</strong>, 老司机直播鈥檚 associate vice-president of international partnerships and a professor in the Faculty of Medicine's department of occupational science and occupational therapy, as well as the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering.</p> <p>鈥淲e both recognize that international collaborations strengthen the research within each university, and that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e excited to partner with them.鈥</p> <p>He added that the timing of the partnership speaks to 老司机直播鈥檚 commitment to forge ahead with research partnerships despite the challenges of working and collaborating amid the pandemic.</p> <p>鈥淔rom an international partnerships perspective, it鈥檚 business as usual,鈥 said Mihailidis, who is also cross-appointed to the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. 鈥淲e鈥檝e not shut anything down and we鈥檝e not stopped collaborations. We鈥檙e going full-speed ahead 鈥 it鈥檚 looking a bit different, but we are still moving ahead both with existing and new partners.鈥</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/MC-embed.jpg" alt>The funding will enable Professor <strong>Michael Chazan</strong> of 老司机直播鈥檚 department of anthropology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science to work closely with&nbsp;geologist Ari Matmon at HUJI鈥檚 Institute of Earth Sciences to build a more comprehensive picture of how climate affected the evolution of early humans in the Kalahari Basin. The basin covers more than 2.5 million square kilometres across South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Both researchers&nbsp;developed an interest in the Kalahari 鈥 Chazan as an archeologist analyzing early evidence of human activity and Matmon as a geologist carrying out dating techniques to study the evolution of the landscape 鈥 and they鈥檙e now looking to combine their perspectives.</p> <p>鈥淭he next phase of work with this funding is to expand Ari鈥檚 geological work, particularly looking for evidence of wet environments, so we can try and understand when there was a shift to modern arid conditions,鈥 said Chazan. 鈥淎t the same time, I鈥檒l be working in the town of Kathu in South Africa, which is a major mining area today, and we鈥檙e looking at some very large sites and trying to understand what the conditions were when this place supported large groups of people.</p> <p>鈥淪o it鈥檚 a really new area of study that combines geological perspectives on how the landscape and hydrology evolved with an archeological perspective which is asking 鈥 in more narrowly focused locations 鈥 what the human behaviour was and what was drawing people to these sites.鈥</p> <p>Oron Shagrir, vice-president for international affairs at HUJI, said the partnership brings together 鈥渢he two leading universities in Israel and Canada,鈥 and that the call for research proposals resulted in several exciting submissions.</p> <p>鈥淚n these challenging and unprecedented times for societies and universities alike, international partnerships are an invaluable source of support and inspiration,鈥 said Shagrir, a professor of philosophy and cognitive science. 鈥淭hey are not only an important asset and tool in advancing universities on all levels, but also serve as a valuable platform to promote and support collaborative research projects.鈥</p> <p>Chazan points to his project as an example of how the two universities can combine their respective strengths.</p> <p>鈥淎t 老司机直播, we鈥檙e strong in terms of field archeology and geophysics,鈥 he said. 鈥淗ebrew University is particularly strong in looking at the evolution of landforms over the period of the last two to five million years ... [and] that requires some very specialized labs.鈥</p> <p>Among the labs that Chazan and his students will have access to is a high-tech facility that 鈥渂locks out any modern magnetic signals鈥 to precisely study fluctuations in the earth鈥檚 magnetic field. 鈥淗aving access to that is a major asset for the project and for our students, who get to learn how to operate in that kind of system,鈥 said Chazan.</p> <p>Meanwhile, <strong>Sachdev Sidhu</strong><strong>, </strong>a professor appointed to 老司机直播鈥檚 Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, the department of molecular genetics and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, will be working with Professor Julia Shifman of HUJI鈥檚 Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Science to study how the fast-growing fields of protein engineering and design can be leveraged to develop treatments for diseases, including COVID-19.</p> <p>Their project will use insights gained from past outbreaks of coronaviruses to understand the functions of the proteins that power SARS-CoV-2 鈥 the virus that causes COVID-19 鈥 and to develop molecules with the potential to disarm the virus and pave the way to a potential cure.</p> <p>Additionally, the 老司机直播 鈥 HUJI Research and Innovation Alliance is providing $5,000 in seed funding to two projects.</p> <p>The first will see Professor <strong>Dvira Segal</strong> of 老司机直播鈥檚 departments of chemistry and physics and Professor Roi Baer of HUJI鈥檚 Fritz Haber Research Center for Molecular Dynamics and Institute of Chemistry explore the role of quantum processes in natural and engineered quantum systems.&nbsp;</p> <p>The second aims to better understand how the brain acquires and stores information in order to help prevent and treat debilitating memory and learning disorders. The principal investigators are Associate Professors <strong>Sheena Josselyn</strong> and <strong>Paul Frankland </strong>of the department of physiology in 老司机直播鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine, Professor <strong>Melanie Woodin </strong>of the department of cell and systems biology and HUJI scholars Adi Mizrahi, Ami Citri and Inbal Goshen.</p> <p><strong>Ronald Appleby</strong>, a 老司机直播 alumnus and campaign chair for the partnership, said the research efforts made possible by the partnership speak to the two universities鈥 鈥渟hared commitment to advancing interdisciplinary teams of researchers and students working on translational research, bolstered by mutual respect and friendship.</p> <p>鈥淭he attention paid to research in engineering and medicine, the sciences, the social sciences, humanities, and law reflects our mutual interest in creating novel solutions for some of the most pressing current issues,鈥 Appleby said.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 03 Jul 2020 19:49:59 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 165121 at With international partner, 老司机直播 launches research centre focused on robotics and elder care /news/international-partner-u-t-launches-centre-focused-robotics-and-elder-care <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"> With international partner, 老司机直播 launches research centre focused on robotics and elder care</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2019-05-06-AlexMihailidis-resized_0.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=IqSkDgDW 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2019-05-06-AlexMihailidis-resized_0.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KRiz-HZI 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2019-05-06-AlexMihailidis-resized_0.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=F7aFcsce 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2019-05-06-AlexMihailidis-resized_0.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=IqSkDgDW" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-06-04T12:38:55-04:00" title="Thursday, June 4, 2020 - 12:38" class="datetime">Thu, 06/04/2020 - 12:38</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Alex Mihailidis, 老司机直播's associate vice-president, international partnerships, says the partnership with China's Huazhong University of Science and Technology will speed up development of new technologies (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liz-do" hreflang="en">Liz Do</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/china" hreflang="en">China</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/occupational-therapy" hreflang="en">Occupational Therapy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/robotics" hreflang="en">Robotics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/seniors" hreflang="en">Seniors</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The University of Toronto鈥檚 Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering&nbsp;and the AGE-WELL Network of Centres of Excellence has partnered with the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in China to launch a centre dedicated to researching and commercializing robotics for elder care. The centre will be virtually housed within the&nbsp;<a href="https://robotics.utoronto.ca/">老司机直播 Robotics Institute</a>.