BioZone's own Assistant Professor Chris Lawson has been named the 2022 recipient of the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME)/International Water Association (IWA) Rising Star Award. This award is a collaboration between the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) and the…
Access the June Edition of the BioZone newsletter here
BioZone Professor Alison McGuian has been elected as a 2022 fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE). She is among the CAE’s 47 new fellows. “The CAE is a national institution through which individuals who have made outstanding contributions to…
Access the June Edition of the BioZone newsletter here
BioZone Professor Grant Allen has been recognized with a Sustained Excellence in Teaching award for his exceptional contributions as a teacher and administrative leader. “Allen joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1987. He served as Associate Chair, Graduate…
Access the April Edition of the BioZone newsletter here
BioZone Director Professor Elizabeth Edwards along with Professor Hui Peng from the Department of Chemistry have been leading a group of researchers who are studying wastewater during the pandemic to forecast potential COVID-19 waves. This important work has been featured…
A group of BioZone researchers led by BioZone Director Professor Elizabeth Edwards and Professor Hui Peng from the Department of Chemistry are working to improve alternative monitoring strategies to assist the government in managing the impact of COVID-19. “We were…
Posted March 14th, 2022 by Jennifer Hsu. Posted in News 2022 Water is a limited resource, and a very costly one. On March 22 we celebrate World Water Day, which reminds us to protect this valuable and diminishing reserve. The Department of Chemical Engineering…
A collaboration between BioZone Postdoctoral Fellow Tim Leshuk and Professors Grant Allen and Frank Gu makes use of solar photocatalysis to eliminate colour from pulp mill effluents making the wastewater optically clear and fit for re-use in the pulping process. This process will significantly…
BioZone Professor Alison McGuigan was announced as one of the International Fellows of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (FTERM) during the 2021 Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) World Congress. Congratulations, Alison! Read more here.
This fall we welcomed new Assistant Professor Chris Lawson to BioZone! Chris Lawson’s research focuses on harnessing the metabolic processes of anaerobic microbiomes for sustainable wastewater treatment and the production of renewable bioenergy and bioproducts from waste resources. He is…
BioZone’s Professors Levente Diosady and Emma Master were among seven U of T Engineering recipients of the 2021 Connaught Innovation Awards, which recognize and support innovations with a strong socio-economic or commercial potential. Congratulations, Levente and Emma! Read more about their work and the award here.
University Professor Elizabeth Edwards appointed to the Order of Canada Story by Carolyn Farrell University Professor Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE) has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s most prestigious honours. The second cohort of new appointees…
Professor Krishna Mahadevan has been awarded a Canada Research Chair in Metabolic Systems Engineering. This news was made public after a historic announcement by the federal CRC program which includes $195 million for 259 new and renewed Chairs attracting global…
The CREATE for BioZone hosted a virtual seminar and panel discussion on open science on May 21, attended by over 50 students, postdocs and staff from BioZone and the UofT community. Dr. Aled Edwards presented different models for tech transfer…
With funding from the University’s COVID Action Fund Initiative, SGC and BioZone have established the Toronto Open Access COVID-19 Protein Manufacturing Center Please order your proteins here: https://dev.biozone.utoronto.ca/covid-19-protein-manufacturing-center/ Our protein purification team at BioZone or SGC will produce any SARS-CoV-2…
https://www.utoronto.ca/celebrates/five-u-t-professors-receive-elite-university-professor-designation. Five University of Toronto professors were recognized last week as University Professors, an elite designation bestowed on a small number of U of T faculty members for their distinguished scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in their fields. Elizabeth Edwards, Prabhat Jha, Anita McGahan, James Retallack and Frances Shepherd were…
BioZone is currently looking to hire for the position of Executive Director to work with a dynamic and highly collaborative and diverse team of professors, staff, and students all eager to bring the knowledge gained through careful research and high…
Scott Proulx and Patrick Diep presented Synthetic Biology topics to 300 high school students for Partners in Research Canada.
