The fashion industry has an environmental problem and Iris Redinger is working to address a significant part of the challenge: clothing dyes. Her innovative solution uses micro-organisms that naturally produce colour. 

COVID-19’s unbalanced toll has highlighted the need for removing barriers to entry and increasing opportunities for all Canadians to participate in and strengthen the economy. To address this need, Mitacs and Scotiabank collaboratively launched the Scotiabank Economic Resilience Research Fund (SERRF) through ScotiaRISE, the Bank’s 10-year, $500 million community investment initiative to promote economic resilience among disadvantaged groups.

A surprise finding from a routine survey to assess the needs of people accessing support programs for their children with neurodevelopmental disabilities set Queen’s University researcher Maude Champagne on a mission. 

The innovative work of the not-for-profit Arctic Research Foundation (ARF) facilitates community-led solutions for some of the biggest problems facing Northern communities, such as the need for green energy, standardizing and better disseminating data from Arctic research, addressing disruptions in food supply from the land, and responding to rapid changes in lake and ocean water and the impact on fisheries and marine mammals.

For the past several years, University of Toronto researcher Courtney Toth has been keeping a close eye on fermenters. But instead of brewing beverages like beer or wine, she’s growing a cocktail of microbes that ‘eat’ some of the world’s most widespread contaminants. 

The Internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age. This global network of computer systems, largely based on platforms of wireless and near instant communication, provides limitless opportunities for multimodal interaction in chosen time, transcending space. Increasingly driven by the need to constantly produce greater amounts of information and knowledge, the Internet transmits data at higher and higher speeds over fibre optic networks and its impact on culture and commerce has fundamentally altered the way we live, work, and interact. 

Gustavo Betini, a PhD student in the school of Public Health Science at the University of Waterloo, has spent the past year immersed in studying the mental health effects of COVID-19. His research has shown that, even though fear of contracting the virus is waning, almost a quarter of Canadians continue to report having high anxiety and depression related to the pandemic.

Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), the Canadian-led consortium of pharmaceutical companies, clinicians and academia, supports open-access drug discovery around the world. And it’s bringing hope to the 300 million people afflicted by rare diseases and a world ravaged by COVID-19. 

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked an urgent need for innovation in all aspects of our lives – and researchers rose to the challenge. From COVID-19 diagnostics and treatments to changes in how we work and receive healthcare, the pandemic has fast-tracked innovation across sectors. 

High-potential researchers and businesses around the world did a pandemic pivot, shifting their work and resources to respond to the world’s pressing need for solutions. In Canada, Seyyedarash (Arash) Haddadi’s story is a standout example of innovation partnerships helping to counter the COVID-19 threat. 

Sophie Charron’s childhood interest in the queens of Europe drove her to pursue a master's degree in Medieval Studies. Working under Professor Shami Ghosh at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Medieval Studies, Charron’s highly original research focuses on the queens and noblewomen of medieval Bohemia.