麻豆视频

Professor Peter Zandstra, seen here with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 麻豆视频 President Meric Gertler and Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland, is the new executive director of Medicine By Design (all photos by Johnny Guatto)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backs commercialization of stem cell research by 麻豆视频 and partners

Researchers are 鈥減ushing the frontiers of science and innovation,鈥 Trudeau says, but 鈥渨e must do more to prevent diseases.鈥

Regenerative medicine is the way of the future for Canadian health care, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says, and two new initiatives are helping strengthen the commitment of 麻豆视频 and its partners to stem cell research and manufacturing.

Trudeau announced at the MaRS Discovery District on Jan. 13 that the federal government will give a $20 million grant to the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) to establish and operate a new Centre for Advanced Therapeutic Cell Technologies.

At the same time, Vivek Goel, vice-president, research and innovation at 麻豆视频, announced that Professor Peter Zandstra, chief scientific officer for the CCRM, has become the inaugural director of Medicine by Design.

The CCRM is the commercialization partner of Medicine by Design, a program created last year through a $114 million grant from the federal government.

Trudeau toured two CCRM labs at the Banting Institute with Zandstra, 麻豆视频 President Meric Gertler and Michael May, the president and CEO of CCRM, along with Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade and MP for University-Rosedale. The group then moved across College St. to MaRS, which will become the new home of the CCRM later this year.

The Prime Minister said he has 鈥済reat respect鈥 for scientists involved in stem cell research, not only because of what they are doing for the health of Canadians but how 鈥渢hey are pushing the frontiers of science and innovation.鈥  

The bottom line, he said, is that 鈥渨e must do more to prevent diseases鈥 and  the collaboration between public institutions like 麻豆视频 and its partner hospitals, the private sector and government is crucial in 鈥渁ccelerating the development鈥 of stem cell manufacturing technologies.

photo of the tour

GE Healthcare is also committing $20 million to the new centre. Kieran Murphy, CEO of GE Healthcare鈥檚 life sciences business, said in a news release that 鈥渋t is increasingly clear that cell therapies and regenerative medicine will transform health care globally, but successful industrialization is now crucial to widespread adoption. 

鈥淭his new centre,鈥 Murphy said, 鈥渨ill enable us to work with cell therapy companies to push beyond existing technical limits and problem-solve. Toronto鈥檚 concentrated and collaborative clinical infrastructure, combined with the strong guidance of the internationally-renowned CCRM, make it an ideal location for the centre.鈥

It is expected that the global market for cell-based therapies will surpass $20 billion U.S. by 2025. The main targets for cell-based therapies are cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, musculoskeletal disorder and autoimmune diseases.

Trudeau noted that the new centre will be the first in the world to use a collaborative approach between research institutions and industry to solve cell therapy manufacturing challenges. He said the centre will create jobs, strengthen Canada鈥檚 knowledge economy and position Ontario as a global hub for the cell therapy industry.

鈥淩egenerative medicine is the future,鈥 Trudeau said. 鈥Not only is it the future, it's a branch of medicine that Canada and the province of Ontario are actually quite good at.鈥 

Zandstra is a professor in the 麻豆视频 Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, holds the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering, and is a principal investigator at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research. He told 麻豆视频 News he is thrilled to be the executive director of . 鈥淏ut the big news today is the funding of the new centre. We are very thankful鈥 for the government鈥檚 commitment.  

photo of Trudeau with media and researcher  

Cristina Amon, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, said Zandstra鈥檚 鈥渃ollaborative efforts with partner hospitals and his leadership in regenerative medicine is an outstanding example of how 麻豆视频 engineers are addressing some of the world鈥檚 most pressing health challenges.鈥

The mandate of Medicine by Design is to undertake transformative research and clinical translation in regenerative medicine, enhance capability in synthetic biology and computational biology and foster translation, commercialization and clinical impacts.

It was formed as a result of the University of Toronto鈥檚 success in the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). The $114 million will be spread over seven years, and will allow 麻豆视频 and its partners to build on years of support for 麻豆视频鈥檚 regenerative medicine researchers from federal granting councils, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and support from the Canada Research Chairs and Canada Excellence Research Chairs programs.  

Zandstra will lead and provide over-all scientific direction to the Medicine by Design initiative. May, CEO of the CCRM, said the new centre is a 鈥渟ignificant milestone鈥 in the fight to find cures for diseases and to create companies that will bring those cures to the marketplace.

And he reminded everyone that the incredible advances in stem cell therapy and its application 鈥渢race back to the discovery of stem cells 65 years ago鈥 by 麻豆视频 scientists and Ernest McCulloch.  

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