</p> <p>鈥淲e鈥檙e really excited to form this international partnership, which will allow us to speed up the development of better technologies and make an impact from both sides of the world,鈥 says Professor&nbsp;<strong>Alex Mihailidis</strong>, associate vice-president, international partnerships, at 老司机直播 and&nbsp;a leading researcher in intelligent health systems for older adults.</p> <p>Mihailidis is leading efforts alongside Professor Yan Fu at HUST. The joint centre has already gained an industry partner, robotics company UBTECH, which will provide support on various research projects, as well as commercialization.</p> <p>鈥淏oth HUST and 老司机直播 are leaders in robotics research, so the marriage of the two promises to produce outstanding results,鈥 says Fu. 鈥淲ith an increasingly aging population in China, and fewer younger family members to take care of them, robotics is going to play a vital role down the road.鈥</p> <p>By 2030, Canadians over the age of 65 will make up&nbsp;23 per cent of the population. And in China, seniors will make up&nbsp;28 per cent of the population&nbsp;by 2040. Though these are future scenarios, the health-care challenges around aging populations can be felt today. One instance is&nbsp;the recent dispatch released by the Canadian military&nbsp;on living and working conditions of residents and health workers at long-term care homes in Ontario.</p> <p>鈥淭his revelation underscores the kinds of critical gaps we see in elder care,鈥 says Mihailidis, who envisions the centre helping to address these gaps by leveraging and catalyzing research already taking place at the two partner institutions.</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/Robot%20at%20home%5B1%5D.jpg" alt></p> <p><em>Developed in Mihailidis鈥 lab, 鈥楨d,鈥 the robot, helps guide seniors with dementia through everyday tasks&nbsp;(photo courtesy of the Intelligent Assistive Technology and Systems Lab)</em></p> <p>At 老司机直播 Engineering, robotics research in elder care is led by faculty such as Mihailidis, whose team develops smart-home robotics for older adults, and Professor&nbsp;<strong>Goldie Nejat</strong>,&nbsp;who designs socially assistive robots that cognitively stimulate and promote social interaction in long-term care homes.</p> <p>鈥淲e can take these projects, put them on the UBTECH robotic platform, work with our counterparts in China to do the same thing, test robots in our respective countries, and work towards making commercially viable products,鈥 Mihailidis says.</p> <p>Over the next year, Mihailidis hopes to expand the centre鈥檚 research cohort. And, once travelling restrictions are lifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he sees vast opportunities for student and faculty research exchanges.</p> <p>鈥淭he possibility to work with HUST and with UBTECH 鈥 we have the opportunity to see some real-world impact,鈥 says Mihailidis. 鈥淎nd if this partnership model is successful, it presents a novel approach for collaboration going forward at the university.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 04 Jun 2020 16:38:55 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 164838 at Overcoming prejudice and poverty: Meet 老司机直播 grad and 'doctor of the future' Amanda Khan /news/overcoming-prejudice-and-poverty-meet-u-t-grad-and-doctor-future-amanda-khan <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Overcoming prejudice and poverty: Meet 老司机直播 grad and 'doctor of the future' Amanda Khan</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2020-05-26-Amanda-Khan-%28lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TCVmII8P 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2020-05-26-Amanda-Khan-%28lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=g84wGIn8 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2020-05-26-Amanda-Khan-%28lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jGVLEDZz 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2020-05-26-Amanda-Khan-%28lead%29.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=TCVmII8P" alt="Amanda Khan lies on the grass with her laptop in front of her"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-05-29T15:08:32-04:00" title="Friday, May 29, 2020 - 15:08" class="datetime">Fri, 05/29/2020 - 15:08</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Amanda Khan, who received scholarship support from 老司机直播 and is now graduating with an MD and PhD, says she is the first in her extended family to receive an advanced degree (photo by Johnny Guatto)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rahul-kalvapalle" hreflang="en">Rahul Kalvapalle</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/convocation-2020" hreflang="en">Convocation 2020</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/diversity-and-inclusion" hreflang="en">Diversity and Inclusion</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-stories" hreflang="en">Graduate Stories</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/st-michael-s-hospital" hreflang="en">St. Michael's Hospital</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Amanda Khan</strong>鈥檚 graduation from the University of Toronto鈥檚 MD/PhD program marks a giant step toward her goal of becoming a surgeon-scientist. But more than anything, she鈥檚 looking forward to becoming the kind of mentor and role model that she didn鈥檛 have growing up.&nbsp;</p> <p>Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Khan moved to Canada with her family and grew up&nbsp;in Toronto鈥檚 Rexdale neighbourhood.</p> <p>She always wanted to be a doctor and a scientist, but says she had no one to look up to.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 hard when you don鈥檛 have examples of people from your community going to medical school, because no one I knew from my neighbourhood went to university or did an advanced degree,鈥 Khan says. 鈥淣one of us has ever done this level of education. There鈥檚 no one in my family or extended family who鈥檚 a physician or went to grad school.鈥</p> <p>But what Khan lacked in role models or financial backing she more than made up for with determination, force of will and the encouragement of her loved ones. She is now graduating with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the Faculty of Medicine and a PhD from the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering.</p> <p>Along the way, she has racked up numerous awards, including a Canadian Medical Hall of Fame award, a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and being <a href="/news/u-t-mdphd-student-amanda-khan-one-canada-s-most-powerful-women">named one of Canada鈥檚 100 most powerful women</a> by the Women鈥檚 Executive Network. She鈥檚 now set to begin a five-year residency in radiation oncology in Calgary.</p> <p>It鈥檚 been a long road for Khan, who recounts the abject state of her bank balance when she was applying to MD/PhD programs across Canada and the U.S.</p> <p>鈥淚 literally had $200 remaining in my bank account,鈥 Khan says. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have been able to pay rent that month if I didn鈥檛 get into MD/PhD because I put every dollar I had into trying to get into this program.鈥</p> <p>Khan, who did her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Western University, says she was drawn to 老司机直播 because it鈥檚 a world-class research institution with top-notch hospital affiliations and a generous financial support program.</p> <p>鈥溊纤净辈 gave me the most money in scholarship support&nbsp;鈥&nbsp;and that was very important for me because I had so much debt from my undergrad and master鈥檚. I鈥檓 from a poor family so I needed financial assistance and 老司机直播 was brilliant in financially supporting me through these eight years,鈥 Khan says.</p> <p>鈥溊纤净辈 also has the biggest MD/PhD program in the country and you鈥檙e learning at world-class institutions like IBBME, IMS [the Institute of Medical Science], [the department of] medical biophysics 鈥 and with the kind of clinical research I wanted to do, obviously the hospital connections 老司机直播 has are the best.鈥</p> <p>It was one of those hospital connections that gave Khan the inspiration for her PhD research. In her first year, Khan took part in Day of the Doctor, an initiative where medical students shadow a physician for a day.