The CREATE for BioZone program hosted an Open Science Workshop on January 21, 2020 that was organized by CREATE trainees Anupama Sharan, Chester Pham, Premy Shanthamoorthy and Kimberly Tok. Over 60 registrants including 37 Highly Qualified Personnel (students and post-doctoral…
BioZone’s Patrick Diep, along with Nadia Morson, Olivia Bulka, and Alexandre Tremblay, is developing the Canadian Synthetic Biology Education Research Group (CSBERG). CSBERG is a graduate student-led teaching program based in BioZone – Centre for Applied Bioscience and Bioengineering at…
The Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry invites applications for a tenure stream appointment in advanced approaches and technologies for water treatment (recovery-purification-recycle) and management for the natural resource sector. We have a specific interest in applications relating to…
A method of fortifying salt—spraying it with buffered folic acid solution—had already been developed by chemical engineer Levente Diosady and colleagues at the University of Toronto in Canada. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/could-adding-folic-acid-salt-curb-ethiopias-sky-high-rate-spinal-cord-deformities Could adding folic acid to salt curb Ethiopia’s sky-high rate of…
Congratulations to the U of T iGEM team for their gold medal and “Best Manufacturing Project” nomination at this year’s iGEM competition! Check out their project here, entitled “Accelerating Industrial Plastic Degradation with PETase”. BioZone has been supporting iGEM students at…
Contamination-eating microbes are ready for action By Tyler Irving August 7, 2019 (link) For years, Professor Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE) and her team have been developing a potent mix of microbes that can chow down on toxic chemicals. Now, they are…
By Geoffrey Vendeville, University of Toronto engineering news On grocery store shelves among packages of farmed beef, poultry and pork, Peter Stogios expects to one day see meat created in labs. The senior researcher in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering…
Lumières – Live Podcast Launch Friday August 23 | 6.30-9.30 PM | Miami Ad School Toronto | $45 (includes 1 FREE beer and HST) Lumières is a podcast created by Marine Scientist Dr. Eloise Ashworth where she interviews scientists worldwide…
Three U of T Engineering CREATE grants accelerate translation from lab to market ByTyler Irving July 11, 2019 Researchers Kylie O’Donnell (ChemE PhD 1T8) and Maryam Arefmanesh (ChemE PhD candidate) use gel electrophoresis to analyze DNA fragments in the…
https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/ Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE) has been appointed to the rank of University Professor. This is the University of Toronto’s highest academic rank, recognizing unusual scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in a particular field of knowledge. The number of such appointments is…
ix U of T Engineering researchers, including Professor Krishna Mahadevan (ChemE), are among nine teams awarded $1.2 million in funding from Medicine by Design to support critical new ideas in regenerative medicine. Medicine by Design’s New Ideas and Seed Fund awards supports translational…
Congratulations to Christian Euler who was awarded the The Professor Douglas Reeve Leaders of Tomorrow Award from the Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering. The Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) Awards recognize students in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry who…
BioZone researcher Peter Stogios is using funding from the Good Food Institute to search for growth factors that can make growing meat in a culture dish less expensive. Animal source-free clean meat production requires the use of serum-free growth media…
Global scale metabolic pathway reconstruction from environmental genomes Professor Elizabeth Edwards and Krishna Mahadevan are working with Project lead Professor Steven Hallam of the University of British Columbia on the development of the Environmental Genome Encyclopedia. Project Description We may…
How can production of common items be made more efficient and sustainable? The answer may lie in the science of metabolism. From the yeast used to make bread dough rise, to the cells grown in bioreactors to make pharmaceuticals like insulin,…
Professor Levente Diosady (ChemE) has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada (https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/u-of-t-engineering-professor-and-alumnus-named-to-the-order-of-canada/) Diosady was honoured “for his contributions to the science of food engineering, which has improved the lives of millions of people around the world.” He…
A new faculty position is available in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry and BioZone. Join a team of high impact researchers working in an open and collaborative environment using genomics, bioengineering, and computational biology to solve important…
