Special Seminar
Date: Monday November 18, 2024 Time: 10:00am – 11:00am Location: Donnelly Centre
160 College Street, 2nd Floor, Red Seminar Room
Dr. Heather Sheardown, PhD McMaster University
“There has to be a Better Way to Treat Eye Conditions!”
A trip to the optometrist or ophthalmologist often means a prescription for some sort of eyedrop. While well accepted, eyedrops are difficult to put in, particularly for elderly patients, children and pets, and, because less than 5% of the drug instilled actually gets to the target tissue, they must be put in frequently and at concentrations that are often painfully high. Getting drugs to the back of the eye is even more difficult and typically requires a frequent, painful injection that, while effective, has a high incidence of complications and is inconvenient for the patient. A major focus of the work in the Sheardown lab has involved shifting delivery paradigms and developing delivery methods for treating ocular conditions that are more patient friendly and more efficacious. The work takes advantage of established methods of getting drugs to the ocular tissue, while exploiting ocular biology to maximize impact. Well accepted eyedrops have been modified to minimize the need for frequent dosing through incorporation of polymers which can bind with the mucosal layer on the surface of the cornea. New methods of incorporating drugs into contact lenses can be used to take advantage of these lenses to deliver drugs to the eye. Injections into the back of the eye using polymer delivery vehicles have the potential to minimize the number of injections and improve the efficacy of treatments. The potential to use the state of the disease to control release will make these systems even more powerful. Several of these delivery systems will be discussed during this presentation, highlighting the role of engineering in changing healthcare delivery.
Biography
Heather Sheardown is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University with a cross appointment to the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine and an adjunct appointment with the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. She holds a two term Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Ophthalmic Biomaterials and Drug Delivery and has published more than 160 peer reviewed papers on this subject. She is currently the Scientific Director of
C20/20+, an ORF funded incubator aimed at the commercialization of ophthalmic biotechnologies. Sheardown was previously the Scientific Director of C20/20 and prior to that the 20/20 NSERC Ophthalmic Materials Research Network. These initiatives brought together researchers and companies with a goal of creating and commercializing materials based treatments for ophthalmic conditions. She holds more than 20 patents or provisional patents for work in her lab, many in collaboration with company partners. She currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of 20/20 OptimEyes, a McMaster based spin out focused on developing and commercializing a micelle based technology developed in her laboratory.
Researcher Mobility Awards support high-calibre doctoral students or postdoctoral fellows to develop new skillsets and strengthen global linkages by providing financial support for them to undertake infectious disease-related research training or complete collaborative field work outside of Toronto. Through these opportunities, Researcher Mobility Award recipients will bring back new knowledge and techniques to our local infectious disease research community and strengthen our research network’s ties to national and international research partners. The value of these awards for training or field work undertaken at North American host institutions/sites is up to 4,000 CAD, and 6,000 CAD for training or field work undertaken at international research institutions/sites.
EPIC Doctoral Awards are designed to support a cohort of multi/interdisciplinary trainees engaged in collaborative research with an infectious disease focus. These competitive $10,000/year awards support excellent graduate students supervised by a faculty member whose primary affiliation is at the University of Toronto or one of EPIC’s partner research institutes (The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Sinai Health, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Unity Health Toronto, and the University Health Network).
To be eligible, candidates must have completed their PhD qualification or reclassification exams between January 2023 and December 2024 or have finished their second or third year of a direct entry PhD program.
The application deadline is Friday, November 8th, 11:59 pm ET!
*This email contains information about two upcoming learning opportunities related to scholarly publishing, and links to publishing supports from the University of Toronto Libraries*
Event 1:
Scholarly publishing: What matters to you?
As an early career researcher, it can be challenging to navigate the complex scholarly publishing landscape. How do you decide where and when to publish your research? What factors or criteria weigh in your decision-making? What supports can you draw upon?
Join us for a discussion on decisions and supports within the scholarly publishing landscape and what that might mean for you as a graduate student looking to expand the visibility of your research.
When: Thursday, November 14, noon to 1pm.
Who is invited: U of T graduate students from all three campuses and any discipline.
Who should attend: any student interested in chatting about this topic.
Where: This in-person conversation will occur concurrently across UTM, UTSC and St. George with food available at each campus.
Register to attend at the:
Event 2:
Ready, Set, Publish: Copyright & Open Access for Researchers
Date: Thursday, November 21 from 2:00 pm to 4:00pm
Registration Link:https://libcal.library.utoronto.ca/event/3846058
Join Graeme Slaght, Scholarly Communications and Outreach Librarian, and Shelby Thaysen, Scholarly Publishing Librarian, for an afternoon all about deepening understanding of copyright issues and open access publishing.
Participants will gain practical insights to make informed decisions about their rights and options as authors publishing the results of their research in an increasingly complex publishing environment. This webinar is aimed at participants who have some experience with publishing. While it’s not an introductory session, it will provide valuable resources and tools to facilitate author agency for researchers at all stages of their publishing careers.
This workshop will consist of two parts. Participants may attend one or both sessions. The workshop will be recorded and shared with all registrants.
Supplementary material will also be made available to registrants.
Part 1: Copyright for Researchers – 2:00 PM
Part 1 will outline author rights and other copyright concerns related to publishing research. It will aim to equip researchers with the knowledge and tools to think strategically about their own copyrights. This session will also discuss GenAI and its implications for scholarly authors and their rights to control their works. Part 1 will frame the conservation about Open Access in Part 2.
Part 2: Open Access Publishing – 3:00 PM
Part 2 will discuss the major upcoming changes in the research funding landscape in Canada related to the expected future requirement that Tri-Agency-funded authors will be mandated to make the published results of their research openly available immediately, upon publication.