</p> <p>Khan was paired with a general surgeon at St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital who was performing laparoscopy 鈥 a type of surgery where small incisions are made in the abdomen using elongated tools, with the aid of a camera.</p> <p>One of the challenges with laparoscopic surgery is that surgeons don鈥檛 have the tactile feedback that they would have during a conventional surgery, so it鈥檚 not uncommon for them to inadvertently tear tissue by grasping it too hard or applying too much force. This can lead to internal bleeding, infection and even death.</p> <p>Watching the surgeon go about his surgeries, Khan wondered out loud how the amount of force applied by laparoscopic tools could be measured to stay within a safe range.</p> <p>鈥淚 asked, 鈥楬ow do we know how much force we should be applying with these laparoscopic tools? How do you even prove such a thing and how do you make the tools smarter so that they will automatically make surgeons not go into the dangerous force zone?鈥 So the doctor was joking with me and said, 鈥楳aybe you should do your PhD on it鈥 鈥 and so I did.鈥</p> <p>It鈥檚 a field of research that involves a heavy emphasis on engineering, which isn鈥檛 Khan鈥檚 background. She credits her husband, who graduated from 老司机直播 with a degree in mechanical engineering, for&nbsp;playing a key role in her PhD.</p> <p>鈥淔or me to learn all the engineering stuff during my PhD was really challenging&nbsp;鈥 really hard. Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering 鈥 he was absolutely instrumental in showing me how to do all those things. I dedicated my PhD to him,鈥 Khan says.</p> <p>In addition to the challenge of navigating complex engineering terrain, Khan says it was difficult to progress through two different programs and cohorts.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 hard because you start medical school with a medical school class, and then you have to withdraw to your PhD while your friends from your original class go on and become physicians and residents while you鈥檙e doing your PhD,鈥 she says.</p> <p>鈥淭hen when you come back to medicine, you鈥檙e in a different class. It鈥檚 hard because you see your friends who are already physicians and practising after four years.鈥</p> <p>The program鈥檚 workload meant Khan had to make plenty of sacrifices.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淭here were friends鈥 weddings I couldn鈥檛 go to, family events I couldn鈥檛 go to, parties that I can鈥檛 go to because I鈥檓 on call or I鈥檓 studying or defending my thesis,鈥 she says. 鈥淭here are all these things you miss out on. You have to be willing to make sacrifices.鈥</p> <p>Khan says what kept her going was keeping her an eye on the ultimate prize&nbsp;鈥渙f being a physician who does translational research that directly benefits my patients.鈥</p> <p>A champion of diversity and representation in the STEM fields, Khan set up <a href="https://md.utoronto.ca/news/admissions-blog-spotlight-research-application-support-initiative">the Research Application Support Initiative</a>, <a href="https://applymd.utoronto.ca/community-support">a 老司机直播 Community of Support program</a> that connects students to research positions and mentors to guide them on their journey to get accepted into medical school and other graduate programs.</p> <p>鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of success with people whom I鈥檝e mentored getting into medical school and who are now lifting their families out of poverty, says Khan. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a big deal and I鈥檓 really glad 老司机直播 supports that.鈥</p> <p>However, Khan says there鈥檚 a long way to go when it comes to diversity.</p> <p>鈥淎s a brown woman, I鈥檓 often discounted. I鈥檝e had physicians tell me it鈥檚 a shame I鈥檓 not my husband 鈥 who鈥檚 a white man 鈥 because my research would鈥檝e been taken more seriously,鈥 she says.</p> <p>鈥淵ou face racism even in Toronto, even from physicians, even from engineers. You face sexism as well, especially in surgery. It鈥檚 still an old boys鈥 club and I鈥檝e had a few surgeons tell me that surgery is for men, not for women.鈥</p> <p>Indeed, one of Khan鈥檚 missions as she heads to Calgary is to expand the Communities of Support program and make a contribution toward&nbsp;making the fields of medicine and engineering more diverse and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.</p> <p>鈥淚 want medicine to be very diverse,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 want there to be representation from everybody. If we鈥檙e supposed to be treating society 鈥 which is made up of hundreds of different backgrounds, cultures, religions, sexual orientations 鈥 these are the people who should be in medical school and should be the doctors of the future.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 29 May 2020 19:08:32 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 164735 at 老司机直播 Engineering set to host first-ever virtual research conference /news/u-t-engineering-set-host-first-ever-virtual-research-conference <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 Engineering set to host first-ever virtual research conference</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Screenshot.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wq9GA5wl 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Screenshot.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=J9q-0_6u 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Screenshot.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=9KcfGQz8 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Screenshot.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wq9GA5wl" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-05-25T16:05:46-04:00" title="Monday, May 25, 2020 - 16:05" class="datetime">Mon, 05/25/2020 - 16:05</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">老司机直播 Engineering鈥檚 first-ever faculty-wide research conference is organized by members of the Graduate Engineering Council of Students as well as faculty (Photo courtesy of Samantha Cheung)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/liz-do" hreflang="en">Liz Do</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/student-experience" hreflang="en">Student Experience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/chemical-engineering" hreflang="en">Chemical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/undergraduate-students" hreflang="en">Undergraduate Students</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Brandon Rufino</strong>鈥檚 preparation for his big presentation is a bit different today: He鈥檚 testing out his laptop mic and finding a spot in his apartment with the most light and least clutter.</p> <p>Rufino, a student in the University of Toronto鈥檚 Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering,&nbsp;is among nearly 100 undergraduate and graduate students taking part in the inaugural 老司机直播 Engineering Research Conference (UTERC) on June 9 and 10. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event will be broadcast digitally, with students presenting their research as poster presentations via Twitter&nbsp;or through non-technical lightning lectures on Zoom.</p> <p>The conference will feature the latest in undergraduate and graduate research in six key areas: advanced manufacturing; data analytics and artificial intelligence; human health; robotics; sustainability; and water. Industry partners and alumni are also invited to connect with students and discuss the work.</p> <p>Rufino, who is&nbsp;pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in health science at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME), will be presenting in the human health category as a lightning lecture speaker. Under the supervision of Assistant Professor&nbsp;<strong>Elaine Biddiss</strong>, he and his fellow grad students develop and evaluate technologies to allow young people with disabilities to participate more meaningfully in arts, music, physical activities and therapies.</p> <p>鈥淚鈥檝e yet to attend a fully digital conference,鈥 says Rufino. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about this format, which really lends itself to being easily accessible and shareable.鈥</p> <p>The idea to host a virtual conference was hatched after the university shutdown in March. With no access to labs, many students鈥 experimental work has been put on pause. 老司机直播 Engineering鈥檚 Graduate Engineering Council of Students (GECoS) began brainstorming.