鈥�91亚色 has become one of Canada鈥檚 fastest-growing centres for research and innovation,鈥� said Stan Shapson (right), vice-president research & innovation at 91亚色. 鈥淲e typically get 10 to 20 discovery disclosures a year. Joining MaRS Innovation allows us to deliver the most competitive commercialization services to the researchers making these discoveries. We鈥檙e confident that membership in MaRS Innovation will boost that number and accelerate the commercialization of 91亚色鈥檚 most promising research.鈥�

Earlier this year, 91亚色 launched its office. Based in 91亚色 Region, Innovation 91亚色 works with other partner organizations in the Markham Convergence Centre to build upon research partnerships between 91亚色 researchers and life science and technology companies based in 91亚色 Region and the Greater Toronto Area. It鈥檚 also making 91亚色鈥檚 research and infrastructure more accessible to industry, government agencies and community partners.

Joining MaRS Innovation will further extend 91亚色鈥檚 commercialization contacts. In less than two years, MaRS Innovation has assessed聽more than聽400 research disclosures from members such as the University of Toronto and its 10 affiliated teaching hospitals, as well as Ryerson University.

MaRS Innovation has begun to line up investment funding to take the discoveries with the greatest commercial potential to market, creating companies and jobs, and starting industries. In 2011 alone, MaRS Innovation has spurred the creation of five new enterprises based on the groundbreaking discoveries of its members.

鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled that 91亚色 has decided to become one of our members." said聽Rafi Hofstein, president聽& CEO of MaRS Innovation. "91亚色鈥檚 national and international reputation for groundbreaking discoveries is growing quickly, and many of their research initiatives are highly complementary to the technologies that we鈥檝e been helping to commercialize over the past two years.鈥�

To become a member of MaRS Innovation, an academic and research organization must have intellectual property in life sciences (drug discovery, medical devices, diagnostic imaging, etc.), information and communications technologies (ICT), cleantech and digital media.

MaRS Innovation is supported by the Government of Canada through the (NCE) to focus on turning inventions into real commercial opportunities. Both the Province of Ontario鈥檚 (MRI) and Ottawa have provided essential financial support for Proof of Principle programs聽鈥� NCE, through the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, funded the turning of inventions into real commercial opportunities; and MRI, through Ontario Centres of Excellence, has been supporting MaRS Innovation鈥檚 Proof of Principle (PoP) program.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of MaRS Innovation Public Relations department and Media Relations at 91亚色 University.

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Have you ever wanted to have dinner with a scientist? Ask questions about Canada鈥檚 laser radar on NASA's 2007 Phoenix mission to Mars, the role of human genomes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the consequences of dwindling fossil fuels or perhaps how biochemical pathways affect obesity?

The Royal Canadian Institute (RCI) for the Advancement of Science, Canada's oldest scientific society at 161 years,聽is hosting a gala dinner featuring 25 scientists, and guests get to choose which one they鈥檇 like to sit with.

Five of the scientists are from 91亚色, which is a sponsor of the dinner. They are physics Professor Emeritus Allan Carswell, humanities and science & technology聽studies Professor Bernard Lightman, Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Giuseppina D鈥橝gostino, anthropology and science & technology studies Professor Natasha Myers, and Canada Research Chair in Ecology聽& Conservation Biology, Professor Bridget Stutchbury. In addition, Mark Lievonen, president of Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., a 91亚色 alumnus and member of 91亚色's Board of Governors, will also host a table.

Right: Giuseppina D鈥橝gostino

Founder and director of Osgoode's Intellectual Property Law & Technology Program (IP Osgoode), D鈥橝gostino, a recent recipient of the Law Commission of Ontario鈥檚 Visiting Scholarship Program, will talk about "Challenges to the Commercialization of Intellectual Property". The commercialization of intellectual property is often said to be indispensable for fostering a vibrant, creative and innovative economy, but many challenges remain before an invention can be brought from the lab into the marketplace.聽D鈥橝gostino is currently investigating the intellectual property and privacy aspects of the electronic health record in Canada.

