Backgrounder
January 9, 2007
GREATER TORONTO AREA RECEIVES $3.9 MILLION FOR RESEARCH
Under the Research Infrastructure component of the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), today the McGuinty government is announcing the investment of close to $11 million for 68 innovative projects in communities across the province. In the Greater Toronto Area, $3,976,271 will be invested in 21 projects.
HAMILTON
McMaster University
Dr. Yurij Mozharivskyj
STOE IPDS Diffractometer - State-of-the-art Image Plate Single Crystal-X-ray Diffractometer for investigation of complex inorganic solid-state materials
Researchers at McMaster University intend to use a new scientific instrument to develop a variety of new, energy efficient materials for use in diverse areas such as microelectronics, refrigeration, air conditioning and automotive production. The machine, a STOE IPDS Diffractometer, will be the first of its kind in Canada. It manipulates x-rays to produce precise structural information for both simple and complex inorganic solid-state materials. Yurij Mozharivskyj will lead the research connected to the synthesis and characterization of a variety of novel materials with unique physical and structural responses.
OSHAWA
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Dr. Sean Forrester
Facility for nematode ion channel research
Researchers led by Sean Forrester will investigate new drug targets for parasitic nematodes that are potentially lethal to livestock. Researchers hope to gain a better understanding of the nervous system of these parasites, looking at specific receptors that have potential as drug targets. The problem with parasitic infections is global in scope and has a huge negative economic impact. Parasite infection in livestock is an important problem in Ontario and internationally, and the development of effective treatments would be of great economic benefit to that industry.
TORONTO
Ryerson University
Dr. Guang Jun Liu
Experimental systems for research on modular and reconfigurable robot and aircraft engine bleed air systems control
Developing reliable robots for applications in industry and for tasks such as cleaning up hazardous wastes is the ultimate aim of this project. Led by Guang Jun Liu, this Ryerson team seeks to create control methods and systems to provide modular, reconfigurable robots with enhanced expandability, mobility and reliability. The resultant machines will ideally have capabilities for heavy payload manipulation, and still be able to perform delicate operations. The researchers aim to enhance robotic performance by solving practical problems that limit robots abilities. The results could have significant applications in security operations, hazardous material handling and space exploration.
University of Toronto
Dr. Berge Minassian
Identification of genetic causes of paediatric neurological conditions and using these to uncover the cellular pathways involved and determine the ways in which they are disturbed
More effective treatment for children suffering from epilepsy is the goal of nerve cell research being done at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Researchers led by Berge Minassian are investigating what happens inside the nerve cells of children with the defective genes connected to Lafora Disease, XMEA and Rett Syndrome. Lafora disease is a fatal form of teenage-onset epilepsy, XMEA a unique type of muscular dystrophy and Rett Syndrome is a common form of mental retardation. The researchers' discoveries of the cellular processes disturbed by the defective genes are expected to create therapeutic possibilities for patients.
University of Toronto
Dr. Gordon Keller
Molecular regulators involved in the lineage-specific differentiation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells
Stem cell studies at the University of Toronto may result in new therapies for heart, lung, circulatory and neurodegenerative disease, and for diabetes and spinal cord injury. Gordon Keller will lead researchers working with new equipment for culturing cells and performing molecular and cellular biology analyses. The research is designed to reveal the molecular and cellular processes by which embryonic stem cells differentiate and evolve into different types of specific cells such as blood cells and muscle cells. This work promises to provide important clues to the underlying causes of certain diseases that manifest themselves early in life. Another potential benefit could be the ability to generate new, normal, healthy cell populations for transplantation as a treatment for disease.
University of Toronto
Dr. Emma R. Master
Biotechnology for wood fibre processing and engineering
University of Toronto researchers are examining wood fibre beyond its traditional use in paper and lumber products, and plan to use it to develop sustainable fuels and novel, high-value materials. Emma R. Master will lead the researchers working to identify and engineer biocatalysts that have evolved to refine and modify polymers from wood fibres. Resulting polymers and sugars can then be used to engineer new forestry products from plastic-displacing biocomposites to bio-fuels. This research work could create growth opportunities for important provincial industries, such as forestry and energy.
University of Toronto
Dr. Leah E. Cowen
Molecular mechanisms driving the evolution of fungal pathogens and their hosts
Novel methods to identify and treat infectious diseases as they arise are anticipated as a result of research lead by Leah Cowen at the University of Toronto. Treatment of infectious disease can be challenging, as microbes have an alarming ability to rapidly mutate and evolve, developing the ability to survive current antibiotic treatments. Researchers are conducting genomic and proteomic studies on a microscopic level to identify and understand the molecular mechanisms by which microbial pathogens cause infectious diseases. These pathogens are at the root of global pandemics that can result in widespread deaths. These studies strive for the prediction and prevention of these diseases.