</p> <p>鈥淚 thought a virtual conference would be useful for those looking for ways to progress their academic and professional development during this time when many conferences have been cancelled and some of us have less work to do,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Samantha Cheung, </strong>a chemical engineering PhD candidate, UTERC organizer and president of GECoS mental wellness commission.</p> <p>鈥淲hen Sam approached us with this idea, we fully supported the initiative,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Chaim Katz</strong>, a PhD candidate at IBBME and chair of GECoS. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been supporting the conference team鈥檚 efforts ever since and are looking forward to what will be an excellent opportunity to showcase research going on at 老司机直播 Engineering.鈥</p> <p>After receiving positive feedback from students, faculty and staff, Cheung immediately created a committee made up of faculty and graduate students to plan a conference to be held within two months.</p> <p>鈥淚鈥檓 most excited to see people from various backgrounds connecting and engaging with each other through these online platforms,鈥 says Cheung. 鈥淚 think the best part about hosting this virtual conference is the ability for people from all over the world to participate.鈥</p> <p>The organizers have even considered another important aspect of most academic conferences: networking. In addition to participants asking questions during posters and talks, UTERC will also facilitate networking with breakout sessions and through Slack.</p> <p>Cheung hopes the success of the faculty鈥檚 first-ever virtual conference serves as a framework for future events at 老司机直播 Engineering, and for other institutions that want to engage their research community.</p> <p>鈥淩ight now, we are all adjusting to new living circumstances and ways to socialize,鈥 says Cheung. 鈥淯TERC is a reminder that the 老司机直播 Engineering community is here to support our students even if we aren鈥檛 physically together.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 25 May 2020 20:05:46 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 164704 at 老司机直播 researchers aim to make testing for COVID-19 'simpler and more streamlined' /news/u-t-researchers-aim-make-testing-covid-19-simpler-and-more-streamlined <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 researchers aim to make testing for COVID-19 'simpler and more streamlined'</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Leo_Chou_CCBR.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=XlbYKUsN 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Leo_Chou_CCBR.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=JOOKoERQ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Leo_Chou_CCBR.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=BKB6J4J6 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Leo_Chou_CCBR.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=XlbYKUsN" alt="A portrait of Leo Chou standing front of a wooden wall"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-05-13T14:47:25-04:00" title="Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - 14:47" class="datetime">Wed, 05/13/2020 - 14:47</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Leo Chou, of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, says his non-traditional approach to testing for the novel coronavirus could help avoid the bottlenecks that have emerged with established methods&nbsp;(photo by Qin Dai)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/tyler-irving" hreflang="en">Tyler Irving</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Testing for viruses is not a new science, but the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the bottlenecks in established methods. Now, a team led by&nbsp;<strong>Leo Chou </strong>of the University of Toronto鈥檚 Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering&nbsp;is pursuing a non-traditional approach that, if successful, could lead to simpler, faster tests.</p> <p>鈥淲hat we are finding out in this pandemic is that surges in global demand can cause every step in the process to break down due to supply chain shortage,鈥 says Chou, an assistant professor who joined 老司机直播鈥檚 Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering as a faculty member in January 2019. 鈥淭here are opportunities to make these tests simpler and more streamlined.鈥</p> <p>While the project is in its early stages, the team hopes to overcome the limitations of traditional testing methods by pursuing a strategy based on short, synthetic strands of DNA. These strands can be customized to react in certain ways in the presence of genes from the virus that causes COVID-19.</p> <p>Currently, most tests begin with a nasal swab to extract virus particles from the body. These particles are then shipped to a testing lab, where heat, detergents and enzymes are used to open them up and expose the viral RNA 鈥 the genes that the virus uses to replicate itself.</p> <p>The RNA is then subjected to the 鈥済old standard鈥 technique known as real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using specialized enzymes and a device called a thermocycler, RT-PCR amplifies targeted RNA sequences 鈥 such as those known to code for viral genes 鈥 to determine whether they are present in the sample.</p> <p>In theory, RT-PCR can provide results in a matter of hours, but the need for specialized infrastructure has been a key limitation of testing around the world.</p> <p>鈥淏ecause samples collected at the point of care must be shipped to a central lab for testing, logistics become a key issue,鈥 says Chou. 鈥淔or one single sample to get tested, you are usually talking about a turnaround time of two or three days.鈥</p> <p>In contrast, the new approach could lead to a one-step test. The team aims to design customized DNA sequences that are capable of self-assembling into a larger structure, but which are missing a key catalyst to bring them all together: an RNA sequence specific to the COVID-19 virus.</p> <p>鈥淭he best analogy I can think of is growing rock candy,鈥 says Chou. 鈥淵ou start with a saturated solution of sugar molecules in water, but they don鈥檛 do anything because they don鈥檛 have anything to crystallize around. When you introduce a stick into the solution, the crystals form rapidly around it.鈥</p> <p>In this analogy, the short DNA sequences made by Chou and his team are the sugar, and the viral RNA serves as the stick. By design, only the correct RNA sequence would work 鈥 genes from other viruses or contaminating organisms would not trigger the same reaction.</p> <p>If the virus is present, its RNA would quickly cause the DNA strands to self-assemble. The team could easily attach pigments or light-emitting molecules to the DNA strands, resulting in a solution that changes colour in the presence of viral genes.</p> <p>Chou says that the technology already exists to manufacture the short DNA sequences quickly and inexpensively, and that these molecules are stable, meaning they can be stored wet or dry at room temperature for months or years.</p> <p>Because it wouldn鈥檛 require complex materials or equipment such as enzymes or thermocyclers, the new test could be done in one step at the point of care, eliminating logistical bottlenecks that are currently hampering global testing efforts.</p> <p>While he believes that the new approach is promising, Chou cautions that it will take many months before a prototype can be developed, and many more to determine whether the test is anywhere near as reliable as RT-PCR.</p> <p>鈥淎ll the tests that are being used right now took years to develop and clinically validate,鈥 he says. 鈥淭his is no different, but the strategy we鈥檙e proposing is unlike anything that is already being used.</p> <p>鈥淲e aim to have proof-of-concept done within a year. If it works, it could have some very exciting advantages.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 13 May 2020 18:47:25 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 164561 at 老司机直播 researchers use diphtheria toxin to target genes in cancer cells /news/u-t-researchers-use-diphtheria-toxin-target-genes-cancer-cells <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 researchers use diphtheria toxin to target genes in cancer cells </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/IMG_3031.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=CNIZuQo8 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/IMG_3031.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zZOvh0cg 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/IMG_3031.