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WaveCheck’s Crowdfunding Campaign Featured on CTV National News and Canada AM

Indiegogo campaign raised $53,390 from over 500 worldwide donors

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WaveCheck co-inventor, Dr. Gregory Czarnota, appeared on CTV National News on December 15.

CTV National News featured WaveCheck’s crowdfunding campaign on December 15 in a report by Avis Favaro. The report included an interview with MaRS Innovation’s President and CEO, Dr. Raphael Hofstein (at the 1:37 mark).

William Tran, a researcher associated with the project at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, was also interviewed on Canada AM on December 16.

WaveCheck, which closed its campaign December 4, was invented by Dr. Gregory Czarnota of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Prof. Michael C. Kolios of Ryerson University. WaveCheck uses ultrasound technology to show people with breast cancer if their chemotherapy is working within weeks.

While the Indiegogo campaign has concluded, Sunnybrook Foundation is now accepting donations flagged “WaveCheck” on behalf of the researchers through its website

At campaign close, WaveCheck ranked in the top 0.005 per cent of health-related campaigns on Indiegogo, and was covered by CBC television and Metro Morning, the Toronto Star, Sing-Tao and MedCity News

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MaRS Innovation President and CEO Named to Ontario Health Innovation Council

Council members include MI’s Raphael Hofstein and MI Board Chair Dr. Robert Bell

On November 20, the Government of Ontario launched the Ontario Health Innovation Council to support health innovation in Ontario. Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, was named to the council.

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Members of the Ontario Health Innovation Council, including MaRS Innovation’s president and CEO Dr. Raphael Hofstein (third from left), pose after the initial announcement.

By becoming a member of the Council, Hofstein will assist in identifying evidence-based opportunities in Ontario’s healthcare space and advancing them into practice on a global scale.

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Yonge Street Media Highlights MaRS Innovation Bioprinter Project

MI Project Manger Fanny Sie discusses Toronto’s impact on 3D printing landscape

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MaRS Innovation’s Fanny Sie is project manager for the Bioprinter, a 3D printer that can print on organic material.

In a December 4 article, part of a feature series on technology in Toronto, Yonge Street Media reporter Andrew Seale highlights the creative and innovative technological work surrounding the 3D printing and cyber security sectors in the city.

MaRS Innovation’s Fanny Sie is managing business development for the Bioprinter, a 3D printer using University of Toronto technology that’s capable of printing on organic material, including skin.

By printing on skin, the cost of treating burns on the body could be reduced.

Here’s an excerpt from the article (links and emphasis ours):

“Cells are very intelligent, you just have to be able to put them close enough to one another in order for them to take over,” says Sie adding that some of the research is a partnership with the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Research Institute.

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CBC News’ “The National” Features Granata Decision Systems

Amanda Lang interviews U of T prof and co-founder Craig Boutilier in segment on innovative start-ups and Canada’s future

Granata Decision System logo Nov 2013Following an appearance on the CBC’s “Lang and O’Leary Exchange” on November 28, MaRS Innovation UTEST company, Granata Decision Systems, appeared on CBC news “The National.” The segment included an interview with Amanda Lang.

Watch Boutilier’s interview with Lang for “The National” on CBC’s website. 

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Granata Decision Systems’ Co-Founder and University of Toronto Professor Craig Boutilier gives his pitch at a OneEleven investor session. Boutilier and Granata were featured on CBC News’ “The National.”

Founded by Craig Boutilier and Tyler Lu, Granata Decision Systems is one of the first six companies incubated through the UTEST program for early-stage technologies, jointly administered by MaRS Innovation and the University of Toronto.

Granata is one of eight companies to join OneEleven’s accelerator program for companies tackling big data problems.

Their software allows marketers to optimize the effectiveness of their campaigns.

The segment features co-founder Craig Boutilier’s pitch at an invitation-only investor gathering at OneEleven to secure funding to further the success of Granata Decision Systems.

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Lang & O’Leary Exchange features Granata Decision Systems

UTEST company makes cameo through launch of OneEleven, Toronto’s new data-driven accelerator for entrepreneurs

Granata Decision System logo Nov 2013CBC’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange featured Granata Decision Systems, one of the first UTEST companies incubated through that program for early-stage technologies by MaRS Innovation and the University of Toronto, in their program on Wednesday, November 28, 2013.