University of Toronto
Dr. Marlene Behrmann
Psychological and neural bases of visual cognition
University of Toronto research into how the brain organizes, processes and interprets what the eye sees may offer new hope for stroke victims and people with autism. Marlene Behrmann will lead the research focused on the psychological and brain biology mechanisms that enable people to interpret the visual world from the input transmitted to the brain from the eye. Understanding the perceptual deficits associated with autism would have widespread implications for elucidating the disorder and for improving the quality of education and life of individuals with autism. Similarly, research on neurodevelopmental disorders and brain damage could point to methods which can optimize recovery for people who have suffered stroke.
University of Toronto
Dr. Radhakrishnan Mahadevan
Laboratory of Metabolic Systems Engineering
Under the leadership of Radhakrishnan Mahadevan, these studies are aimed at developing methods to manufacture novel biologically based products. The research may also reveal new methods of removing poisonous contaminants from the environment. Some of the most attractive possibilities of the research lie in the potential for the environmentally sustainable manufacture of ethanol and industrial solvents as butanol, and other materials that come from non-renewable fossil fuels. The production of such goods from renewable domestic sources such as wood fibre could provide economic benefit to Ontario's resource and manufacturing industries.
University of Toronto
Dr. Michael Brudno
Infrastructure for whole genome alignment pipeline and supporting computational genomics
Michael Brudno will lead scientists at the University of Toronto, seeking new approaches to treating disease by identifying new genetic targets for drug therapies. Genomics is the study and complete biological description of all the genes in any one organism. Comparative genomics can highlight important areas of the genome and suggest potential drug targets. The new research centre will be equipped with a 50-node computer cluster, and would make Toronto the only place in Canada, and one of very few in the world, that will concentrate on comparison of whole mammalian genomes. This new centre will also serve to promote the development of a larger collaborative effort in computational biology at the U of T. Computational biology has commercial applications at the early stages in the drug development pipeline.
University of Toronto
Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras
Functional proteomics of PP2A - type phosphatases
Led by Anne-Claude Gingras, researchers will seek insights into why and how cells grow and proliferate. Researchers will study signaling modules, which involve proteins connected with cell growth and proliferation, presenting attractive targets for cancer therapy. The scientists anticipate generating new information on how signals are relayed within cells allowing for moderating the uncontrolled cell division that characterizes tumors.
University of Toronto
Dr. Quaid D. Morris
Systems biology through machine learning: adaptive computer programs for de-noising, interpreting, and integrating large-scale biological databases
Medical researchers at the University of Toronto who have extensive backgrounds in mathematics, statistics and computing intend to develop artificially-intelligent computer programs to predict gene function, paving the way for researchers without computational backgrounds to generate and test hypotheses about gene function. This will allow scientists to devise new tests, management techniques and possible cures for a variety of diseases. The new computer programs, collectively called the "prediction server," are to be created and tested by Quaid Morris and a team of researchers using a new 24-node computer cluster and eight high-powered desktops. The prediction server is designed to mine mountains of information on individual genes stored in rapidly growing, large-scale biological datasets. Programs will allow testing of gene function hypotheses and generate "leads," thus reducing time and effort for new discoveries.
University of Toronto
Dr. André Simpson
An NMR spectrometer for the investigation of environmental soil processes and toxicity in-situ
The study of soils is directly linked to much larger environmental and economic issues such as climate change, agricultural practices and pollution. André Simpson leads a team of researchers who will study soil at its molecular level, using newly evolved techniques to better understand the organic make-up and functions of soil. This knowledge will be applied to the study of soils contaminated by toxic pollutants, with the goal of developing new tests to easily assess the quality of soils. Such tests would allow for new and better approaches to cleanup, for more strategic allocation of resources, and for more effective policies to target this issue. The cleanup of industrially contaminated soils represents a huge and growing industry both in Ontario and internationally.
University of Toronto
Dr. Jennifer Murphy
Infrastructure requirements for field measurements of reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere
Jennifer Murphy will lead researchers working with new chromatographic and spectroscopic equipment to detect and analyze nitrogen forms, concentrations and distributions. The studies will examine the impacts of air quality regulations, and their effectiveness in reducing acid depositions and the formation of greenhouse forcing agents in Earth's atmosphere. The scientists also hope to see which emission reduction strategies promise to be the most successful in decreasing harmful nitrogen-based secondary air pollutants. The studies are designed to provide a complete picture of the atmospheric reactive nitrogen budget, with adequate time resolution to answer challenging questions about the transformation of reactive nitrogen in the environment.