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iUv6Pmbh 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/IMG_3031.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=CNIZuQo8" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-05-06T13:08:52-04:00" title="Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - 13:08" class="datetime">Wed, 05/06/2020 - 13:08</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Modified diphtheria toxin used to reduce the activity of genes connected to the propagation of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/qin-dai" hreflang="en">Qin Dai</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">老司机直播</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/biochemistry" hreflang="en">Biochemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hospital-sick-children" hreflang="en">Hospital for Sick Children</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A group of researchers from the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children&nbsp;have developed a new way&nbsp;to deliver molecules that target specific genes within cells. The platform, which uses a modified form of diphtheria toxin, has been shown to 鈥渄ownregulate鈥 critical genes in cancer cells, and could be used for other genetic diseases as well.</p> <p>The team, led by <a href="https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-professors/">University Professor</a>&nbsp;<strong>Molly Shoichet </strong>of the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering<strong>&nbsp;</strong>and <strong>Roman Melnyk</strong>, an<strong>&nbsp;</strong>associate&nbsp;professor&nbsp;the department of biochemistry in the Faculty of Medicine and a senior scientist at SickKids, found inspiration from an unexpected source: diphtheria toxin.</p> <p>The research <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/18/eaaz4848/tab-article-info">was published recently in the journal <em>Science Advances</em></a>.&nbsp;</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/molly%20shoichet.jpg" alt>鈥淎 major challenge in the field of drug delivery is most therapeutic vehicles cannot escape the acid environment of the endosome once they get into the cell,鈥 says Shoichet, the corresponding author of the research. 鈥淭he diphtheria toxin platform as a delivery vehicle effectively solves that.鈥</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Scientists looking to place molecules inside cells have a number of existing tools to choose from, but most suffer from the same drawback: while the molecule gets inside the cell, it remains trapped in a kind of bubble called an endosome. If the goal is to deliver therapeutics that will interact with the cell鈥檚 DNA, breaking out of the endosome is critical.</p> <p>As a natural defence mechanism, bacteria such as <em>Corynebacterium diphtheriae</em> produce&nbsp;a protein-based toxin that enters surrounding cells, eventually killing them. Critically, this toxin is known to be capable of escaping from endosomes, which led to the idea of re-engineering it as a delivery platform.</p> <p>Melnyk鈥檚 lab specializes in bacterial toxins and invented a non-toxic version of the diphtheria toxin, known as attenuated diphtheria toxin. This new molecule has the capacity to enter the cell and efficiently escape the endosome 鈥 and thus excels as a delivery vehicle without any of the toxic effects of diphtheria toxin.</p> <p>To prove that the concept would work, the researchers used the system to deliver molecules that they believed would be effective against glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.</p> <p>鈥淕lioblastoma is a highly invasive disease and patients have a very short life expectancy after initial diagnosis,鈥 says Shoichet. 鈥淲e want to change this and have thus pursued the delivery of gene therapeutics to treat glioblastoma.鈥</p> <p>The group first targeted glioblastoma neural stem cells, which are thought to be resistant to chemotherapeutics. Specifically, the researchers focused on delivering silencing RNA (siRNA) against two genes: integrin beta 1 (ITGB1), which is associated with the highly invasive nature of glioblastoma (and other cancers), and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 sub-unit b (eIF-3b), which is an essential survival gene. By eliminating this invasive trait, the researchers could potentially limit progression in diseases like cancer.</p> <p>鈥淚TGB1 is involved in cancer cell migration, which contributes to glioblastoma鈥檚 invasion into healthy brain tissues,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Laura Smith</strong>, a senior PhD student on the publication. 鈥淲e used an innovative three-dimensional culture system to significantly reduce cell invasion after treatment with our siRNA-attenuated diphtheria toxin system, which suggests that it may be effective in slowing disease progression.鈥</p> <p>To demonstrate the breadth of this platform, the researchers also delivered a different nucleic sequence that knocks down eIF-3b, which participates in the 鈥渟urvival pathway鈥 of cancer cells.</p> <p>鈥淲e treated the cells with the attenuated diphtheria toxin-siRNA against eIF-3b and observed downregulation at genetic and phenotypic levels,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Amy E. Arnold</strong>, a recent PhD graduate from the Shoichet lab and first author on the paper.</p> <p>The group is planning on using this delivery vehicle to treat other diseases in the future.</p> <p>鈥淲e recognize the strength of this platform strategy and are actively testing it for the delivery of RNA and other cargoes,鈥 Shoichet says.</p> <p>The research received support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, among others.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 06 May 2020 17:08:52 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 164429 at 老司机直播 to support high-impact coronavirus research projects through Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund /news/u-t-support-31-high-impact-coronavirus-research-projects-through-toronto-covid-19-action-fund <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 to support high-impact coronavirus research projects through Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/COVID2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_xo47a7Y 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/COVID2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jwuqIrrK 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/COVID2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=I9JT7E4n 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/COVID2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=_xo47a7Y" alt="a close up of a nurse, an inukshuk at the arctic cricle, and a lab tech dispensing samples"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-04-20T16:34:01-04:00" title="Monday, April 20, 2020 - 16:34" class="datetime">Mon, 04/20/2020 - 16:34</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(photos by Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images, Christopher Morris/Corbis/Getty Images, Nick Iwanyshyn)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rahul-kalvapalle" hreflang="en">Rahul Kalvapalle</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/pediatrics" hreflang="en">Pediatrics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donnelly-centre-cellular-biomolecular-research" hreflang="en">Donnelly Centre for Cellular &amp; Biomolecular Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-health-policy-management-and-evaluation" hreflang="en">Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/biochemistry" hreflang="en">Biochemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/chemistry" hreflang="en">Chemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dalla-lana-school-public-health" hreflang="en">Dalla Lana School of Public Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-information" hreflang="en">Faculty of Information</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/hospital-sick-children" hreflang="en">Hospital for Sick Children</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/laboratory-medicine-and-pathobiology" hreflang="en">Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/lawrence-s-bloomberg-faculty-nursing" hreflang="en">Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mclaughlin-centre" hreflang="en">McLaughlin Centre</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/medicine-design" hreflang="en">Medicine by