Updates

By Devika Desai, The Varsity Published: 2:20 am, 18 January 2016 MaRS building on College Street. Yassine Elbaradie/THE VARSITY The collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Innovation incubation(Jlabs) and the University of Toronto to build biotech startups, is coming to fruition. After receiving $18.3 million out of the $19.4 million that the Ontario government agreed to invest in the project, U of T has commenced the process of fitting a floor in the MaRS west tower. Jlabs primarily focuses on supporting early-stage companies by offering resources that range from core research facilities to opportunities for venture capital funding. “Our role is [...]

by Erin Vollick Kyle Battiston recently moved into new lab space at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research in the MaRS building (photo by Jeff Comber) From screws and plates for broken bones to metal hips and dental implants, every day thousands of people undergo surgeries to implant medical devices in the body. But sometimes their immune systems respond by attacking these foreign objects. For some patients, this inflammatory response can be controlled by drugs. Others will experience device failure. But what if there didn’t have to be an immune response at all? That’s the thinking behind University of Toronto researcher Kyle [...]

Energy savings on all three campuses are good for the climate, but also leave more money for academic programs By Nicolle Wahl Reducing greenhouse gas emissions at U of T’s three campuses is good for the environment, but it’s also a boon for academic budgets, as savings on energy bills can be applied to classrooms, labs and program improvements. At the St. George campus, for example, a recent energy retrofit of the Medical Sciences Building has resulted in savings of more than $1 million annually in energy costs, according to Ron Swail, the chief operations officer of Property Services and Sustainability for Facilities and Services, which oversaw the [...]

U of T embarks on a bold plan to restore, renew and beautify the historic St. George campus By Arthur Kaptainis What was old will be new again. And what is new will be harmonized with the old. After months of study and public engagement, the Landscape of Landmark Quality competition has selected a consortium of KPMB Architects, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) and Urban Strategies to restore, renew and beautify the central spaces of the University of Toronto’s historic St. George campus. “This was a difficult decision owing to the great imagination shown by the entrants,” says Scott Mabury, [...]

Five campus chefs faced off at the University of Toronto’s annual mac-and-cheese ‘Smackdown.’ By: Jonathan Forani Staff Reporter, Toronto Star, Published on Wed Dec 09 2015 There’s no better way to bring a campus together than doling out the most stereotypically “student” meal you can think of — mac and cheese. But this isn’t your roommate’s Kraft Dinner Easy Mac. How about a pan-seared squid ink pasta topped with salmon and Sriracha pearls? Crushed chestnuts over three varieties of blue cheese? Or five kinds of mushrooms on asiago cheese? These were just three of the options at the University of Toronto’s Mac ‘N [...]

Dealing with post-surgery recovery can be stressful. But recent U of T grad Dr. Joshua Liu wants to ease that for patients. His company, SeamlessMD, helps people prepare for and recover from surgery using their mobile devices and home computers. And SeamlessMD is already getting a lot of attention from the likes of WIND Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera and BioWare co-founder Dr. Raymond Muzyka. Read more.

Last week, recent U of T grad Noureddin Chahrour tamed three dragons on CBC's Dragons' Den ? securing a $90,000 investment in exchange for 30 per cent of his startup, Adrenalease Inc. Read more.

When alumnus Bill Buxton first worked on touchscreen technology, he could only imagine what his research would mean to the future of human-computer interfaces. Twenty years later, touchscreens are everywhere, as is Buxton's influence, including at multinational company Autodesk. Read more. 

How does 'Buy Blue' help student startup companies? By making U of T a customer. The university-wide initiative will encourage faculties and departments to become early adopters of products and services developed by U of T startups.  Read more.