Innovative Projects Realized

Explore thousands of successful projects resulting from collaboration between organizations and post-secondary talent.

31620 Completed Projects

2978
AB
5221
BC
856
MB
696
NL
899
SK
9419
ON
9858
QC
98
PE
619
NB
1192
NS

Projects by Category

PET/MR imaging in lung cancer radiotherapy applications, including respiratory motion management strategies

Recently, a new whole-body PET/MRI scanner was developed and installed at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in London, Ontario and remains the only installation in Canada. Two major challenges concerning PET imaging include the need for correcting for loss of photons, called attenuation, due to interactions with patient tissues and the impact of respiratory induced organ/tumour motion during scanning. Corrections for attenuation are currently performed using X-ray CT. We propose that MRI can also be used to create the attenuation map based on a predefined atlas. We aim to compare 3 atlas design strategies and compare the results with CT-based PET reconstructions. We also propose that respiratory motion can be performed during scanning by retrospectively reconstructing 4D-PET using list mode data and 4D-MRI using ultra-fast 2D MR sequences on multiple slices leading to a 3D-PET/MRI scans at multiple phases of the respiratory cycle.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Stewart Gaede

Student:

Partner:

Multi Magnetics Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Western University

Program:

Accelerate

Development, implementation and evaluation of a bulk tank milk surveillance program for infectious and emerging diseases on Ontario dairy farms

The spread of endemic and emerging infectious diseases continues to plague the dairy industry. The convergence of human, animal, and ecosystem interactions results in emergence and re-emergence of diseases in dairy cattle such as salmonellosis and anaplasmosis. Adding to the mix, frequent buying of cattle contributes to rapid dissemination of infectious diseases in dairy cattle. The University of Guelph is exceptionally well-positioned to lead the development and implementation of a surveillance network based on bulk tank milk. Every licensed dairy farm submits milk samples to the Agriculture & Food Laboratory unit at the University of Guelph at least once every 2 days for quality testing and payment. We propose to establish a routine process to access bulk tank samples from Ontario dairy farms and test whether samples are positive for endemic and emerging diseases of interest. Our overarching goal is to work with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, a farmer-run organization serving dairy producers, and our testing partner Lactanet, to establish a disease surveillance pilot network in Ontario farms, as a way to rapidly identify and respond to the introduction of emerging pathogens. We will work with collaborators in other provinces to move towards a nationally integrated program.

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Faculty Supervisor:

David Kelton

Student:

Partner:

Dairy Farmers of Ontario

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

University of Guelph

Program:

Elevate

Development of new methods for screening bioilogics by means of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) coupled with Mass-Spectrometer (MS) via novel Open Port Probe Sampling Interface (OPP) – Year two

The methods for screening complex biological samples found wide application in pharmaceutics, forensic science and medical science. The majority of these methods involve several analytical techniques coupled together in order to maximize the efficiency of the analysis. For example, the combination of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) with Mass Spectrometry (MS) creates a new analytical platform (CE-MS) that utilizes the separation power of CE and superior detection abilities of MS. The weak points of such a platform are the poorly developed coupling interface and incompatibility of CE and MS buffers. Thus, existing interfaces suffer from clogging and cannot keep the stable spray pattern, which results in poor reproducibility of the experiments. Incompatibility of CE and MS buffers does not allow analysis of non-volatile solutions, which limits the range of applicable CE approaches and requires additional steps of sample preparation. We are aiming to overcome all listed limitations by developing new CE-MS coupling model that will be utilizing Open Port Probe Sampling Interface (OPP). Next, we’ll be applying CE-MS coupled with OPP for the development of immunological assays and for the screening of disease-related biomarkers in the biological fluids.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Richard Oleschuk

Student:

Partner:

SCIEX

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Elevate

Intelligent Systems Data Ingestion and Analytics

This project will support the development of comprehensive, multidisciplinary Smart Building, Smart Transportation, and Smart City management systems in order to improve energy performance, operations cost, safety and reliability for large infrastructures in the private and public sector.
The research problem to be addressed is to develop effective methods to ingest and analyze massive amounts of streaming data from large numbers of WiFi-connected IoT devices monitoring buildings, vehicles, and transportation corridors within a Smart Campus or Smart City. This heterogeneous data comes in a wide variety of formats, at different sampling rates, in a variety of quantities. It must then be classified according to a strict ontology, stored in cloud-based databases, and recovered on demand for analysis and the computation of comprehensive key performance indicates for use by human operators and machine learning systems.
Our team has access to live streaming data both from real installations in labs and buildings and from Digital Twin simulators, with both IoT devices and Edge servers in the data mix, developed in partnership with academic researchers at partner institutions. FuseForward is working with Ryerson and other local partners to develop an IoT monitoring network on a college campus.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jiannan Wang;Stephen Makonin

