In our hyperconnected world, video is king. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that for marketers video helps convert visitors (to a website for example) into customers. Videos also bring testimonials to life. Real people are telling us why we should buy this product or trust that service. They believe what they’re saying or at least they are convincing at appearing to believe it. Social media juggernauts like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and…

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Writers will know that inspiration can come from the strangest places. Earlier this week I came across a Twitter thread from “Dr Esther @EstOdek” who was amusingly upset (I think that’s an oxymoron) that she learned, too late for her PhD on starfish, that The Hulk’s dad investigated the genetic basis of regeneration in starfish. That particular piece of Marvel trivia didn’t inspire a post on starfish and how they regenerate new limbs – although…

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Australian culture and pride were very much on display at ISCT 2019, the annual meeting of clinicians, regulators, researchers, technologists and industry who claim membership in the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT). While it was my first time attending an ISCT meeting, CCRM has had a presence there for several years now. Like many scientific conferences, ISCT began with a pre-conference day and the official opening event began in the evening. At…

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The SOtL North 2019 A cohort. Credit: SOtL North What is science policy? How do I translate my research expertise into policymaking? And what does working in the federal public service involve? These were some of the questions swirling around in my head as I set off to attend the Science Outside The Lab North (SOtL North) program: a one-week deep dive into science policy in Ottawa and Montréal. In this post, I’ll share key…

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The author’s mouse following preparation for in vivo optogenetics experiments. She performed stereotaxic neurosurgery to a) virally deliver the opsin gene to the brain region of interest through targeted, bilateral injections, and b) implant fibre optic cables hovering just above her region of interest to guide light into the tissue (white horn-looking structures on the mouse’s head, secured using black dental acrylic). A mouse with mysterious cables attached to its head explores an enclosure, casually…

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It was announced publicly this week that the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s (OIRM) funding will not be renewed after March 2020. Closing OIRM would be a significant loss to the regenerative medicine community in Ontario, where so many of Canada’s stem cell and regenerative medicine researchers are located. Kate Allen, Toronto Star, reported the news on May 14. Ironically, this was one day before OIRM hosted its biggest event of the year: OIRM Symposium.…

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Matthew Mistry is a Market and Equity Analyst at CCRM, where he conducts investment diligence, market analyses, participates in company creation activities and supports strategic business development. He joined CCRM from the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO) where he was involved in supporting health science companies gain access to private and public capital, providing strategic business advice, investor readiness coaching, and pitch review and evaluation of high potential health science technologies in the province of…

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Siofradh McMahon is Senior Manager, Clinical Translation and Regulatory Affairs at CCRM. Síofradh works with academic and industry partners to advance promising products and technologies to commercialization. Having worked worldwide, Síofradh brings more than a decade of experience in pharmaceutical and biotech regulatory affairs and policy. She is an active member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s Regulatory and Value & Access working groups and lends her expertise to groups in Canada too. Image credit:…

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Scott Gardner is on a communications placement at CCRM to complete his post-graduate program at Centennial College. He has experience in corporate communications for educational institutions in Ontario. A former journalist in Belleville Ontario, you can find Scott avidly following and tweeting local news, politics and business @gardner_pr.    JaneTheLabRat is fictional and comes from the mind of CCRM’s intern Scott Gardner. If you like the handle, grab it while you can! The landscape of digital…

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This article was first published here. It is reprinted with permission of the Donnelly Centre. Depending on the type of surface they adhere to in a lab dish, stem cells can exhibit vast differences at the molecular level with implications for research and therapy. The genes required for growth and survival of stem cells are influenced by the biomaterials they are cultured on, Donnelly Centre investigators have found. Different substrates, which are used to coat…

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