Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

We are requesting a mask aligner for UV lithography processes in the new, class 10,000 clean-room , at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Technology (iBEST)--a partnership between Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital. The mask aligner is the most important equipment in the new clean-room, and the acquisition of this mask aligner is necessary for the clean-room to be functional. The mask aligner is the central piece of equipment in the clean-room that enables photolithographic patterning of silicon wafers by transmitted UV light . This acquisition will lead to in-house fabricated lab-on-a-chip devices at iBEST, which will enhance the collaborations between Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital, in the area of lab-on-a-chip and organ-on-a-chip biotechnology development. Collaborative research that is enabled by this mask aligner and clean-room will ensure the rapid growth and success of the new iBEST . Our team has excellent experience and expertise in lab-on-a-chip systems (SSH Tsai and DK Hwang), ultrasound physics (MC Kolios and R Karshafian), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (A Kapus), and endothelial transcellular and paracellular permeability (W Lee). We are all founding members of the iBEST, and we are all linked by our active collaborations: cell encapsulation for immunoisolation (SSH Tsai and DK Hwang), modeling epithelial-mesenchymal transition in a lab-on-a-chip (A Kapus and SSH Tsai), microfluidic-photoacoustic high-throughput characterization of red blood cells (MC Kolios, R Karshafian, and SSH Tsai), and lung-on-a-chip modeling of endothelial transcytosis (W Lee and SSH Tsai). We are proposing four research programs that each require frequent access to the mask aligner in the iBEST clean-room. Namely, we are (1) using microfluidics to coat and encapsulate live cells, (2) quantifying spatially, temporally, and geometrically dependent epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cell monolayers, (3) combining photoacoustics and microfluidics to probe single red blood cells for disease, and (4) building a lung-on-a-chip assay to measure endothelial transcytosis. This clean-room is the first such fabrication facility in either Ryerson University or St. Michael's Hospital. The need andurgency of this equipment is demonstrated by strong institutional support by Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital: room 756B of the iBEST (7th) floor of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute building has already been designated as the clean-room . The room is already outfitted with a laminar flow hood, and has an outer preparation and gowning room. A clean-room and floor coordinator, Dr. Dario Bogojevic, has also been hired . The mask aligner will be utilized by more than 20 highly qualified personnel (HQP) that are funded by the 5 NSERC Discovery grants of the applicants. Additionally, the mask aligner will be accessible to 60+ HQP at the iBEST.