Development of Input and Evaluation Criteria for a Video-Based Occupational Risk Assessment Tool

Workplace injury prevalence and cost have created an immediate need for ergonomics risk assessment tools that require minimal ergonomics training, rooted in a foundation of experimental research, and provide comprehensive outputs that give some indication of risk and required action. Observation-based tools have been widely implemented in practice due to their simplicity, accessibility, and cost- […]

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Exploring phosphonate biosynthetic capacity in anaerobic microorganisms

Molecules possessing a carbon-phosphorus bond (C-P) have traditionally been considered rare in Nature. For example, there are only ~50 phosphonate natural products known, although several have achieved commercial success (e.g. the antibiotic fosfomycin). In addition, several phosphonate cell surface modifications have been found over the last half century, but nothing is known regarding their biosynthesis […]

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Translation of recent evidence on the effect of sugars on cardiometabolic health

The proposed project includes 2 objectives: (1) provision of high quality evidence on the effect of specific food sources of sugars on cardiometabolic risk factors by conducting multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs), to address the effect of replacing sugar-sweetened beverages with either diet pop or water in a randomized controlled clinical trial, and to […]

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Dietary regulation of tissue circadian clock function in mice

The 24-hour light-dark cycle dictates the organization of life in most species on this planet. Internal timekeepers, so called circadian clocks, help to anticipate recurring daily changes and orchestrate the body’s physiological functions accordingly. In mammals, the core clock resides in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and is synchronized by light. The SCN projects to several […]

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Chemical Genetics Approach: Function and Inhibitory Effect on Kinesins

This program is to analyze the regulation of cell cycle progression and the mechanism of chromosome segregation with regard to Kinesin5 and Kinesin8 families. Defects in these processes can result in the formation of aneuploid cells, a hallmark of many solid cancers. Thus, insights into the function and regulation of Eg5 and Kif18A (one protein […]

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Confronting Colonialism at the Tropenmuseum: Understanding the Afterlives of Slavery

The research for this project will culminate in a final paper examining the Tropenmuseum’s new temporary collection Afterlives of Slavery, as a case study to consider efforts to transform the purpose and relevancy of museums. The exhibition, which recently opened in 2017, explores the Netherlands’ ties to slavery and colonialism, revealing how these histories continue […]

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Developing a regional approach to urban forest monitoring and reporting

Urban forests do not conform to municipal or watershed boundaries and many of the threats they face like climate change impacts and invasive species need to be addressed at a regional or larger scale. Taking a regional approach to urban forest monitoring could be of benefit to achieving the sustainability objectives of Toronto and Region […]

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MIM Plasmonic Bowtie Structures for Infrared Spectroscopy

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a diverse, powerful and nondestructive sensing technique amenable to a wide variety of applications. The sensitivity of IR measurements can be greatly improved by local electromagnetic field enhancements provided by nanoscale metallic structures. We propose a novel platform for enhanced IR spectroscopy, consisting of a bowtie structure composed of a nanoscale […]

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Enabling next generation cardiac therapeutics with genetic engineering and novel in vivo models for cardiomyocyte transplantation

The development of cellular therapeutics is acutely dependent on the ability to evaluate the functional characteristics of the cells in predictive animal models. This forms the basis of key pre-clinical data packages that are key for regulatory submissions preceding human clinical trials. The development of appropriate model systems, the execution of the surgical techniques to […]

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Enabling next generation cardiac therapeutics with genetic engineering and novel in vivo models for cardiomyocyte transplantation – Year two

The development of cellular therapeutics is acutely dependent on the ability to evaluate the functional characteristics of the cells in predictive animal models. This forms the basis of key pre-clinical data packages that are key for regulatory submissions preceding human clinical trials. The development of appropriate model systems, the execution of the surgical techniques to […]

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