The provincial government has presented U of T with $6.7 million through the Ontario Research Fund-Research Infrastructure Program (ORF-RI) and the Early Research Awards (ERA). A total of $4.2 million is awarded through the ORF-RI and $2.5 million through ERA to support projects dealing with matters of health, science, environmental issues and social issues.

“Here in Toronto, and across Ontario, our researchers are making breakthroughs in health care, tackling climate change through alternative energy and clean technologies, and expanding digital media and communications,” said Glen Murray, Minister of Research and Innovation and MPP for Toronto Centre. “The McGuinty government is proud to be helping them discover new ideas, build new businesses, and create the kind of future we want for Ontario.”

The government is funding close to $18 million through the ORF in research infrastructure projects at universities and research hospitals across Ontario. The allotted investment will contribute to the success of 104 projects undertaken by more than 1,300 researchers at 14 institutions in 11 cities throughout the province.

The University of Toronto’s researcher Dr. Dionne Aleman has been awarded $91,324 to implement the use of mathematical modelling to solve healthcare problems. Aleman does research in modelling the spread of pandemic diseases in urban environments.

“We use mathematical models to simulate the unique movements of individuals in large urban areas, specifically, the GTA, in order to better predict the spread of a pandemic disease and to help determine effective public policy mitigation strategies,” says Aleman, who also conducts research in the field of radiotherapy, which is often used as a treatment for cancer.

“If a brain tumour needs to be irradiated, a big concern is the proximity to the brain stem. We don’t want to deliver too much radiation, which will leave the patient in a very bad state, but at the same time we also want to treat the underlying condition, hence we can’t go too light on the radiation — we try to balance the two.”

Mathematical modelling uses equations to examine processes. In the case of radiology treatment, modeling is used to develop optimal directions for radiation beams, positioning of the patient, and distributions of radiation within each beam.

“There are a lot of other sensitive tissues in the area of the tumour, so it is very important to get a dose of radiation that is covering the tumour, but at the same time not going beyond the tumour.”

The infrastructure purchased by the grant is used for pandemic research as well as work in collaboration with the Princess Margaret Hospital. Aleman’s research team also includes two PhD students, one Master’s student and several undergraduate students.

“If you were to actually to look at the specifics of the grant, just about every dollar that is requested from every research group is funding of students, whether they are Master’s students, Ph.D. students or even Post-Docs. If we can’t pay them, we can’t have them doing research.”

Dr. Rebecca Laposa, a molecular toxicologist, has been awarded $170,884 to develop safer pharmaceutical drugs.

“The developing brain is incredibly complex and exquisitely sensitive to toxicity — unwanted side effects occur when exposed to drugs and environmental chemicals,” said Dr. Laposa. “We want to know why and how neurons, also known as the “thinking” cells of the brain, are sensitive to these agents.”

This evolving research field is beneficial to the pharmaceutical industry and the general public, both of whom benefit from new technologies that address health effects caused by chemicals in the environment. Dr. Laposa’s research team includes three graduate students, one technician, and three undergraduate students who focus on how to protect neurons from toxicity, but also study another, more immature, cell type in the brain: neural stem cells.

“These cells are important for the emerging field of regenerative medicine,” says Laposa. “We think DNA damage and the unique ways that neurons and neural stem cells deal with DNA damage are important in the mechanism of brain toxicity initiated by drugs and environmental chemicals.”

Award funding will allow the research team to grow specialized cells like neurons and neural stem cells and study them with a new state-of-the-art microscope that will let them see how these cells change in subtle but critically important ways when exposed to drugs and environmental chemicals.

“Without a doubt, the new equipment will enable us to design studies and make discoveries that we could not even dream about otherwise.”