University of Toronto
Dr. Daniel Durocher
Expansion of the DNA Damage Response Laboratory
Led by Daniel Durocher, this research is being conducted on genome stability and the repair of damaged DNA. The researchers will conduct widespread gene-function investigations to identify novel genes that underpin cancer cell malignancy and may be employed as targets for anti-cancer therapies. In addition to the potential for developing commercially viable intellectual property, the program will produce highly qualified personnel for Ontario's life science industries.
University of Toronto
Dr. Michael Gruninger
Infrastructure for semantic technologies laboratory
Computer programs that are unable to communicate due to shortcomings in software design are problematic for individual and business computer users, especially for the automotive, aerospace and electronics industries. To help address these interoperability issues Michael Gruninger will establish the Semantic Technologies Laboratory. To be competitive, an organization's software must interoperate with the third-party software of business partners and customers, but interoperability is difficult to achieve because different programs may utilize information in different ways. In order to resolve this issue researchers will focus on efforts to specify the intended meaning (semantics) of the terminology used by the different software applications and then use this specification to support automated integration of the software applications.
University of Toronto
Dr. Sabine Stanley
A supercomputer for numerical simulations of planetary dynamos
Physicists at the University of Toronto led by Dr. Sabine Stanley will use a new supercomputer system to model the nature of planet interiors. The system, which consists of a 32-processor shared memory computer and an external storage disk, will allow modeling of the magnetic fields of planets, providing valuable insight into planetary evolution. Researchers will use the supercomputer to simulate the processes (known as the dynamo) that generate and maintain a planet's magnetic field. Understanding how and why a magnetic field reverses is a central theme of the work. Magnetic fields help protect planetary surfaces from cosmic rays and can be used as tools to study the inner workings of a planet.
University of Toronto
Dr. Igor Stagljar
A protein interaction network of the yeast MRP-subfamily of ABC transporters
Treatments and cures for numerous diseases may be locked in interactions among proteins being studied by biochemists, geneticists and microbiologists at the University of Toronto. Igor Stagljar, the developer of a unique process for exploring protein interactions, is leading the studies using robotic and bioinformatics techniques. The proteins in question are located in the membranes (the outer layers) of cells. These particular proteins play an important role in removing different toxins from inside the cell. Cell membrane proteins that lack this detoxifying ability are implicated as a major cause of numerous diseases, and a greater understanding of their functioning could facilitate treatments and other medical discoveries.
University of Toronto
Dr. Aaron Wheeler
Laboratories for microfluidic device design and high-throughput analysis
University of Toronto researchers led by Aaron Wheeler aim to develop new tools that analyze biological materials to generate extraordinary amounts of information. These potential new tools rely on "channel microfluidics," in which fluid is pumped through tiny channels for chemical separations and analysis, and "digital microfluidics," in which droplets are arrayed, mixed, and detected on a surface. These tiny new "laboratories on a chip" will be used for applications such as simultaneous analysis of thousands of proteins and high-throughput screening of potential drugs.
York University
Dr. Richard F. Murray
Three-dimensional shape perception: how the human visual system uses statistical regularities in natural scenes to solve an under-constrained problem
This research, led by Richard Murray of York University, is designed to help scientists understand how humans eyes, which can take only two-dimensional pictures of objects, allow us to see in three dimensions. Dr. Murray says all 2D images are often highly ambiguous and these studies will examine what assumptions humans make about the shapes of objects in order to solve the difficult problem of recovering 3D shape from the 2D images on their retinas. Understanding these assumptions could lead to better human-machine interfaces, in tasks such as laparoscopic surgery, where perception of 3D shape from impoverished or unusual 2D images is crucial.
York University
Dr. Gino G. Lavoie
Infrastructure to support research in the area of organometallic chemistry for the activation of small molecules and for the polymerization of functionalized olefins
York University scientists seek to create catalysts to be used for the environmentally friendly and more productive manufacture of a range of products including fertilizer and plastics. Gino Lavoie will lead the research into devising new "transition metal complexes" with potential to create more efficient and less energy intensive processes, such as those currently used in the production of fertilizers. This is critical in the current context of soaring energy costs and the ever-increasing world population. These scientists also hope to help generate new plastics with improved properties for use in items as diverse as automobile parts and human body prostheses, such as artificial knees.
For a complete list of awards and a detailed breakdown of the funding under this round of the ORF, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.
