A protein named c-Myc is causally implicated in over 50% of all human cancers. Preliminary work supports two proteins (POZ domain protein and c-Myc cofactor Miz-1) as a new drug target to disable c-Myc function. We have identified small molecules which act on this target and will now serve develop a series of optimized and […]

Canonical methods of molecular discovery and reaction optimization rely on “trial-and-error” approaches and slow experimentation with low discovery rates. By harnessing high-throughput experimentation (HTE) with machine learning (ML) methods, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, we have the potential to dramatically accelerate the discovery and preparation of next generation molecules and materials. We will extract, unify, […]

Coffee production with imported beans has doubled in Canada since 2003. From this > 125,000 t of waste is generated most of which ends up in landfill. A significant component of the waste is as the pulp (cascara) and silverskin. In 2019, the Happy Goat Company roasted 50 t of green coffee beans yielding 300kg […]

The popularity of sour beers is continuously increasing. Producing sour beers is time consuming and obtaining a consistent flavor profile over multiple batches can be challenging. This in addition to scaling up production to meet customer demands can negatively influence the quality and flavor of the beer. This project aims to develop advanced analytical techniques […]

Mass spectrometry is a chemical analysis technique for determining the mass/charge ratio of molecules under study. The instruments used for this technique require the compounds be transformed into gas-phase ions. This process is extraordinarily difficult with Nobel prizes awarded for the two most common methods. One of these methods is electrospray ionization where dissolved compounds […]

Every year billions of doses of medications go unused by patients in North America. Some of these are returned to pharmacies for appropriate disposal, but the majority of these are discarded in landfills or flushed into municipal wastewater streams. Our goal for this initiative is to collect unused and expired pharmaceuticals and develop a sustainable […]

Lignin, a substance in the cell walls of plants, is produced as a waste when wood is processed into pulps, papers, and similar products. In addition, this organic polymer exists in massive waste wood chips generated by various forestry and wood processing industry sectors. To advance the circular economy and diversify forestry products, there has […]

A new type of device that uses a combination of UV light, oxygen, flowing water, and titanium dioxide (a com-mon white pigment) is capable of removing volatile toxins from the air. This device will be investigated using a range of techniques that provide molecular insights into this process, and those insights will help in the […]

Butyl Rubber has become one of the most important polymers in the modern world, impacting everyone’s daily lives. Interestingly, the processes to make butyl rubber can be convoluted and while they are effective, it makes it difficult to fine tune the production to systematically improve yields. This project will use newly developed methods in our […]

The overall problem to be addressed is the synthesis of graphene or graphitic coatings from the liquid phase. This work follows from a previous investigation, supported by a MITACS Accelerate grant, into the use of “poly(hydridocarbyne)” (PHC), a soluble carbon- hydrogen polymer, as a precursor for the formation of diamond- like carbon coatings. As a […]

Sour corrosion originated from hydrogen sulfide in the pipeline has detrimental impact on the material’s surface of the pipeline, which ultimately causes cracks and pipeline failure. The mechanism behind this sour corrosion is complex because several environmental factors control the degree of sour corrosion, such as, temperature, acidity of the environment, hydrogen sulfide concentration, chloride […]

The recent legalization of marijuana has sparked renewed interest in studying the health benefits of the non-psychoactive cannabinoids. Cannabidiol (CBO, 1, Figure 1) has emerged as a promising medicinal candidate due to its potential for the treatment of anxiety, and chronic pain. In 2018, the first CBD-containing drug, Epidio1ex, was approved by the FDA for […]