Innovative Projects Realized

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Drug encapsulation in liposomes for cancer therapeutics

This project will explore the market potential of liposome based drug delivery systems for cancer therapeutics. By interviewing cancer patients, clinicians, and experts from the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, we aim to better understand their needs and the challenges they face with current cancer treatments. The insights from this work will help guide with the commercialization of the technology, ensure that it is the right fit to the market and help with the navigation of regulatory pathways. This will benefit our partner organization by giving them valuable insights into the market, helping reduce risks, and improving the chances of success when introducing a new healthcare solution.

A Multimodal Approach on Parkinson’s Disease: Structural and Functional Analysis in Freezing of Gait

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting more than 23,500 people in Quebec. Freezing of gait (FoG), a disabling motor symptom characterized by the sudden inability to initiate or continue walking, occurs in up to 80% of patients in advanced stages increasing fall risk and reeducing quality of life. While structural, diffusion, and functional MRI studies have each revealed brain alterations associated with FoG, no work has integrated these modalities.
This project aims to identify multimodal biomarkers of FoG in PD by combining voxel-based morphometry, diffusion MRI tractometry, and resting-state functional connectivity. MRI datasets from MexPD (UNAM) and HBCL (McGill) patients will be preprocessed using standardized softwares. Structural analyses will examine gray matter volume, diffusion metrics will study white matter integrity tractography, and functional connectivity will be analyzed in locomotor networks. Multimodal overlap will be assessed by mapping convergence across modalities and testing associations with clinical measures.
This will be the first multimodal study of FoG, bridging disconnection with functional network and relating these to gait impairments. This research has the potential to improve early detection and guide rehabilitation strategies supporting mobility and independence in people with PD across Canadian and Mexican cohorts.

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Blüm: A mobile game app to prevent dementia and stroke

Dementia and stroke are growing threats to both our well-being and the healthcare system in this aging society. Research has shown that 40% of dementia cases and 60% of stroke cases may be preventable through lifestyle changes. The problem is that the general public, especially people at high risk for dementia and stroke, lacks a clear, structured and science-backed roadmap for how they can reduce their risk by changing their daily habits. Our solution, Blüm, is a free gamified mobile application designed to help users track, build, and reinforce daily habits that improve their brain health. The Brain Care Score (BCS) is used to measure their brain health status and identify areas for improvement. Personalized feedback and recommendations will be provided based on their BCS. A virtual garden and an avatar with various rewards and achievements are designed to keep users engaged and motivated. Articles in lay language will be shared regularly in the app to promote users’ health literacy. Unlike most existing brain health/wellness apps, Blüm uniquely combines scientific rigor with an engaging design and gamified framework. We will help our users reduce their risk of dementia and stroke and achieve their brain health goals in a realistic, engaging and accessible manner. Blüm has the potential to become a robust public health tool to promote healthy aging in the Canadian population. Additionally, this project will contribute to Lab2Market’s mission by demonstrating the potential of its program to support evidence-based innovation and early-stage health entrepreneurship.

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Bellycure

This project will evaluate whether existing microbiome testing methods can be applied in a more affordable and practical way. The focus is on validating feasibility rather than creating a new approach. To do this, microbiome sequencing, analysis, and sample preparation will be outsourced to commercial facilities, ensuring reliable results at a lower cost. If the necessary permits are obtained, some steps may later be tested within the lab. The partner organization will benefit by gaining clear evidence on whether pursuing this direction is worthwhile, helping guide future decisions about accessible microbiome-based tools for patients and healthcare providers.

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Thanos Medical Inc

Le projet de Thanos Médical vise à développer une sangle intelligente de rééducation intégrée à un fauteuil roulant à verticalisation assistée. Cette sangle textile multisensorielle permet de mesurer en temps réel les paramètres biomécaniques du patient (tension, posture, pression, mouvement) grâce à des capteurs connectés. Les données sont transmises à une application mobile sécurisée pour un suivi personnalisé par les cliniciens et les patients. L’objectif est de faciliter la télé-réadaptation et le suivi des progrès thérapeutiques, en améliorant l’autonomie des personnes à mobilité réduite. Le projet s’inscrit dans une approche multidisciplinaire combinant ingénierie biomédicale, intelligence embarquée et sciences de la réadaptation, avec un fort potentiel d’impact clinique et social.

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Pharma Matters – Innovative solutions

Pharmaceutical supply chains in North America remain highly dependent on overseas manufacturing. Most critical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and fine chemicals essential for drug production are imported, making the region vulnerable to disruptions in global supply chains. Our initiative aims to strengthen pharmaceutical independence by developing local, sustainable, and innovative solutions. Our dedicated team of experts focuses on: a) Developing new, safe, eco-friendly, and scalable processes to produce critical APIs locally; b) Supporting the optimization of existing API synthesis routes through advanced technologies such as flow chemistry and process intensification; c) Advancing drug design and development using cutting-edge scientific approaches. By producing APIs domestically, we can reduce reliance on international suppliers, safeguard pharmaceutical production, and enhance national healthcare security. We currently count on scientific expertise and most of the physical infrastructure necessary to begin operations. Through the L2M Validate Program, we aim to strengthen our market knowledge, refine our business model, and secure the financial resources required to acquire equipment and launch the startup.

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Smart Parking

Finding available parking in busy urban areas remains a persistent challenge for Canadian drivers, particularly in metropolitan centres such as Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Drivers regularly lose valuable time circling streets in search of parking before medical appointments, business meetings, events, and exams, to name a few. This inefficiency contributes to increased stress levels, financial penalties from contravention tickets, higher fuel consumption, and unnecessary traffic congestion. More critically, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that 1 in 5 car accidents occur in parking lots, emphasizing that this issue is not only inconvenient but also a public safety concern. Despite numerous deployed parking applications on the market, most solutions provide only static information and merely assist users in interpreting complex municipal parking signs, leaving the burden of finding an available spot to the driver. There is a clear gap for a smarter, real-time, and more proactive solution.

