Chemistry

Meet U of T's Inventors of the Year

Author: 
Jenny Hall
Picture: 
photo of Inventor of the Year winners and U of T administrators

Dietary advice tailored to your DNA and a “bio-printer” that prints skin-like tissue that can be used to dress wounds are two inventions that might change your life in coming years.

They’re also two of 10 inventions whose creators were celebrated May 15 at the University of Toronto’s 2013 Inventors of the Year ceremony.

Posted Friday, May 17, 2013

Scientists produce best image yet of atoms moving in real time

Author: 
Sean Bettam
Picture: 
Photo of members of Professor Miller's lab with the machine they used

Call it the ultimate nature documentary. Scientists at the University of Toronto have recorded atomic motions in real time, offering a glimpse into the very essence of chemistry and biology at the atomic level.

Their recording is a direct observation of a transition state in which atoms undergo chemical transformation into new structures with new properties – in this case the transfer of a charge leading to metallic behaviour in organic molecules. It is described in a study reported in the April 18 issue of Nature.

Posted Thursday, April 18, 2013

Governments, private sector back U of T research projects

Sub-title: 
Funding for ten projects tops $100 million
Author: 
Paul Fraumeni
Picture: 
Graduate student Brandon Sutherland gives Ontario's minister of research and inn

Ten research projects at the University of Toronto are now receiving more than $100 million in combined funding from governments and private sector partnerships.

That figure is the result of the latest award, an infusion of $35 million from the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) announced by Reza Moridi, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation at U of T March 15, 2013.

Posted Friday, March 15, 2013

Professor Gregory Scholes wins John C. Polanyi Award

Author: 
Jessica Lewis
Picture: 
photo of Greg Scholes looking in a microscope

Professor Gregory Scholes is a leader in the field of energy transfer — the process whereby absorbed light is transferred from molecule to molecule - and this year's recipient of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada John C. Polanyi Award.

The Polanyi award was established in tribute to John Polanyi, a Nobel laureate who is himself a University of Toronto researcher in the Department of Chemistry.

Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Meet doctoral student Melanie Mastronardi

Sub-title: 
Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prize for Interdisciplinary Research
Author: 
Jessica Lewis
Picture: 
photo of Melanie Mastronardi

Graduate student Melanie Mastronardi of the Department of Chemistry is the first recipient of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council's newly established Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prize for Interdisciplinary Research.

Mastronardi is working to make nanotechnology more environmentally friendly so that when the technology is adopted for wider use, it will have a smaller environmental footprint.

Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Meet U of T's five newest Sloan Fellows

Author: 
Kurt Kleiner and Jennifer Lanthier
Picture: 
photo of Bianca Schroeder

They’re known for their path-breaking work in computers, mathematical sciences and chemistry – now these five University of Toronto researchers comprise half of Canada’s Sloan Research Fellows for 2013.

Posted Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Connaught Fund injects more than $1 million into U of T research

Sub-title: 
Committee announces winners of innovation, summer institute awards
Author: 
Jenny Hall
Picture: 
photo of Professor Carolyn Cummins

The Connaught Fund, the University of Toronto’s premier internal funding program, has announced the results of its Innovation Awards and Summer Institute Awards, investing more than $1 million in projects that span the disciplines.

One of the Innovation Award winners is Professor Carolyn Cummins of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, who received $100,000 for her work developing a new drug to prevent the side effects associated with the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Professor Lewis Kay, Faculty of Arts & Science

Professor Lewis Kay, Chemistry, is the recipient of a 2013 NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship for his distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada. The Fellowships support career development of outstanding and highly promising university faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research.

Posted Monday, January 28, 2013

Explaining adrenal glands for Scientific American

Sub-title: 
Graduate student, alumni create winning video
Author: 
Jennifer Lanthier
Picture: 
photo of Nigel Morton, Dorea Reeser, Raluca Ellis and Mike Ellis

The Scientific American challenge: create a two-minute video explaining a body part or process in a fun and engaging way using seven household objects – string, rubber bands, balls, pens, paper, cups and paper clips.

The winners: a creative team including University of Toronto PhD student Dorea Reeser, alumna Raluca Ellis,  alumnus Nigel Morton and alumnus Mike Ellis.

Posted Monday, January 21, 2013

Microbes, nanomaterials and gas turbines

Sub-title: 
$33 million in funds from CFI for innovative research
Author: 
Paul Fraumeni
Picture: 
photo of Dana Philpott with research team

Most people choose not to think about the trillions of microorganisms – bacteria, viruses and fungi – that live on and inside our bodies. But these microbes have a tremendous impact on many aspects of health and disease. 

They’re also at the heart of Dana Philpott's research and a new $6-million Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)-funded research project: the University of Toronto’s Host-Microbiome Research Network.

Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2013
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