Design</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/molecular-genetics" hreflang="en">Molecular Genetics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mount-sinai-hospital" hreflang="en">Mount Sinai Hospital</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/psychiatry" hreflang="en">Psychiatry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sociology" hreflang="en">Sociology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/st-michael-s-hospital" hreflang="en">St. Michael's Hospital</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sunnybrook-hospital" hreflang="en">Sunnybrook Hospital</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-mississauga" hreflang="en">老司机直播 Mississauga</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">老司机直播 Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-health-network" hreflang="en">University Health Network</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/vivek-goel" hreflang="en">Vivek Goel</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The University of Toronto will support more than 30 research projects through the nearly $9-million Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund 鈥 set up less than a month ago to support high-impact research by 老司机直播 and its hospital partners that contributes to the global fight against the novel coronavirus.</p> <p>The projects, which range from medical interventions to measures aimed at supporting the economy and vulnerable populations, were chosen on the basis of their potential to have a positive impact on individuals, communities and public health systems within a timeframe of a year or less.</p> <p>They were selected from among 338 applicants via a fast-tracked, peer-reviewed competition. Less than 30 days elapsed between <a href="/news/u-t-launches-action-fund-support-high-impact-research-battle-against-covid-19">the creation of the fund</a> and the winning projects being announced.</p> <p>鈥淭he Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund is a testament to the University of Toronto鈥檚 unique ability to quickly mobilize its resources, engage the creativity and ingenuity of its researchers and draw on the strength of its partnerships with partner hospitals to respond to the most urgent public health, economic and societal challenge of our time,鈥 said&nbsp;<strong>Vivek Goel</strong>, 老司机直播鈥檚 vice-president, research and innovation, and strategic initiatives.</p> <p>鈥淐OVID-19 presents an array of unprecedented global problems that require urgent attention and expertise from experts in a wide variety of disciplines 鈥 from medical specialists and public health researchers to economists, social scientists and mathematicians.</p> <p>鈥淲e are confident these projects will each, in their own way, make important contributions to the global fight against this pandemic.鈥</p> <p>The&nbsp;projects include an initiative to research the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic response on marginalized people, led by&nbsp;<strong>Ahmed Bayoumi</strong>, a professor in the department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital, part of Unity Health Toronto.</p> <p>In the realm of medical interventions,&nbsp;<strong>Jordan Feld</strong>, associate professor in 老司机直播鈥檚 department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and a senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute at the University Health Network, plans to carry out a phase two drug trial for the treatment of COVID-19.</p> <p>Also funded were research projects by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's&nbsp;<strong>Samira Mubareka</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Robert Kozak</strong>, both of the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at 老司机直播鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine, that could pave the way to better understanding and treatment of the novel coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2.</p> <p>The role of genetics in the pandemic response will be explored by&nbsp;<strong>Aled Edwards</strong>, professor at&nbsp;the Donnelly Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Research&nbsp;and director of the <a href="https://www.thesgc.org/">Structural Genomics Consortium</a>. He will lead work on the Toronto Open Access COVID-19 Protein Manufacturing Centre.</p> <p>Other research projects will address social, economic and public policy issues.</p> <p><strong>Janet Smylie </strong>is<strong>&nbsp;</strong>a&nbsp;professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, director of Well Living House at St. Michael鈥檚 Hospital and an expert in public health in the context of Indigenous populations. She&nbsp;will use an action fund grant to support the rapid implementation of a shared COVID-19 tracking and response platform for First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis populations.</p> <p>老司机直播 Mississauga anthropologist and lecturer&nbsp;<strong>Madeleine Mant&nbsp;</strong>will receive support for her project titled, 鈥淕oing viral: COVID-19 and risk in young adult health behaviour models.鈥</p> <p>The impact of COVID-19 on the economy is another area of significant concern, with Professor&nbsp;<strong>Scott Schieman</strong>, chair of the department of sociology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science, leading a project to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on the quality of work and economic life in Canada.</p> <p>The funding for these and other projects was drawn from 老司机直播 and other university sources, including the McLaughlin Centre, Medicine by Design, partner hospitals and philanthropic donors.&nbsp;Successful applicants are also eligible for additional support for a trainee through a generous agreement with MITACS.&nbsp;</p> <p>鈥淲e would like to extend our thanks to all the scholars who submitted proposals to the Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund, and we will continue to work hard to find ways to support our researchers in their efforts to devise solutions to this crisis,鈥 said Goel. 鈥淚 would also like to thank the reviewers that provided assessment in a short period of time and our staff that worked diligently and around the clock to complete this record-setting peer review process.鈥</p> <p>鈥溊纤净辈 takes very seriously its public responsibility to make key contributions to the response to COVID-19, and I would like to congratulate everybody involved in the rapid creation and execution of the action fund for their tireless efforts.鈥</p> <div> <p>Goel noted that additional projects may be funded through the action fund as funds continue to be raised and additional partners contribute.&nbsp; All those that were not selected are being directed to other funding sources, including those listed on the&nbsp;<a href="https://cris.utoronto.ca/spotlight/033120/#covidfunds">Centre for Research and Innovation Support鈥檚 COVID-19 research website</a>.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Here are the researchers&nbsp;being supported by the Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund:</strong></p> <p><em>Note: this list was updated with additional projects on May 8, 2020</em></p> </div> <p><strong>Upton Allen </strong>of the department of paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and the Hospital for Sick Children 鈥 <em>Immune responses to COVID-19: Correlates across the age spectrum</em></p> <p><strong>Robert Batey&nbsp;</strong>of the department of chemistry in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science 鈥 <em>Synthetic chemistry as a core technology platform for the response to the COVID-19 pandemic: chemistry COVID-19 core facility</em></p> <p><strong>Ahmed Bayoumi&nbsp;</strong>of the department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Unity Health Toronto 鈥<em>The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic response for people who are marginalized</em></p> <p><strong>Laurent Brochard</strong>&nbsp;of the department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Unity Health Toronto 鈥 <em>Careful ventilation in patients with ARDS induced by COVID-19</em></p> <p><strong>Jeannie Callum&nbsp;</strong>of the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre&nbsp;鈥&nbsp;<em>Convalescent plasma for COVID-19 research trial&nbsp;</em></p> <p><strong>Warren Chan&nbsp;</strong>of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering&nbsp;鈥&nbsp;<em>A quantum dot portable diagnostic device for COVID-19</em></p> <p><strong>Angela Cheung&nbsp;</strong>of the department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and