Human health news

U of T Engineering is a leader in health care engineering. Together with doctors, medical researchers, policymakers and industry, we are helping people around the world live longer, healthier lives.

In 2015, Alison McGuigan and her team unveiled TRACER, a rolled-up strip of engineered tissue enabling scientists to mimic the way cells grow in a tumour. Two years later, they’ve created a new tool that now lets researchers watch tumour cells reorganize over time. (Courtesy: Alison McGuigan)

Expert in microfabrication and disease modelling awarded Connaught Fund McLean Award

September 29, 2017

Alison McGuigan (ChemE) receives $125,000 prize for her work that aims to create better mechanisms for predicting how well promising drugs will work in patients

Addressing unique patient needs with technology: U of T offers engineering training to medical students

September 22, 2017

Master of Engineering program gives MD students advanced tools to understand the design of medical technologies

Research coordinator Stephanie Chow (left), IBBME MASc candidate Ben Kinsella (not pictured) and Professor Azadeh Kushki (centre) developed a Google Glass app as a social-skills coach for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). (Photo: Christina Gapic).

Google Glass app helps autistic children with social interactions

September 19, 2017

IBBME Azadeh Kushki and her team designed social-skills coach to help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

New course on advanced MRI techniques will teach students new ways to detect disease at earlier stages

September 13, 2017

Professor Hai-Ling Margaret Cheng’s graduate course will cover some of the latest in magnetic resonance imaging techniques, offering new solutions for human health challenges

The best place to treat type 1 diabetes might be just under your skin

August 14, 2017

Implantation technique could restore the ability of patients to produce their own insulin

Injectable tissue patch could help repair damaged organs

August 14, 2017

New bicompatible scaffold developed by U of T Engineering researchers could be delivered through minimally invasive surgery

From left, IBBME PhD candidates Abdullah Syed and Shrey Sindhwani in the lab of Professor Warren Chan, right. The research team has published a paper investigating the challenges faced by therapeutic nanoparticles in reaching cancerous tumours. (Credit: Neil Ta)

Targeting tumours: IBBME researchers investigate biological barriers to nanomedicine delivery

August 8, 2017

PhD candidates Abdullah Syed and Shrey Sindhwani developed technologies to look at nanoparticle distribution in 3D, providing fuller picture of how particles interact with tumour’s biology

"Medicine by Design offers a remarkable opportunity to do high-impact research that has the potential to advance and even redefine key areas of regenerative medicine,” said Michael Sefton (IBBME, ChemE), who will become the initiative’s new executive director on July 1, 2017. (Photo: Neil Ta)

Tissue engineering pioneer Michael Sefton to lead Medicine by Design as executive director

June 28, 2017

The multidisciplinary University of Toronto initiative is accelerating discoveries in regenerative medicine research to improve treatments for conditions such as heart failure, diabetes and stroke

Shreya Shukla (third from right) meets stem cell pioneer James Till (second from right), as he tours the laboratory of Peter Zandstra (right) in July 2015. Also pictured are graduate students Jennifer Ma (front) and Nimalan Thavandiran (left). (Photo: James Poremba).

U of T Engineering research paves way for an off-the-shelf supply of cells for immunotherapy

May 25, 2017

Two new papers led by U of T Engineering grad students could lead to new cell therapies for boosting patients’ immune systems against disease, and for cancer immunotherapy, in which immune cells can be engineered to attack tumours

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