Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition that affects over 300,000 Canadians and the need for non-invasive methods for monitoring IBD is important. With a goal to personalize treatment and care and create more patient-friendly methods, Dr. Caitlin Maikawa, Assistant Professor of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto is working to make IBD treatment effective and easier.

Although there is no cure for IBD, remission can be achieved with therapeutics and lifestyle changes. Frequent monitoring of markers of inflammation levels, such as fecal calprotectin allows patients and their doctors to preventatively adjust treatment regimens to prevent the relapse of active disease. However, current tests for fecal calprotectin require stool collection and manipulation by patients. As a result, these tests have poor patient compliance and are not regularly incorporated into treatment programs.

For better monitoring, Dr. Maikawa aims to create dynamic polymer materials that dissolve in response to markers of inflammation, and can be used in simple oral biosensor devices. These materials rely on dynamic binding interactions that breakdown in the presence of inflammation-related molecules, like calprotectin, releasing a dye to signal its presence. Initially designed to monitor IBD, this technology could be adapted to detect other biomarkers in the gastrointestinal tract, potentially leading to more accessible, patient-friendly monitoring devices and improved outcomes for people with chronic gastrointestinal diseases.

As chemical manufacturing traditionally depends on fossil fuels for both energy and raw materials, efforts made to find greener sources would ultimately lower the carbon footprint of the chemical industry. Through her research, Dr. Rachel Baker, Assistant Professor at Queen’s University’s Department of Chemical Engineering aims to improve sustainability in the chemical industry and produce valuable everyday products in a way that minimizes environmental harm.

This research focuses on using paired electrochemical methods to convert biomass and carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals for a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, plastics, coatings, agrochemicals and more. To make manufacturing greener, carbon capture and utilization (CCU) converts carbon dioxide from industrial sources into raw materials, while longer carbon chains can be obtained from renewable sources like biomass. Furthermore, electrochemistry provides cleaner energy to a chemical reaction by using electricity instead of heat from fossil fuels. Paired electrochemical processes produce two useful products in a single reaction, reducing waste and energy use.

Ultimately, the carbon-negative and carbon-neutral methods developed through this research will shift focus away from oil and gas towards greener alternatives, while maintaining production of valuable chemical goods. Additionally, the project will train a diverse group of researchers in technical and professional skills, equipping them for careers in academia, government and in the green energy sector.

To better understand disease stemming from epigenetic issues and ways to manage cellular health and eventually improve treatments for diseases including cancers, where gene control goes wrong, Dr. Hossein Davarinejad, Postdoctoral Fellow, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa is studying how chemical modifications are made to and sensed on DNA-wrapping proteins known as histones, with an emphasis on histone H3 variants. Histones are the components of the nucleosome and their modifications play important roles in providing spatiotemporal access to DNA and record keeping of nuclear transactions.

Histone H3 modifications, such as methylation at lysine 27 (H3Lys27me), play key roles in turning genes on or off, maintaining the architecture of the nucleus, and repairing DNA. The enzyme ATXR5/6, which regulates this mark in plants, is a model system for understanding the interactions behind these mechanisms at the molecular level which occur between such enzymes and the nucleosome.

ATXR5/6 is composed of multiple domains, each of which contribute to its methyltransferase (enzymatic) activity but how these individual domains coordinate an overall function remains a question. By using cryogenic electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) and X-ray crystallography to solve the full structure of ATXR5/6 while it interacts with histone H3 within the nucleosome, this research will reveal how the enzyme’s functional domains work together to regulate H3Lys27me. This knowledge can help us better understand epigenetic regulation in plants and how similar methyltransferases function in humans and animals. The insights gained from this research can impact various fields, including gene expression, DNA repair, and cancer research, as misregulation of histone modifications is often linked to diseases. Understanding these mechanisms is ultimately crucial for developing therapeutic interventions that target faulty gene regulation processes.

Over 1.5 million Canadians are living with cancer. While surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are common cancer treatments, a new non-invasive approach – ultrasound-mediated nano-drug delivery – offers an alternative without the need for surgery or radiation. Using a method that precisely attacks cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, improving treatment efficacy and minimizing side effects, Dr. Farshad Moradi Kashkooli, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Department of Physics, is enhancing cancer treatment through targeted drug delivery.

Dr. Moradi Kashkooli’s research combines therapeutic ultrasound and nanomedicine for the first time to target tumors, offering a more effective cancer treatment with fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy. This method uses unfocused ultrasound waves to activate nanoparticles filled with medicine directly at cancer sites. While ultrasound is often associated with imaging, it is also a safe, non-invasive, and non-toxic treatment option. By converting ultrasonic energy into mechanical and thermal energy, it triggers drug release from nanoparticles, which are incredibly small. Not only does ultrasound promote drug release, but it also helps drugs and nanoparticles penetrate more deeply throughout the tumor and enhances cellular uptake, overcoming barriers that often limit treatment success.

By combining his expertise in physics, engineering, and computational modeling, alongside the (pre-)clinical and experimental experience at St. Michael’s Hospital, this work aims to refine the proposed treatment approach for future clinical trials, optimizing safety and effectiveness. This interdisciplinary work could benefit fields like biomedical physics and engineering, nanobiotechnology, and oncology, potentially providing new options and tools for cancer treatment.

Dr. Nikolai Cook, Assistant Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, is advancing economics research in two areas: improving research transparency and exploring the economic consequences of climate change and air pollution.

In the first area, Dr. Cook addresses the credibility crisis in economics and social sciences by tackling issues like publication bias and p-hacking. He develops tools to assess research validity and is exploring pre-analysis plans to improve transparency, aiming to build a more reliable, trustworthy academic foundation.

The second area of his research explores how environmental factors like climate change and air pollution impact worker productivity and global economic outcomes. His studies reveal that rising temperatures affect productivity and that no level of air pollution is harmless for cognitive performance. He identifies simple adaptations, like improved indoor climate control and relocating to higher floors, to mitigate these effects.

In terms of the credibility crisis, Dr. Cook’s latest work finds that p-hacking and publication bias also affect the societal impact of research, such as news mentions, social media engagement, or even citations in policy documents. In his latest environmental research, he is investigating the connection between warmer temperatures in North America to the incidence of gun violence. To do this, Dr. Cook is leveraging unique data from ShotSpotter (a system that uses acoustic sensors to detect gunshots in many U.S. cities) to show that warmer temperatures are already increasing gun violence. In future, Dr. Cook hopes to expand his research to include developing countries, which face greater vulnerability to a changing climate and air pollution.

Dr. Cook’s work aims to advance both the transparency of economic research and our understanding of how the environment affects economic and social outcomes.