Upcoming Events

11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

Exopolysaccharide biosynthesis

Dr. Lynne Howell
Professor, University of Toronto

Dr. Lynne Howell is a Senior Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), where she has held administrative roles as Head of the Program in Molecular Medicine (formerly the Program in Molecular Structure & Function) from 2002-2014 and as Associate Chief, Research Integration and Communication 2014-2016. She holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology and is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto.

Dr. Howell obtained her undergraduate degree in Biophysics from the University of Leeds in 1983, and her Ph.D. from the University of London in 1986 under the direction of Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow. She spent three years as a PDF at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before moving to Paris for two years to study at the Institute Pasteur. She joined The Hospital for Sick Children in late 1991 and was cross-appointed to the University of Toronto shortly afterwards. Dr. Howell is interested in the development of novel antibiotics and is currently focused on phenomena that are critical for bacterial biofilm development. Her contributions over the past twenty years to the structural biology field range from the development and application of novel methods for routine structure determination using X-ray crystallographic techniques to the de novo structure determination of over 140 structures. Her research has resulted in over 145 publications and >200 abstracts. Her expertise, international stature, advocacy and strong commitment to the structural biology field have also resulted in her current appointments as a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Light Source, the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography and the formerly Commission for Biological Macromolecules of the International Union of Crystallography (2008-2017); the governing body for the Crystallographic community worldwide. Dr. Howell is a former recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Investigator Award.

Navigating commercial development with API

Andrew MacIsaac
CEO, Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation

Over the past decade Andrew has successfully established over $75 million in partnerships between industry, academia, government, and donors, and developed catalysts for economic investment totalling more than $200 million. With a background in economics and public sector management, Andrew has worked with UBC, and the University of Alberta, and is currently the Assistant Dean for the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Andrew sits on the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Policy Committee, the Edmonton Health City Steering Committee, and the board of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Edmonton.

About API

API is a not-for-profit that works in collaboration with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as research and post-secondary institutions across Canada. API draws on an interdisciplinary network of over 30 pharmaceutical scientists, clinicians, regulatory, patent, and market experts in a variety of fields and disease areas to bring life-saving research to the real world. API provides a framework to support industry projects in a manner that keeps IP with the company, is regulatory compliant, and moves at a commercial pace.

11:00 am – 11:40 am MT:

Polysaccharide hydrogels enable local drug & cell delivery

Dr. Molly Shoichet
Professor, University of Toronto

Molly Shoichet is an expert in the study of polymers for drug delivery and tissue regeneration. She holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering and is Professor of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Professor Shoichet was recruited to the faculty at the University of Toronto in 1995 with a NSERC University Faculty Award, after completing her S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Chemistry, 1987), her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Polymer Science & Engineering, 1992), and three years at CytoTherapeutics Inc.

Professor Shoichet was promoted to Full Professor in 2004, after being named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 (2002), and receiving CIFAR’s Young Explorer’s Award (to the top 20 scientists under 40 in Canada, 2002) and NSERC’s Steacie Research Fellowship (2003-2005). In 2014, Professor Shoichet was appointed University Professor in recognition of her dedication to the advancement of knowledge and the University’s academic mission, and her excellence as a teacher, mentor and researcher. This is the University of Toronto’s highest distinction, and is held by less than 2% of the faculty. In 2015, Professor Shoichet was the North American Laureate for the L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science and in 2016, she was named foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering. In 2017, Professor Shoichet won the Killam Prize in Engineering, the most important engineering prize in Canada. In 2018, Professor Shoichet was appointed Chief Scientist, Ontario and inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada – one of the highest distinctions for a Canadian.

Professor Shoichet aims to advance the basic science and enabling technologies of tissue engineering and drug delivery. She is a world leader in the areas of polymer synthesis, biomaterials design and drug delivery in the nervous system. Her research program is unique in its breadth, focusing on strategies to promote tissue repair after traumatic spinal cord injury, stroke and blindness and enhance both tumour targeting through innovative strategies and drug screening via 3D cell culture with new hydrogel design strategies.

Workshop Summary

TBA

Speaker

Krista Lamb

Krista Lamb is a writer, communications professional and podcast producer and host. She was most recently the Director, Communications and Marketing at the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine and is currently the Director of Krista Lamb Communications. She specializes in helping translate complex medical, scientific and health-related topics into interesting and understandable stories for diverse mediums.

In addition, Krista produces and hosts the Diabetes Canada Podcast and writes regularly about research and science.

On Upkeep: Wine, Body and Soul, she writes about her adventures balancing healthy living with a passion for the art of wine. She is an associate member of the Wine Writer’s Circle of Canada and was the Ontario Correspondent for Wine Tourist Magazine. Follow her updates on wine on the @kristalamb and @kristavino feeds. Enjoy her healthy lifestyle and science writing @kristalambcomms. Learn more on her website: https://www.kristalamb.com/