Student:

Partner:

FuseForward

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program:

Accelerate

An independent program evaluation of the Secret Agents Society for youth with ASD

Children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have severe impairments in social
competency, which can negatively impact quality of life, academic achievement, peer acceptance, and
mental health. Social skills interventions aim to teach youth the social interaction skills necessary to
build and foster relationships with others, and are critical for addressing bullying and associated mental
health problems in youth with ASD. The Geneva Centre for Autism, one of the leading service
providers in Canada, is implementing a multi-component evidence-based social skills training group
(SSTG), the Secret Agents Society, which includes children, parents, and teachers. The proposed
research will evaluate this intervention by collecting data on treatment effectiveness using a pre-postfollow-
up design with children with ASD (8-12 years) who are struggling with social skills. This
research will benefit the Geneva Centre by evaluating the intervention and ensuring that the program is
effective for its participants.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Jonathan Weiss

Student:

Partner:

Geneva Centre for Autism

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

York University

Program:

Globalink Research Award

Development of new methods for screening bioilogics by means of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) coupled with Mass-Spectrometer (MS) via novel Open Port Probe Sampling Interface (OPP)

The methods for screening complex biological samples found wide application in pharmaceutics, forensic science and medical science. The majority of these methods involve several analytical techniques coupled together in order to maximize the efficiency of the analysis. For example, the combination of Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) with Mass Spectrometry (MS) creates a new analytical platform (CE-MS) that utilizes the separation power of CE and superior detection abilities of MS. The weak points of such a platform are the poorly developed coupling interface and incompatibility of CE and MS buffers. Thus, existing interfaces suffer from clogging and cannot keep the stable spray pattern, which results in poor reproducibility of the experiments. Incompatibility of CE and MS buffers does not allow analysis of non-volatile solutions, which limits the range of applicable CE approaches and requires additional steps of sample preparation. We are aiming to overcome all listed limitations by developing new CE-MS coupling model that will be utilizing Open Port Probe Sampling Interface (OPP). Next, we’ll be applying CE-MS coupled with OPP for the development of immunological assays and for the screening of disease-related biomarkers in the biological fluids.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Richard Oleschuk

Student:

Partner:

SCIEX

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Elevate

Epigenetic Regulators of Anticancer Drug Response – Year two

The effectiveness of cancer drugs depends on several factors which are governed by the genetic and ‘epigenetic’ code of cancer cells. The epigenetic code comprises those heritable modifications that bookmark DNA and DNA-associated proteins to guide the expression of genetic attributes without changing the DNA sequence. This epigenetic code is written, read, and erased by a group of proteins known as epigenetic regulators. Our preliminary data suggest that one epigenetic regulator plays a role in controlling the effectiveness of a targeted cancer drug; however, the role of different epigenetic regulators in drug response is not fully understood. The Structural Genomics Consortium has developed a toolkit of chemical compounds that can be exploited to study these regulators in cell biology and drug discovery. In this project, we propose to leverage this toolkit to systematically study the roles of epigenetic regulators in cancer drug therapy. Specifically, we plan to identify these roles by a large-scale combination of cancer drugs with the toolkit compounds in relevant cancer cell lines and subsequent interrogation of significant changes in cancer drug responses. This approach will provide new insights into the functions of epigenetic regulators and help identify improved therapeutic options with immediate utility in cancer therapy.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Dalia Barsyte-Lovejoy

Student:

Partner:

Structural Genomics Consortium

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Elevate

Epigenetic Regulators of Anticancer Drug Response

The effectiveness of cancer drugs depends on several factors which are governed by the genetic and ‘epigenetic’ code of cancer cells. The epigenetic code comprises those heritable modifications that bookmark DNA and DNA-associated proteins to guide the expression of genetic attributes without changing the DNA sequence. This epigenetic code is written, read, and erased by a group of proteins known as epigenetic regulators. Our preliminary data suggest that one epigenetic regulator plays a role in controlling the effectiveness of a targeted cancer drug; however, the role of different epigenetic regulators in drug response is not fully understood. The Structural Genomics Consortium has developed a toolkit of chemical compounds that can be exploited to study these regulators in cell biology and drug discovery. In this project, we propose to leverage this toolkit to systematically study the roles of epigenetic regulators in cancer drug therapy. Specifically, we plan to identify these roles by a large-scale combination of cancer drugs with the toolkit compounds in relevant cancer cell lines and subsequent interrogation of significant changes in cancer drug responses. This approach will provide new insights into the functions of epigenetic regulators and help identify improved therapeutic options with immediate utility in cancer therapy.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Dalia Barsyte-Lovejoy

