Molecular Engineering
Molecular engineering aims to advance disease detection, customize drug delivery and improve health-care outcomes with faster and more precise technologies and systems.
Quick Navigation
Nanotechnology
Shape-shifting nanoparticles for delivering cancer drugs to tumours
Chemotherapy isn’t supposed to make your hair fall out — it’s supposed to kill cancer cells.
Professor Warren Chan’s Integrated Nanotechnology & Biomedical Sciences Laboratory builds targeted drug delivery systems designed to enter specific areas of your body. He and his team have created a set of nanoparticles attached to strands of DNA that function like a protein, but can be programmed to change shape and chemistry, allowing them to navigate through the traps in the body and gain access into diseased tissue.
Their discovery will lead to further advances in personalized nanomedicine — enabling tailored particles to deliver drugs into targeted types of tumours, and nowhere else.
Molecular Imaging
Smarter scans for earlier cancer detection
Professor Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng was working as an electrical engineer in the aerospace and defense industry when she realized the signal-processing techniques she was using could also enhance magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Today, her team is dedicated to improving MRI technology. Specifically, the Cheng Lab looks at ways to modify and enhance chemicals that give off a strong magnetic resonance signal, known as contrast agents, to accentuate visual accuracy of specific tissues and organs. Her lab is also developing novel, rapid imaging approaches to give us information about tissue physiology and functional dynamics.
Her developments in this area have proven promising in earlier cancer detection and stem cell observations for human tissue repair.
Systems Biology
Shrinking the lab—mini diagnostic tools for rapid, on-site results
Professor Aaron Wheeler is taking the lab to you.
His team builds miniature labs using digital microfluidics — a liquid-handling technology that can analyze tiny drops of chemical and biological fluids on site. Using electrostatic forces, their lab-on-a-chip device can manipulate these samples and probe them with built-in sensors for rapid analysis, all on something the size of a credit card.
The technology aims to allow advanced diagnostic tests to be performed at a patient’s bedside or in remote places around the world to give accurate results in less time.
Read more news about molecular engineering
Three U of T biomedical engineers awarded Canada Research Chairs for innovations in synthetic biology, neurodiversity health, and nanobioengineering
Three faculty members at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) have been awarded Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
Professor Leo Chou awarded $130,000 to advance cancer vaccine research
Professor Leo Chou has been awarded $130,000 in funding from The Cancer Research Society (CRS) to propel forward an ambitious project aiming to boost the effectiveness of cancer vaccines. This award places him among 100 distinguished Canadian recipients this year, each selected to push boundaries in cancer research with innovative solutions.
U of T Engineering Research Spotlight: Biomaterials Engineering
U of T Engineering Professor Naomi Matsuura and Thoracic Surgery Professor Kazuhiro Yasufuku speak about their research collaboration that aims to better diagnose and treat lung cancer in the third instalment of the Research Spotlight series.
Unlocking faster biodegradation of lipid nanoparticles
A recent study led by researchers at the University of Toronto sheds new light on a crucial challenge in the field of nucleic acid drug delivery: how to make lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) break down more quickly in the body. This discovery could pave the way for medicines that can be administered more frequently and with fewer side effects.
New imaging agent could improve early detection of inflammatory disease
Researchers from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto have developed a novel MRI contrast agent that may enhance the early detection of inflammatory diseases by targeting nitric oxide (NO), a key molecule involved in the body’s immune response.
This U of T Engineering professor is developing novel biomaterials to improve the treatment of chronic diseases
Maikawa is one of two U of T Engineering professors to receive funding from the latest round of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund (CFI-JELF).