IBBME

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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.

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Professor Paul Santerre began his career at the University in 1993 in the Faculty of Dentistry and is a member of the Centre for Biomaterials, where he has conducted research into biomaterials - molecules and polymers designed to interact with biological systems – and their applications. He became a core faculty member at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) in 1999 when this unit was merged with the Centre for Biomaterials, and has been IBBME’s Director since 2008.

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Warren Chan is a professor at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) at the University of Toronto, where he holds a Canada Research Chair in Bionanotechnology. Professor Chan works with quantum dots and nanoparticles—tiny particles that are helping researchers develop portable and cheaper diagnostic equipment for infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, malaria and syphilis.

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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.

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An unassuming box sits on a table. One part is clear plastic, allowing you to see the empty chamber inside. One day, that empty chamber may hold a cell colony or even tissue generated from a patient's own body, to help diagnose or treat diseases such as cancer.

It’s just one of many cutting-edge devices on display at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering's Tomorrow's Technology Showcase, which was part of IBBME's recent 50th anniversary celebration.