Student:

Partner:

Structural Genomics Consortium

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Toronto

Program:

Elevate

Impact of microparticles in cancer progression – Year two

Blood platelets are the principal source of cells known to shed small extracellular vesicles which package biologically active molecules. We have recently identified a new type of these vesicles (called microparticles/MPs) that contain mitochondria, which represent the energy producing motors for living cells. We have also discovered that MPs preferentially bind and internalize into leukemia cells to transfer their contents. As a result, recipient cancer cells gain energy producing capacity, which leads to increased cancer processes. Our objective is to characterize the mechanisms of MP interaction and sourcing of modulators leading to cancer progression. The elucidation of these novel mechanisms are essential for the development of specific compounds to block MP-cancer cell interactions. We believe that the mechanistic blockage of MP internalization will deprive cancer cells of vital resources for disease progression.
The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute/ACRI has developed a proprietary technology to capture MPs. Through our fruitful collaborations and use of this technology, we will elucidate MP targeting and binding of cancer cells for the development of new anticancer strategies. This research could bring significant economic benefits to our health care systems and provide the ACRI with business opportunities with potential partners invested in the treatment of blood cancers.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Gilles Robichaud

Student:

Partner:

Atlantic Cancer Research Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Université de Moncton

Program:

Elevate

Signalling Bodies as Resistant: Coded Queerness in Visual Culture

Through historical research, I examine the role of queer history to demonstrate how, and in what ways, oppression evolves into resistance. Focusing on visual culture, such as photographs, home video’s and films, as well as ephemera, letters and personal papers, the goal is to shed light on the dark corners of queer history. By illuminating historical pain and trauma, the intention is to reveal the resilience of previous generations, and where negative affects inform locations of recuperation. The need for such research is to provide future generations strategies of survival; where legacies of inequity can be recouped and systemically changed. Visual culture and personal papers of everyday LGBTQ2+ communities disclose the complexity of simple lives and provide salient, real world knowledge of those who came before us.

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Faculty Supervisor:

Janine Marchessault

Student:

Partner:

The ArQuives

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Information and cultural industries

University:

York University

Program:

Accelerate

Impact of microparticles in cancer progression

Blood platelets are the principal source of cells known to shed small extracellular vesicles which package biologically active molecules. We have recently identified a new type of these vesicles (called microparticles/MPs) that contain mitochondria, which represent the energy producing motors for living cells. We have also discovered that MPs preferentially bind and internalize into leukemia cells to transfer their contents. As a result, recipient cancer cells gain energy producing capacity, which leads to increased cancer processes. Our objective is to characterize the mechanisms of MP interaction and sourcing of modulators leading to cancer progression. The elucidation of these novel mechanisms are essential for the development of specific compounds to block MP-cancer cell interactions. We believe that the mechanistic blockage of MP internalization will deprive cancer cells of vital resources for disease progression.
The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute/ACRI has developed a proprietary technology to capture MPs. Through our fruitful collaborations and use of this technology, we will elucidate MP targeting and binding of cancer cells for the development of new anticancer strategies. This research could bring significant economic benefits to our health care systems and provide the ACRI with business opportunities with potential partners invested in the treatment of blood cancers.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Gilles Robichaud

Student:

Partner:

Atlantic Cancer Research Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Université de Moncton

Program:

Elevate

Understanding the gaps in the adoption of animal care practices in Canada – Year two

Welfare issues such as lameness and body injuries (LBI) negatively impact health, productivity, and longevity of dairy cows. Despite research, regulatory and outreach efforts, the current prevalence of LBI is high in Canada and shows little evidence of improvement. The proposed study will use an integrated, structured approach to identify gaps influencing the adoption of on-farm practices for control of LBI from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Our methodology comprises 4 steps, each providing groundwork for the following: 1) Knowledge Synthesis will provide insights into Canada’s current situation of LBI and evidence of change throughout time; 2) Questionnaire administered to industry stakeholders (producers, advisors, milk processors, policy-makers, consumers) will investigate perceptions, needs and actions towards LBI; 3) Focus Groups will provide insights into stakeholders’ perceived role and barriers in adopting changes to improve LBI; and 4) knowledge gathered in steps 1-3 will create a platform to develop a plan for Knowledge Translation and Transfer (KTT) to support future extension efforts. Our study will be the first to engage a wide variety of dairy industry stakeholders nationwide to explore factors impacting their perceptions towards LBI and towards change. The outcome will be used to tailor KTT tools applicable to dairy farmers throughout Canada.

View Full Project Description
Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Weary

Student:

Partner:

Lactanet (QC)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program:

Elevate

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Mitacs — Return on Innovation

Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.