Thyroid cancer is the most frequent endocrine cancer. Over 90% of thyroid cancers are of the follicular or papillary type termed differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Thyroglobulin (Tg) serum measurement is an integral part of the follow up and management of DTC patients. Serum Tg levels are conventionally measured using either an immunometric assay (IMA) or radioimmunometric assay (RIA). Both methods rely on the use of labeled exogenous antibodies.

Dewatering and desalination, meaning the extraction of freshwater from waste water or seawater, requires high energy inputs in the form of heat and/or pressure. The disadvantages of the most common method, reverse osmosis, include the irreversible deposition of particulate on the membrane surface and the energy required to surpass the feed solution's osmotic pressure. An emerging alternative that addresses both of these issues is forward osmosis, which relies on the osmotic pressure of a draw solution to pull fresh water from the feed solution.

The proposed research project looks at the hydrogen economy, where hydrogen can be used in place of fossil fuels for the worlds’ energy needs. Although touted as a sustainable option for global energy demand, the vast majority of hydrogen continues to be produced by industrial, fossil fuel-based processes such as steam reforming of natural gas. Our research aims to lower costs of hydrogen production in hopes to adopt wide-spread use and eliminate the need to rely on fossil fuels. Our partner organization, FireWater Fuel Corp.

Precision Molecular Design is involved in chemical precursor synthesis, design, and intellectual property for the thinfilm industry. Precursors for this billion dollar industrial sector are required for a variety of metal and non-metal films, including copper, ruthenium, and titanium nitride and tantalum nitride, to name a few. All of these films are metallic conductors involved in interconnect technology (i.e., micro- and nano-scale wiring) for microelectronic devices.

The aim of this internship is to investigate the possibility of a scaled-up green process to design, and develop an industrial plant to remove the hazardous materials from spent secondary materials such as spent petrochemical catalysts, in Atlantic Canada. The intern will be responsible to develop a whole process flow diagram, as well as a detailed cost analysis. By identifying a feasible environmentally-friendly process, the industrial plat will be able to treat various hazardous wastes locally, thus there are different potential short and long-term benefits to the partner organization

Targeted delivery of drugs can reduce the side effects associated with oral delivery systems. The urethra provides easy access of therapeutic agents to the urinary bladder, an ideal organ for localized therapy for the treatment of bladder cancer, interstitial cystitis, overactive bladder, and chronic prostatitis. We propose a new therapeutic approach to increase the residency time and efficacy of the drugs by using biogradable polymers as a drug carrier, allowing a prolonged release of drugs in the bladder.

Medella Health is developing contact lenses that continuously detect blood glucose levels to better manage diabetes and improve the quality of life for diabetic patients. Patients have a difficult time monitoring and maintaining their blood glucose levels because current systems are invasive, discontinuous and do not generate the continuous feedback necessary for patients to take immediate action.

The aim of the project is to develop molecules capable of treating cancer. Currently, chemotherapeutics used in the clinic kill cancer as well as healthy cells; this broad mechanism of action results in high toxicity to the patient. In contrast, our approach is to generate a targeted therapeutic that will work against STAT5, a specific protein which is overexpressed in breast cancer. This approach will limit the toxicity associated with currently used treatments.

Aptamers are short strands of nucleic acids with high affinity and specificity for their targets. Advantages of using aptamers, relative to antibodies, include their smaller size, ease of synthesis, and lack of immunogenicity. Therefore, aptamers technology can be a novel cancer therapy strategy. The goals of our research program are to develop aptamers that catch and release circulating tumor cells and block receptors involve in cancer stem cell pathways.