Granata founders Tyler Lu (left) and Craig Boutilier on the Lang & O'Leary Exchange
Granata founders Tyler Lu (left) and Craig Boutilier made a cameo on CBC’s Lang & O’Leary Exchange November 28, 2013.

The data-driven company is one of eight to join the inaugural cohort for OneEleven, a new accelerator funded by OMERS Ventures, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Ryerson University and other industry partners to support mature, sophisticated entrepreneurs tackling big data problems.

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Stem Cell Therapeutics Merger, Technology Featured in Biotechnology Focus

Dr. Aaron Schimmer, University Health Network
Dr. Aaron Schimmer of the University Health Network discovered that Tigecycline was effective in killing leukemia cells and leukemia stem cells by shutting down their energy supply.

In a November 25 article in Biotechnology Focus magazine, author Shawn Lawrence highlights Stem Cell Therapeutics and Trillium Therapeutics Inc. coming together in a reverse merger that creates more opportunities to advance early-stage research.

The article profiles Dr. Aaron Schimmer and his discovery that Tigecycline is effective in killing leukemia cells and leukemia stem cells by shutting down their energy supply.

Here’s a quote from Lawrence’s article:

“Dr. Schimmer’s research is focused on drug repurposing – finding new indications for approved therapeutics. Focusing on established drugs with known safety profiles can significantly lower the risk in the drug development process, saving time and cost,” says Dr. Niclas Stiernholm, president and CEO of Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp.”

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MaRS Innovation Announces Collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Collaboration will advance early-stage technologies and identify high-potential opportunities related to human health

MaRS Innovation logoTORONTO, Nov. 25, 2013 – MaRS Innovation (MI), a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, today announced a new collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation and its affiliate Janssen, Inc., in Canada to advance early-stage technologies related to human health in therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics.

This announcement was covered by Biotechnology Focus and the Village Gamer blog.

Through the collaboration, MaRS Innovation and technical experts from the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in Boston, Massachusetts will jointly identify and fund high-potential opportunities emerging from well-validated scientific research discoveries within MaRS Innovation’s 16 member institutions, which include the University of Toronto and its affiliated teaching hospitals.

Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO MaRS Innovation
Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation.

“We are looking forward to working with Johnson & Johnson Innovation,” said Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president and CEO, MaRS Innovation. “There are many high quality opportunities coming out of the Toronto research community, and these opportunities can benefit from our close collaboration.”

Through the agreement, Johnson & Johnson Innovation will provide funding over a three-year period to support promising individual projects based on joint due diligence, which will be leveraged with financial support from MaRS Innovation.

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Simple test could replace surgery to diagnose male infertility

Dr. Keith Jarvi (left), Head of Urology and Director of the Murray Koffler Urologic Wellness Centre and Dr. Andrei Dabrovich, lead author of the paper.
Dr. Keith Jarvi (left), Head of Urology and Director of the Murray Koffler Urologic Wellness Centre and Dr. Andrei Darbovich, lead author of the paper.

Mount Sinai’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute has developed a new test that could make a big difference to men facing infertility.

A study published in a leading international journal, Science Translational Medicine, details the discovery of a key biomarker that can pinpoint the cause of infertility without the need for invasive surgery.

This story was covered by BBC News, ABC News’s “PM” with Mark Colvin, CTV News, CBC News, The Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen and the Calgary Herald.

About half a million Canadian men are infertile, according to clinician-research Dr. Keith Jarvi. As a urologist who treats men with infertility, he knows how valuable this simple, inexpensive test could be. “Testing a semen sample can be done in the doctor’s clinic as it’s noninvasive and much easier for the patient than surgery,” he says.

Dr. Jarvi directs the Murray Koffler Urologic Wellness Centre, is head of Urology, and associate scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. He is a professor of Surgery at University of Toronto.

MaRS Innovation, which commercializes discoveries made by University of Toronto hospitals and research institutes, is already working on the project, which Jarvi believes may lead to commercial tests within the next couple of years. [For more information, contact Barry Elkind].

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