the University Health Network 鈥 <em>The Ontario COVID-19 prospective cohort study</em></p> <p><strong>Leo Chou&nbsp;</strong>of the Institute of Biomaterials &amp; Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering 鈥 <em>Enzyme-free, one-step nucleic-acid detection for point-of-care COVID-19 diagnostic screening</em></p> <p><strong>Gerald Chaim Cupchik</strong> of the department of psychology at 老司机直播 Scarborough<em> 鈥 Managing coping strategies and avoiding anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multilevel analysis from epidemiology to psychology and education</em></p> <p><strong>Paul Dorian&nbsp;</strong>of the department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Unity Health Toronto 鈥 <em>Evaluation of a small gas-powered and patient-responsive automated resuscitation/ventilation</em></p> <p><strong>Aled Edwards&nbsp;</strong>of the Donnelly Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Research 鈥 <em>Toronto Open Access COVID-19 Protein Manufacturing Centre</em></p> <p><strong>Jordan Feld&nbsp;</strong>of the department of medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and the University Health Network 鈥 <em>Interferon lambda for immediate antiviral therapy at diagnosis: a phase II randomized, open-label, multicentre trial to evaluate the effect of peginterferon lambda for the treatment of COVID-19</em></p> <p><strong>Jessica Fields</strong> of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Health &amp; Society at 老司机直播 Scarborough 鈥 Impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and vulnerability of sexual and gender minorities living in Toronto</p> <p><strong>Benjamin Fine</strong>&nbsp;of the department of medical imaging in the Faculty of Medicine and Trillium Health Partners 鈥 <em>Building a real-time health system COVID collaborative data and analytics hub in Ontario</em></p> <p><strong>Joseph Hermer</strong> of the department of sociology at 老司机直播 Scarborough<em> 鈥 Pandemic policing of the homeless: from crime control to public health strategy</em></p> <p><strong>Shana Kelley&nbsp;</strong>of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy 鈥 <em>Accelerated, centralized development of diagnostics and therapeutics to combat the COVID-19 pandemic</em></p> <p><strong>Robert Kozak</strong>&nbsp;of the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre 鈥 <em>Development of models of pathogenesis and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2</em></p> <p><strong>Madeleine Mant&nbsp;</strong>of the department of anthropology of 老司机直播 Mississauga 鈥 <em>Going viral: COVID-19 and risk in young adult health behaviour models</em>.</p> <p><strong>Rhonda McEwen&nbsp;</strong>of the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at 老司机直播 Mississauga 鈥 <em>Digital technologies and Chinese interpersonal communication on the mainland and in the diaspora: the case of COVID-19</em></p> <p><strong>Allison McGeer</strong>&nbsp;of the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Mount Sinai Hospital 鈥 <em>Working on control of COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care</em></p> <p><strong>Andrew Miles</strong>&nbsp;of the department of sociology at 老司机直播 Mississauga 鈥 <em>Using pro-social behaviour to safeguard mental health and foster emotional well-being</em></p> <p><strong>Jason Moffat </strong>of the Donnelly Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Research 鈥 <em>Identification of host dependency factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication to accelerate drug repurposing efforts</em></p> <p><strong>Samira Mubareka&nbsp;</strong>of the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology in the Faculty of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre 鈥 <em>Just-in-time pathogenomics for SARS-CoV-2, data for immediate action</em></p> <p><strong>Elizabeth Peter&nbsp;</strong>of the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing 鈥 <em>Reducing the moral distress of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic</em></p> <p><strong>Blake Poland</strong> of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health <em>鈥 Connected communities in a time of physical distancing: community-led responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in City of Toronto</em></p> <p><strong>Mohammad Qadura&nbsp;</strong>of the department of surgery in the Faculty of Medicine and Unity Health Toronto 鈥 <em>Keeping everyone safe: Using contactless transdermal optical imaging to obtain patient vitals and symptom report in the time of COVID-19</em></p> <p><strong>Matt Ratto&nbsp;</strong>of the Faculty of Information 鈥 <em>Toronto Emergency Device Accelerator</em></p> <p><strong>Scott Schieman&nbsp;</strong>of the department of sociology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science 鈥 <em>COVID-19 impacts on the quality of work and economic life in Canada</em></p> <p><strong>Michelle Science&nbsp;</strong>of the department of paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine and the Hospital for Sick Children 鈥 <em>Health-care worker seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies</em></p> <p><strong>James Scott</strong>&nbsp;of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health 鈥 <em>Improving and evaluating aerosol PPE and containment devices for the COVID-19 virus</em></p> <p><strong>Jayeeta Sharma</strong> of the department of historical and cultural studies at 老司机直播 Scarborough 鈥 Feeding our city, pandemic and beyond: documenting food system experiences, community challenges and local resilience, lessons for sustainable food solutions</p> <p><strong>Janet Smylie&nbsp;</strong>of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Unity Health Toronto 鈥 <em>Rapid implementation of a shared COVID-19 tracking and response platform for First Nations, Inuit and Metis populations in Canada</em></p> <p><strong>Igor Stagljar </strong>of the department of biochemistry in the Faculty of Medicine 鈥 <em>Immunotyping of COVID-19 Patient Sera Using Novel Protein Complementation-Based Assays</em></p> <p><strong>Rima Styra&nbsp;</strong>of the department of psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine and the University Health Network 鈥 <em>Mental health outcomes in health-care workers during COVID-19</em></p> <p><strong>Jeff Wrana </strong>of the department of molecular genetics in the Faculty of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital 鈥 <em>A massively parallel, ultra-high throughput next-generation sequencing platform for widespread screening of COVID-19 and associated risk factors</em></p> <p><strong>William Yun Yu&nbsp;</strong>of the department of computer and mathematical sciences at 老司机直播 Scarborough 鈥 <em>Privacy-preserving contact tracing app</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 20 Apr 2020 20:34:01 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 164167 at 老司机直播 researchers use mini-computer to remotely monitor COVID-19 patients' blood oxygen /news/u-t-researchers-use-mini-computer-remotely-monitor-covid-19-patients-blood-oxygen <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 researchers use mini-computer to remotely monitor COVID-19 patients' blood oxygen</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/harrison-broadbent-RNqs_Ve8qAo-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=6hLVCgvt 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/harrison-broadbent-RNqs_Ve8qAo-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=4mK8olu1 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/harrison-broadbent-RNqs_Ve8qAo-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=mhiWF71J 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/harrison-broadbent-RNqs_Ve8qAo-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=6hLVCgvt" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-04-17T10:26:45-04:00" title="Friday, April 17, 2020 - 10:26" class="datetime">Fri, 04/17/2020 - 10:26</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Researchers at 老司机直播's Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering used a mini-computer to continuously read data from a COVID-19 patient's fingertip probe so health-care workers don't need to physically check the device (photo via Unsplash)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/jessica-macinnis" hreflang="en">Jessica MacInnis</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/electrical-computer-engineering" hreflang="en">Electrical &amp; Computer Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/graduate-students" hreflang="en">Graduate Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/mount-sinai-hospital" hreflang="en">Mount Sinai Hospital</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-health-network" hreflang="en">University Health Network</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A team from the University of Toronto鈥檚 Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering has created a simple, scalable solution to remotely monitor the vital signs of COVID-19 patients, while preserving vital personal protective equipment (PPE) for health-care workers.