The objective of this project is to develop lipid nanoparticle (LNP) reagents for the delivery of nucleic acids to turn off, or turn on target genes in “hard-to-transfect” neurons and stem cells in vitro and in vivo. A recent report (BCC Research, April 2011) observed that "51% of researchers employ cell-based techniques to perform transfection routinely. Although transfection techniques have been available for many years ….this procedure faces challenges such as the efficiency of gene introduction and its toxicity in cells." With an estimated market of $1.9 billion by 2016 this project will help explore high value market niche that is poised for substantial growth. It will leverage clinical grade, proprietary LNP reagents, a novel proprietary microfluidic-based manufacturing LNP technology, and a unique mechanism of action that maximizes LNP potency by combining broad expertise in technology development and commercialization from the University of British Columbia, and Precision NanoSystems Inc. (PNI).

Additional research is required to fully understand the effects of Capsaicinoids, a supplement that contains the active ingredient in hot peppers. Previous studies have demonstrated its ability to reduce appetite and weight. However, there is lacking information regarding the effects of this supplement on cardiovascular health and exercise performance. The intern will be responsible for collecting and interpreting various physiological measurements from participants, where half will be randomly chosen to consume the supplement, while the other half will be given a placebo.

The proposed project aims at optimizing new antivirals to fight influenza. Current antivirals, which target proteins of the virus, suffer from severe resistance owing to mutations in the virus. Our group has identified some enzymes in the human lung that are critical for the maturation of the influenza virus. By blocking these enzymes, we expect that the proposed treatment will be a lot less prone to the development of resistance since the target is the host and not the highly mutable virus.

Epileptic patients have a long term risk of recurrent seizures and the mainstay of treatment for controlling seizures is antiepileptic drugs. Management of epileptic emergencies usually requires hospitalization and the administration of intravenous (i.v.) anticonvulsant drugs. Lorazepam i.v. is the most effective treatment of status epilepticus, and therefore is routinely used in hospital emergency departments.

Accurate monitoring of a patient’s vital signs – including body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse oxygenation – is central to the ability of clinicians to provide appropriate medical care. In spite of this, the standard equipment used to take these measurements is inefficient, inconvenient, and expensive. Adept Diagnostics will break into the medical device market with the development of novel wireless sensor systems to track these physiological variables continuously and inobtrusively.

The requirement for dissolution testing (both routine sample and method development) is increasing for all of the current and future programs at Accucaps and is a regulatory requirement for most oral pharmaceutical products. The need for access to capacity and development capabilities for dissolution must reach beyond Accucaps. For these reasons, a collaboration with Dr Shawn Wettig (University of Waterloo) to utilize his dissolution capacity and knowledge for non-GMP "piece-meal" and development activities is being pursued.

Product quality is a factor in insuring business success and user satisfaction. It is acheived through vigilance within quality systems. This project will explore how quality-by-design can be supported through serial recording of material signatures extracted from image analysis of baked goods produced by the industrial partner TWI Foods. An innovative digital image recording system will be used, the BioTIFF/Intercase system, developed by gDial Inc in collaboration with the Dr Peter Pennefather of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.