This section will highlight open access funding agreements and discounts available to authors through the University of Toronto Libraries when publishing with select publishers.
This section will also explore other pathways and resources to open access publishing offered by the library such as the new open access journal search tool Scifree and the assisted deposit service for our institutional repository, TSpace.
**
This will be a synchronous workshop delivered in a webinar format. If you have accessibility needs, please contactscholarly.communications@library.utoronto.ca
Date: Thursday, November 21 from 2:00 pm to 4:00pm
Register: https://libcal.library.utoronto.ca/event/3846058
Also, Publishing Supports from the Library
- Publishing Discounts. APC discounts by publisher
- Publishing Discounts. APC discounts by journal
- Predatory Publishing Checklist
- OA Publishing Options
- Authors’ Rights
- Getting Published in the Health Sciences
- Research Impact & Researcher Identity
Submit and Publish Your Thesis: https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/thesis
- Publishing Your Thesis
- Turning Thesis into an Article
- Turning Thesis into a Book
- Other Thesis Publication Venues
Professor Twan Lammers: 2024 Keenan International Lecture
When: Wed 11/20/2024 1:00p – 2:00p
Where: https://ca01web.zoom.us/j/61594077375?pwd=uSKjyiZt0dbrUk6aSx2ROTmji1yU5s.1
🌟 Power Talk with Industry Titans 🌟
Are you curious about how life sciences can drive innovation and make a real-world impact? 💡
Want to explore how research-based ideas can grow into successful startup companies? 📈
Wondering how to apply your scientific skills beyond the lab? 🔍
🎉 Join Innovation OnBoard UofT for an exclusive Q&A session with Dr. Wayne Pommen, Chief Revenue Officer at Affirm and former CEO of PayBright, alongside Dr. Morgan Barense, Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada Research Chair, and CEO & Co-Founder of Hippocamera.
💼 Meet the Speakers:
- Dr. Wayne Pommen: From PhD researcher to industry leader, Wayne shows how academic insights can fuel a multi-billion-dollar company. As the founder and former President of PayBright, he scaled the company from a 5-person team to 250 employees, leading to a $340 million acquisition by Affirm in 2021. Now serving as Chief Revenue Officer of the multi-billion-dollar fintech company Affirm, Wayne drives strategy and growth across revenue teams. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
- Dr. Morgan Barense: Research-driven startups are on the rise, and Dr. Barense is at the forefront. As a Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada Research Chair, and CEO & Co-Founder of HippoCamera, she has translated her research into a memory-enhancement startup that bridges lab discoveries with real-world applications. Her journey demonstrates how science can spark meaningful innovation through entrepreneurship.
💬What to Expect:
✨ Engage with these influential leaders, ask your burning questions about the intersection of science and industry, and gain valuable advice on the dos and don’ts at the early stages of your career!
📝Don’t miss this opportunity—register today! ✨
Join Innovation OnBoard’s Slack community to connect with like-minded future entrepreneurs.
Explore more resources on our website and follow us on LinkedIn for updates!
The ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship call for 2025 just opened for applications of new candidates! The North America program offers students in Canada an opportunity for a fully-funded Research Project in a Swiss laboratory of your choice and with a value of close to 3000 CAD per month.
Candidates should be:
- Enrolled at an accredited Canadian university or research institute.
- Currently enrolled in a PhD, Master’s program or have completed their second year of undergraduate degree by the time the research stay in Switzerland begins.
While the scholarship is open to all fields, we specifically encourage students from Canadian institutions with a background in the fields of Quantum, AI, Space, Sustainability and Bioengineering to apply.
In your applications you should make a good case, why you would like to spend up to three months in a lab in Switzerland and which colleagues you consider beneficial to work with, or which archive to work in, etc.
For all further information, eligibility criteria, application requirements and more details, visit https://thinkswiss.org/ See you in Switzerland!
The session will be held online on November 13, 2024 from 10:00-11:30am and will include a presentation with opportunity for questions and discussion. Topics will include:
- History and principles behind research ethics review
- Procedures under the Tri-council Policy Statement 2 (TCPS2 2022)
- U of T’s risk matrix for assessing participant vulnerability and research risk
- Free & informed consent, privacy & confidentiality, conflict of interest
- Preparing a research ethics protocol
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ECHO Discovery Program
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The Translational Biology and Engineering Program (TBEP) and TRANSFORM HF are excited to announce the call for applications for ECHO Discovery, a foundational education program designed to explore ideation, research translation, and entrepreneurship in the cardiovascular health space.
ECHO Discovery aims to:
Application Deadline: Monday Nov 24, 2024 Please visit our webpage for program details, brochure, instructions and application form.
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Who is the program for? Those who are interested in exploring cardiovascular entrepreneurship but are unsure how to proceed, and are either:
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What will you gain? Participants of the ECHO Discovery program will:
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What is the format? ECHO Discovery is comprised of three foundational elements to support your journey:
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Where and when will ECHO Discovery take place? ECHO Discovery is a fully virtual, six-month program running from January-June 2025.
For more information on the ECHO Discovery program, please contact Andrea Hung: admin.tbep@utoronto.ca.
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We are currently recruiting for a study investigating pain-avoidance and reward-based learning. This study involves coming to our lab for 1 visit. During the visit, you will perform a probability game where your goal will be to avoid pain and maximize reward. You will be compensated up to $45 and the total time commitment is approximately 2 hours.
If you are interested in participating, please email our email moayedi.lab@utoronto.ca with the subject line “Approach Avoidance Learning”.
Best Regards,
Omar Khalil
Moayedi Lab – https://www.painresearchcentre.org/moayedi-lab-1