Left: Bernard Lightman

Lightman, editor of the history of science journal Isis, will discuss "Who, Exactly, Was Charles Darwin?聽The Making of a Cultural Icon".聽Lightman's early work, summed up in his聽, centred on the birth of a new form of unbelief in the wake of the debates over evolutionary theory. More recently,聽he has tackled the issue of how science was popularized in the second half of the 19th century in Britain. His current project is a biography of the eminent Victorian physicist John Tyndall.

Right: Allan Carswell

Former president of the Canadian Association of Physicists and vice-president of the Canadian Academy of Science, Carswell founded Optech Inc.聽in 1974 to develop commercial lidars (laser radar). He and a Canadian team provided a lidar on NASA's 2007 Phoenix mission to Mars as part of a meteorological station, MET, for studies of the Martian atmosphere. After the landing in May 2008,聽MET provided measurements of outstanding value, including the discovery of snowfall on Mars. An internationally recognized leader in the lidar field, Carswell will present "Canada Goes to Mars".

Left: Bridget Stutchbury

Stutchbury, Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology and a field biologist who has studied bird behaviour and conservation for 25 years, has followed Canadian migratory songbirds to their wintering grounds in Latin America to understand the threats they face far away. She is author of , a Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award non-fiction finalist, and the forthcoming T. She will discuss "Conservation Biology Studied Through Birds".

Right: Natasha Myers

Myers' research examines the lively visual cultures that thrive in contemporary life science laboratories and classrooms, with an interest in the artistry, craft and creativity of scientific work.聽She will discuss "Art Meets Science".聽Myers has been engaged in art-science collaborations for over a decade.聽Her most recent project was the 2009 Art Meets Science Series at 91亚色, a year-long series of events designed to foster a culture of collaboration among 91亚色鈥檚 artists and scientists.

Left: Mark Lievonen

Lievonen (BBA Spec. Hons. 鈥�79, MBA 鈥�87), a member of the Board of Directors of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, will talk about the Canadian Vaccine Capability: Collaborating for Continued Success.

In addition, ex-91亚色ie Brock Fenton,聽a biology professor at the University of Western Ontario and former chair of 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Biology as well as former associate vice-president research, will聽ask "How do Universities Interact With Society?" He has written several books about bats intended for a general audience, including Just Bats (University of Toronto Press, 1983) and The Bat: Wings in the Night Sky ( Key Porter Press, 1998)).

Right: Brock Fenton

Scientists are chosen from various disciplines and many southern Ontario academic institutions. Each scientist hosts a table of eight.聽The gala partners are awarded several places, and their guests, as well as individual ticket purchasers, can choose the table of greatest interest to them.聽After a reception of an hour or so, dinner will start. Each scientist will provide a brief overview of their subject and/or current work and guests are then free to ask any questions or suggest topics they would like the host to discuss. For tables and topics, click here. Following the dinner, the president of the RCI will open a general question-and-answer period at which time any of the participants are free to direct a question to any of the scientists present.

The RCI for the Advancement of Science is a not-for-profit organization founded in Toronto in 1849 by a small group of civil engineers, architects and surveyors and聽led by Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) who established the concept of time zones.

The gala will take place Thursday, April 22, from 6 to 9:30pm, in the MaRS Collaboration Centre, 101 College St., Toronto. Tickets are $250. The dinner will help to raise awareness and funds for the RCI's outreach activities, in particular聽the聽free public lectures it presents every year in Toronto and Mississauga on a diverse range of topics. The fundraising also goes toward providing scholarships for deserving high school students to attend university.

91亚色 provides the Webcasting and archiving for all the lectures through the support of University Information Technology and the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation. Click to view archived Webcasts of previous lectures. 91亚色 also supplies many of the speakers.聽This winter two of the six Toronto were from 91亚色.

For more information, visit the Web site or contact 91亚色 biology Professor Ron Pearlman, a member of the RCI council and the gala organizing committee,聽at ronp@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy o f YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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