</p> <p>Currently, hospitals use a fingertip probe to monitor the respiratory status of COVID-19 patients. These probes monitor blood oxygen saturation and send the data to bedside monitors that must be read by nursing staff roughly every four hours.</p> <p>But some patients experience a rapid deterioration in respiratory status that requires even more frequent monitoring, putting additional pressure on staff.</p> <p>鈥淏ecause health-care workers need to put on and remove PPE before interacting with patients, this requires considerable time and use of resources,鈥 says Associate Professor&nbsp;<strong>Willy Wong&nbsp;</strong>in the Edward S. Rogers Sr. department of electrical and computer engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, who led the project.</p> <p>Two weeks ago, clinicians from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto reached out to 老司机直播 Engineering to see if researchers could come up with a solution 鈥 quickly 鈥 that would help clinicians monitor respiratory probes both continuously and remotely.</p> <p>In just three days Wong and PhD candidates&nbsp;<strong>Bill Shi</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Yan Li&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>and&nbsp;<strong>Brian Wang</strong>&nbsp;put together a proof-of-concept using a Raspberry Pi, a simple and affordable single-board computer. Just a few days later, they were ready to deploy their prototype in a hospital setting.</p> <p>鈥淭he challenge was to find something that was small, affordable and that we could put together very quickly,鈥 says Wong. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have specific expertise in the area, but as a researcher working in the biomedical engineering group here in ECE, I have experience in the development of medical devices and thought I might be able to help.鈥</p> <p>Raspberry Pi is a mini-computer about the size of a credit card. When attached to the fingertip probe, it can continuously read data and communicate via WiFi to a server that Wong鈥檚 team deployed.</p> <p>鈥淭he most challenging part has been decoding the data the monitors provide because there are a number of different manufacturers of these probes and each one has its own format,鈥 says Wong. 鈥淭he students were working day and night to decode the data outputted from these devices.鈥</p> <p>One key aspect is the portability of the solution that Wong and his students came up with. 鈥淚n a hospital setting, we don鈥檛 really have the luxury of putting a laptop with wires going everywhere next to each patient,鈥 says Wong. 鈥淭he Raspberry Pi is something that our undergraduates use a lot in their fourth-year design projects 鈥 it just connects by cable to the oxygen saturation probe and then another cable to an outlet in the wall for power. That鈥檚 it.鈥</p> <p>The new setup enables doctors and nurses to read a patient鈥檚 oxygen saturation levels every few minutes or less from a nursing station. The team is working with Mount Sinai and Toronto General Hospital to determine the feasibility and demand for these devices. Their solution is rapidly deployable and scalable to other venues, including emergency hospitals.</p> <p>鈥淲hen you put together a solution quickly, there are a few things you need to be mindful of, including concerns like patient privacy and data security, as well as usability of equipment by the front-line medical staff,鈥 says Wong.&nbsp;</p> <p>Wong adds that it has been a valuable experience for his students.</p> <p>鈥淭his was a quintessentially electrical and computer engineering problem,鈥 says Wong. 鈥淚 saw the opportunity to help and this group of really smart and hard-working students rose to the challenge.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 17 Apr 2020 14:26:45 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 164135 at 老司机直播 startup鈥檚 "buddy badge" encourages handwashing in hospitals, could help stem COVID-19 spread /news/u-t-startup-s-buddy-badge-encourages-handwashing-hospitals-could-help-stem-covid-19-spread <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">老司机直播 startup鈥檚 "buddy badge" encourages handwashing in hospitals, could help stem COVID-19 spread</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/christine-sandu-LThqAPBpqtI-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M7A-o7eG 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/christine-sandu-LThqAPBpqtI-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=UzpkXmvZ 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/christine-sandu-LThqAPBpqtI-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=6ltoiVnm 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/christine-sandu-LThqAPBpqtI-unsplash.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M7A-o7eG" alt="Close-up photo of hands being washed"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-04-13T15:14:25-04:00" title="Monday, April 13, 2020 - 15:14" class="datetime">Mon, 04/13/2020 - 15:14</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(photo by Christine Sandu via Unsplash)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/qin-dai" hreflang="en">Qin Dai</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-applied-science-engineering" hreflang="en">Faculty of Applied Science &amp; Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A&nbsp;researcher at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) is developing a wearable technology that reminds front line health-care workers to wash their hands. It鈥檚 believed the technology could significantly reduce the spread of hospital-acquired infections, including COVID-19.</p> <p>Dubbed the 鈥淏uddy Badge,鈥 the wearable device acts as a transponder, using a system of sensors connected to hand-washing stations, doorways and critical routes to patient rooms. If the badge wearer has not washed their hands before entering a patient鈥檚 room, for example, it will discreetly vibrate to remind them to do so.</p> <p>鈥淭he idea we are proposing is a nurse or physician arrives at work, retrieves a personalized device&nbsp;and carries on with their day as normal,鈥 says&nbsp;<strong>Geoff Fernie</strong>, a senior scientist and former director of the&nbsp;Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, as well as a professor at IBBME and in the Faculty of Medicine. 鈥淭he device will remind them about hand-washing throughout the day.鈥</p> <p>With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Fernie says 鈥渢he need for this system is more crucial than ever.鈥 The additional COVID-19 cases have significantly increased the workload for health-care professionals, making it easier to miss opportunities when washing hands as recommended.</p> <p>In a large intensive care unit, a nurse may encounter as many as&nbsp;350 occasions during a single 12-hour shift where washing or sanetizing his or her hands may be warranted.</p> <p>鈥淪tudies in some hospitals showed that our device has doubled the hand hygiene rate, which should reduce the infection rates,鈥 says Fernie. 鈥淲e hope this system helps change the habits of health-care workers, making it safer for everyone.鈥</p> <p>Better adherence to hand hygiene could reduce infection and death rates since&nbsp;estimates of hand washing before and after interacting with a patient currently range from 30 to 60 per cent.</p> <p>Fernie and his team have been working on wearable technology for 17 years. In 2018, this technology formed the basis of startup company&nbsp;Hygienic Echo, with the primary goal of reducing infections in communal settings. The idea was published in 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles&nbsp;and has been the subject of nine patent filings.</p> <p>Fernie plans to deploy the technology in a hospital setting this summer and in a nursing home this fall.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 13 Apr 2020 19:14:25 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 164089 at