Alison McGuigan elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists Professor Alison McGuigan (ChemE, IBBME) has been named to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Established in 2014, the College is…
Associate Professor Patrick Lee is visiting BioZone from City University of Hong Kong and will be presenting a seminar on Monday 17th September, 2018 at 4:00 pm in WB407. His current work in Hong Kong focuses on microbial community (i.e.,…
26 Ontario companies awarded seed funding for innovation commercialization http://www.bioenterprise.ca/index.cfm?page=newsItem&id=494 Twenty-six Ontario companies, including Ardra Bio, a spin out from BioZone, have been selected to receive seed funding from Bioenterprise Corporation and its delivery partner Innovation Guelph, the fourth round…
Ontario Genomics has posted a profile of a BioZone project led by Elizabeth Edwards and Krishna Mahadevan called “Genome-based community modeling reveals essential metabolite exchanges in anaerobic microbial communities” See the story here: http://www.ontariogenomics.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2018/06/2016_SPARK_Edwards-Mahadevan.pdf
Professor Levente Diosady was recently named the Engineers Canada Gold Medal Winner for 2018. The award recognises his work in developing a type of salt that helps combat anemia in countries like India. Professor Diosady recently spoke with Gill…
https://www.utoronto.ca/news/it-all-starts-discovery-research-federal-science-minister-says-canada-s-innovation-pipeline?utm_source=The+Bulletin&utm_campaign=652a8269c3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_916b4e500a-652a8269c3-108826513 When Kirsty Duncan, Canada’s federal science minister, wants to illustrate the importance of fundamental science – research driven by human curiosity, not potential outcomes – she often reaches for the example of deep learning. The branch of artificial intelligence,…
Prof. Levente Diosady has received the 2018 Engineers Canada Gold Medal Award, the organization’s highest honour, recognizing exceptional individual achievement and distinction in engineering. A world-renowned food engineer, Diosady has spent much of his career developing techniques for fortifying staple foods with micronutrients…
https://www.genomecanada.ca/en/news-and-events/news-releases/genomics-researchers-partner-industry-further-innovation-health The Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) funds translational research and development projects that address real-world challenges and opportunities as identified by industry, government, not-for-profits, and other “receptors” of genomics knowledge and technology. Five projects have been selected for funding…
‘Don’t Be Scared to Collaborate’ Alison McGuigan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto. We asked everything from alternative professions to favourite TV shows in hopes of giving you…
Ontario Genomics invests in renewable chemicals http://www.ontariogenomics.ca/news-events/news/ontario-genomics-invests-renewable-chemicals/ November 1, 2017 Ontario Genomics is pleased to announce its investment in Ardra Inc. via its Pre-Commercial Business Development Fund. Ardra is a specialty chemicals company focused on the production of natural ingredients for the…
Natural fibres: New yeast strains could turn plant waste into fabrics Posted October 26th, 2017 by Tyler Irving Nylon — used in everything from clothing to car parts to toothbrush bristles — is derived from oil, a nonrenewable fossil fuel. A…
http://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/elements-bio-mining-engineering-collaboration-aims-turn-mine-waste-valuable-metals Posted September 13th, 2017 by Tyler Irving Elements of bio-mining: Engineering collaboration aims to turn mine waste into valuable metals An industry-academic collaboration led by U of T Engineering professors is studying the use of microorganisms to treat mine…
http://www.chem-eng.utoronto.ca/news/alison-mcguigan-wins-connaught-fund-mclean-award/ Professor Alison McGuigan is the 2017 winner of the Connaught Fund, McLean Award. This $125,000-award is presented annually to support an emerging research leader conducting basic research in physics, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, engineering sciences, and the theory and…
If you are interested in learning more about the people, research, and resources at BioZone, please take a look at our latest “Report on BioZone.” Download our Report on BioZone published 2017.
BioZone PIs are leading two Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence (ORF-RE) round 8 applications. Each project is worth $12M over 5 years with a $4M contribution from the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The goal of the Biochemicals…
The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) has published a feature on Elizabeth Edward’s benzene remediation research called Lord of the Ring. You can read it here: http://www.cheminst.ca/magazine/feature-story/lords-ring.
