Grant: Canada First Research Excellence Fund

Stem cells can be used to treat and cure many chronic degenerative diseases that present a costly burden to society. Integrated teams will leverage Toronto’s established strengths in stem cell biology, computational biology, imaging, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and cell and organ transplantation to deliver transformative clinical and socio-economic impacts across three pillars: 1)Design cells with integrated reporters and control circuits to enable control of cell fate and function; 2)Use designer cells, materials and technologies to formulate functional complex tissues for drug discovery, physiologic process interrogation and tissue replacement; and 3) Develop ex-vivo engineered organs to accelerate transplantation. Stem cells can be used to treat and cure many chronic degenerative diseases that present a costly burden to society. Integrated teams will leverage Toronto’s established strengths in stem cell biology, computational biology, imaging, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and cell and organ transplantation to deliver transformative clinical and socio-economic impacts across three pillars: 1)Design cells with integrated reporters and control circuits to enable control of cell fate and function; 2)Use designer cells, materials and technologies to formulate functional complex tissues for drug discovery, physiologic process interrogation and tissue replacement; and 3) Develop ex-vivo engineered organs to accelerate transplantation. Stem cells can be used to treat and cure many chronic degenerative diseases that present a costly burden to society. Integrated teams will leverage Toronto’s established strengths in stem cell biology, computational biology, imaging, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and cell and organ transplantation to deliver transformative clinical and socio-economic impacts across three pillars: 1)Design cells with integrated reporters and control circuits to enable control of cell fate and function; 2)Use designer cells, materials and technologies to formulate functional complex tissues for drug discovery, physiologic process interrogation and tissue replacement; and 3) Develop ex-vivo engineered organs to accelerate transplantation.