Right Turn: Back to school and being brilliant

by Stacey Johnson | Sep 4, 2015

. It’s September. I can almost hear the school bells ringing. I can definitely feel excitement in the air. For many, back to school isn’t something to dread: just the opposite; it’s something to get excited about. Tests and homework and waking up early aren’t much...

The waiting game: First human iPSC clinical trial on hold

by Guest | Sep 1, 2015

. Nicole Forgione is a post-doctoral fellow working in the Fehlings group at the Toronto Western Research Institute. Currently she holds a Toronto Western Research Institute Fellowship to support her work on cell-based regenerative therapies for traumatic spinal cord...

Right Turn: Thoughts from an engineer on #ILookLikeAnEngineer

by Guest | Aug 28, 2015

. Camila Londono is currently an intern at CCRM, taking a break from working on her PhD at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Alison McGuigan. Her research focuses on understanding what...

Highlights from the 2015 “Business of Regenerative Medicine” course

by Guest | Aug 27, 2015

. Nadia Houri is a Business Development Analyst with the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM).   Last month, I had the pleasure of attending The Business of Regenerative Medicine: Cells at Work course, hosted by Georgia Tech, in Atlanta....

Update from the Clinic: July

by Mark Curtis | Aug 25, 2015

. Welcome to your update from the Clinic for the month of July. Adaptimmune moves a second candidate into the clinic. Ziopharm receives an Orphan Drug Designation for its cutting edge IL-12 technology. Canadian cell therapy company, Hemostemix, keeps moving forward...

Right Turn: This is not a One Direction concert review

by Stacey Johnson | Aug 21, 2015

. Last night, I took my daughters to a One Direction concert. Regardless of what you might now think of me (us), they still have several (million) fans around the world. The 40,000 screaming girls in attendance at the Rogers Centre showed the Brit boys lots of love....

Cell Therapy Deal Review: July

by Mark Curtis | Aug 18, 2015

. Welcome to your Cell Therapy Deal Review for the month of July. Here at Signals we’ve decided to change the name of this monthly column, to pay consideration to the fact the majority of the technologies discussed here are cell-based. Moving forward, I will continue...

Right Turn: George Daley on The Stem Cell Podcast

by Stacey Johnson | Aug 14, 2015

. Do you listen to The Stem Cell Podcast? If not, why not? Last September, former Signals co-editor Lisa Willemse blogged about the podcast, which, at the time, was celebrating its first anniversary. The hosts and creators behind the podcast are celebrating another...

Q. What do cyborg beetles and the smart bandage have in common? A. An innovative researcher.

by Hamideh Emrani | Aug 10, 2015

. In her series “What drives research in the field of biomaterials?” blogger Hamideh Emrani interviews a third highly respected biomaterials researcher. You can read her interviews with Professors John Davies and Craig Simmons (University of Toronto) here and here. My...

Right Turn: #ILookLikeAnEngineer

by Stacey Johnson | Aug 7, 2015

. First female scientists were #DistractinglySexy – and hilarious, I might add. (If this means nothing to you, I recommend you read this article for a good recap.) Now their female engineering friends and colleagues are also tackling sexism in STEM – science,...