Krishna Mahadevan wins 2017 Biochemical Engineering Journal Young Investigator Award The Editors of the Biochemical Engineering Journal, in cooperation with Engineering Conferences International and Biochemical and Molecular Engineering XX, are very pleased to announce the selection of Professor Krishna Mahadevan…
Alison McGuigan is the 2017 Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering Lectureship Award winner. The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering Lectureship Award is awarded to a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant who has made an outstanding contribution to chemical engineering, demonstrating…
On May 13th, the 10th annual Science Rendezvous was held all over the country. Science Rendezvous is a free event celebrating science and engineering with children and the general public. This year, BioZone, PAPTAC (Pulp and Paper Technical Association of…
At the 10th Annual Celebrating Engineering Excellence Awards, our very own Susie was awarded the Faculty’s Quality of Student Experience Award. Left to right: Professor Ramin Farnood, Professor Grant Allen, Dean Cristina Amon, Professor Will Cluett, Endang (Susie) Susilawati, Pauline…
With support from BioZone’s Alison McGuigan, high school student Jody Mou used a bioprinter to make 3D tumor models. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-university-lab-high-school-science-fair-award-1.4101643 This high school student designed a process to create 3D tumours Jody Mou’s volunteer work in a university lab recognized…
Alexei Savchenko’s group in BioZone has helped to solve hundreds of proteins in an international effort to fight infectious diseases. Battling infectious diseases with 3-D structures April 26, 2017 CHICAGO – An international team of scientists led by Northwestern University…
Getting hands-on with microbes: Elizabeth Edwards wins a 2017 Faculty Award for outstanding teaching and research http://bit.ly/2nj7JMR It’s the magic of chemistry – combine two substances and they transform into a third that’s completely different. Elizabeth Edwards, a pioneering researcher…
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/double-fortified-salt-university-of-toronto-india-anemia-epidemic-1.3989346 Iron-rich salt — developed at U of T — is combating India’s anemia epidemic Double-fortified salt is now being distributed to more than 24 million people in Uttar Pradesh state Laura DaSilva · CBC News February 18, 2017 University…
UofT Engineering news (Tyler Irving) has a new article on engineering microbial cultures to destroy pollutants: The invisible clean-up crew: Engineering microbial cultures to destroy pollutants Elizabeth Edwards, right, is the director of BioZone, a professor in the Department of…
by Tyler Irving: http://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/paper-not-plastic-leveraging-microbial-genes-make-greener-materials/ Paper, not plastic: Leveraging microbial genes to make greener materials Maryam Arefmanesh (ChemE PhD candidate) and Thu Vuong, a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Emma Master’s lab, examine a protein gel showing enzymes cultured from microorganisms that…
Each year BioZone recognizes the students, research associates, technicians, faculty, and staff that have made an outstanding contribution to the BioZone community. These awards are voted on by all BioZone members. The 2016 recognition awards were presented to: Mabel Wong…
BioZone member Emma Master has been awarded one of 13 Genome Canada Large-Scale Applied Research Project grants for a project entitled “SYNBIOMICS: Functional genomics and techno-economic models for advanced biopolymer synthesis“. Emma is leading a team that includes co-leader Harry…
Professor Alison McGuigan (ChemE) – Erwin Edward Hart Professor in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Professor McGuigan received her PhD at the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral research at Harvard University and Stanford University before joining U of T…
Medium Magazine has published a profile of Pratish Gawand, CEO of Ardra Bio. Founder Stories: Bringing back industrial biotech with Pratish of Ardra Bio What happened to the biotech industrial revolution? Not long ago we thought synthetic biology would completely…
Thanks, Invisible Little Water Filters
BioZone’s Elizabeth Edwards along with partners from SiREM and Federated Co-operative LTD has been awarded a Genome Canada Genomics Applied Partnership Program (GAPP) grant. Please see the UofT News story below: New funding from Genome Canada will help Elizabeth Edwards…
As a member of the IndiBio Program, Ardra Bio Inc, the renewable chemicals company founded by Dr. Pratish Gawand (CEO) and Professor Mahadevan, is participating in the IndiBio Demo day on July 14, 2016. The IndiBio Demo day is an…
BioZone is supporting the wet lab component of the UofT Biomod team’s project. The UofT Biomod team is comprised of undergraduate students preparing a bio-nanotechnology project to compete at BIOMOD, an annual bio-molecular design competition hosted by the Wyss Institute…
As in past years, BioZone is providing laboratory space and other support for the University of Toronto’s 2016 iGEM team “iGEM Toronto”. For those who are unfamiliar with iGEM, it stands for the International Genetically Engineered Machine Foundation. iGEM’s mission is…
The 2016 Killam Prize award winners have be interviewed for CBC’s Idea radio show by Paul Kennedy. You can listen to the interviews on the Idea’s website here: 2016 Killam Prize Winners