The partner organization seeks to innovate in this space by building Smart Parking, an intelligent decision platform that automates the parking discovery process by guiding drivers to find, in real time, an available parking spot, rather than merely displaying regulations. The system will display live availability on an interactive city map, guide users to open parking spaces, and provide directions for any post-parking actions to help drivers avoid tickets. It also helps reduce driving time and urban congestion and improves road safety through optimized parking flow. This approach shifts the responsibility from the driver to the platform, offering a tangible and daily benefit to both citizens and municipalities.

The innovation lies in developing an intelligent assistant under the umbrella of the Smart City project while ensuring privacy preservation and full compliance with Canadian security standards.

Preliminary Evaluation of Bonding Polydopamine and Carbon Nanomaterials on The Surface of Fabrics and The Effect on Thermal Conductivity

Intern(s) will help Thermweave develop washable fabrics that move heat away from the body with enhanced thermal conductivity. They’ll develop dip-coating recipes that use tiny carbon-based particles, dip common fabrics (cotton, polyester) in them, and fine-tune steps like time, temperature, and drying. The interns will test how well the fabric moves heat, and how it feels, and how it holds up after laundry cycles. They will also make small trial rolls to gather feedback from early users. This work will give Thermweave data and prototypes to finish a first product, attract partners and customers, and build a made-in-Canada cooling textile line that improves comfort and safety for workers, athletes, and everyday users.

Criminal vs Civil: The Unequal Right to Counsel

This project compares how lawmakers in France, the United States, and Canada have debated and shaped the right to legal counsel in criminal and civil cases from 1953 to the present. By analyzing legislative transcripts, it seeks to understand why France, a country that faces similar constraints, including a shrinking justice budget, nonetheless provides stronger protections for civil legal aid than its North American counterparts. It examines how political language and institutional choices have contributed to these differences. The study will build a new dataset of legislative debates and produce comparative insights into how legal protections evolve over time. Participating institutions will benefit from original cross-national research that deepens understanding of access to justice, strengthens collaboration between Canadian and French researchers, and provides evidence-based recommendations for improving civil legal aid policy in Canada and beyond.

L2M Validate / Qc Winter 2026 / Grow Guard

The integration of machine learning models and the extraction of meaningful data into industrial workflows continues to accelerate, driving innovation and new business opportunities. Leveraging our expertise in mathematical and statistical modeling, we aim to apply these technologies to address critical challenges in agriculture, where up to 40% of crop yields are lost due to suboptimal resource management.
Our vision originated from observing a relatable problem: the loss of household plants, which costs owners both financially and emotionally. We recognized that a customized care program tailored to each plant’s specific conditions could improve survival rates beyond conventional methods. We propose to scale this approach to commercial agriculture. By modeling the unique conditions of individual farms, we will provide customized maintenance programs—including precision irrigation and fertilization—aligned with each crop’s specific requirements.
Our solution will employ digital twin technology to simulate and monitor plant growth within a controlled virtual environment, enabling proactive management. This data-driven approach will transform reactive farming into predictive precision agriculture. By continuously analyzing environmental variables, soil conditions, and plant health indicators, our proposed system will provide actionable insights that optimize resource utilization while minimizing environmental impact and reducing operational costs.

An Inorganic Approach to Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage

Our Mitacs application is part of a collaborative program of study to develop the chemistry of molecular solar-thermal energy storage (MOST) materials. For the project, we aim to establish Cu(I) ions as components of MOST materials. The Lescop group (France) has longstanding expertise developing inorganic materials based on Cu(I) wherein the metal ions direct electron rich surfaces to participate in face-to-face stacking in the solid state. The MacGillivray group (Canada) has longstanding experience to direct molecules to undergo [2+2] photodimerizations in the solid state. While many organic systems are recognized as promising for MOST applications, there have been no reports using principles of inorganic chemistry based on Cu(I) to be developed into MOST materials. Cu(I)-based molecular materials are characterized by a variety of radiative relaxation pathways that include phosphorescence. Phosphorescent materials based on Cu(I) can be expected to enhance MOST systems by improving energy retention and release dynamics. The flexible coordination environment of Cu(I) can also allow MOST materials to undergo rare single-crystal-to-single (SCSC) reactions. In these transformations, the integrities (e.g. size, morphology) of crystals are preserved and, therefore, attractive for development of device applications.

rom Quebec Waters to Innovation: Bacterial Adhesins as a Source of Antifouling Solutions

This project studies how aquatic bacteria isolated from Quebec’s aquatic environments attach to underwater surfaces and form biofilms, the first step in biofouling.
Biofouling is a major challenge for the maritime industry, as it increases energy use, damages equipment, and helps invasive species spread. Among the bacteria responsible for the first stages of biofouling, species belonging to the group Caulobacterales play a key role. These bacteria produce natural adhesives that are incredibly strong, stronger than most industrial glues. Our project focus on Caulobacterales isolated from different aquatic environments across Quebec to better understand how the properties of their adhesive vary depending on local environmental conditions.
By studying how these adhesives work, our team aims to design new materials that resist biofouling. The project combines biology, chemistry, and engineering to better understand bacterial adhesion and create eco-friendly, durable antifouling coatings. This collaboration will strengthen research partnerships between academic institutions, support local expertise in biotechnology, environmental and materials sciences, and contribute to sustainable innovations for the maritime sector.