Elizabeth Edwards is one of the five recipients of this year’s Killam Prizes, presented by the Canada Council for the Arts. (Photo: Jen Hsu) Professor Elizabeth Edwards (ChemE) has been named among this year’s Killam Prize winners. Presented by…
Oluwasegun Modupe, a PhD student supervised by Professor Levente Diosady, recently co-published a paper entitled, Optimizing dose of aqueous extract of Mangifera indica L stem bark for treating anaemia and its effect on some disaccharidases activity in iron deficient weanling…
Three students from BioZone received awards at the Annual Chemical Engineering Dinner this year. Darren Rodenhizer – Frank Howard Guest Bursary Olivia Molenda – Diran Basmadjian Graduate Scholarship in Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry Mabel Wong – William E. Graydon…
Indie Bio, an accelerator that funds and builds biotech startups, has chosen to support Ardra Bio. Ardra Bio was founded by BioZome Alumni Pratish Gawand and Krishna Mahadevan to engineer technologies to produce completely petroleum-free, high purity, and sustainable biochemicals…
A new multidisciplinary collaboration from the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN) is bringing together researchers from across the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering to address hunger and malnutrition, which affect billions of people around the world. The Food &…
I was one of two U of T Engineering students who had the opportunity to attend the Catalyst Canada Honours Conference, as part of the BMO Millennial Leaders Advisory Council in November 2015. BMO invited 30 female-engineering and -business students…
A tumour you can unroll: engineers create new technology for understanding cancer growth This rolled-up strip of engineered tissue allows scientists to mimic the way cells grow in a tumour, yet it can be unrolled in seconds for detailed analysis.…
Alison McGuigan is an Assistant Professor in BioZone at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry and the Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She, along with her research team are engaged in building…
Engineering and biology professors at the University of Toronto have developed a new strategy for helping African farmers fight a parasitic plant that devastates crops. Plants in the genus Striga, also known as witchweed, act as parasites of other plants,…
Professor Levente Diosady (6T6, PhD 7T2) has been elected fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) on the basis of his exceptional contributions to Canadian intellectual life. The Society’s mission is to recognize scholarly, research and artistic excellence, to…
Tyler Irving Paper or plastic? This seemingly mundane question captures one of our biggest sustainability challenges: although paper is renewable and biodegradable, for many uses non-degradable plastic still wins out due to its resilience and versatility. Now, thanks to a…
The Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry received 4 NSERC strategic grants with one of them being awarded to the Professor Grant Allen from BioZone. The objective of NSERC’s strategic grants program is to increase research and training in targeted…
Eleven U of T researchers have been awarded a grand total of $933,800 from the university’s own research funding source, the Connaught Fund. Professor Radhakrishnan Mahadevan from BioZone has been funded for his project titled, “Production of bio-based 1,3-butanediol.” Founded in 1972,…
A major new Canadian initiative on the use of enzymes for environmentally sound manufacturing processes was announced today and will be led by ChemE Professor Elizabeth Edwards. The Industrial Biocatalysis Network (IBN) is a 5-year, $5 million project involving nine researchers from U…
ChemE Professors Krishna Mahadevan, Alexei Savchenko and Alexander Yakunin just received a big boost for their project entitled Low Cost Synthesis of Tuberculosis Drug Using Synthetic Biology, thanks to a grant from Grand Challenges Canada (GCC). The GCC grant is awarded to health care innovations that…
The UK is backing new research into iron fortified tea leaves, which it is hoped will save the lives of thousands of mothers and babies in the developing world. Across the world, a woman dies in childbirth every 2 minutes.…
Yesterday, Professor Bradley Saville appeared on the Business News Network (BNN) to discuss biofuel opportunities in the prairie provinces. To watch, click here.
Elizabeth Edwards, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Toronto and the mother of three children, the youngest of whom is now 19, credits her outlook to great mentorship. Her late mother was a professor of urban planning at…
A Canadian province most well-known for its petroleum products could be that country’s leader in non-petroleum energy. According to this article in the Edmonton Journal, Alberta, in all the headlines for its oilsands, could end up leading Canada by replacing…
ChemE Professors Edgar Acosta, Yu-Ling Cheng and Levente Diosady (ChemE 6T6, PhD 7T2) have been awarded a prestigious science grant that will allow them to develop an idea to fortify tea leaves with iron, a project that could help reduce the maternal and perinatal death…
Plastic is an amazing material: it is light, strong, flexible and cheap to produce. But it has two big drawbacks: it’s made from petroleum, of which we have limited supplies, and it doesn’t decompose easily. Humans throw away billions of…
