Dr. Yingfu Li holds a Canada Research Chair in Nucleic Acids Research. He is a professor in the Faculty of Health Science’s Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University and a joint member in the Chemistry department. Li’s main area of research involves examining unusual functions of nucleic acids. When Yingfu Li was a little boy, he loved breaking and making things. Today, his curiosity has much higher stakes. Li, who runs the Yingfu Li Lab at McMaster University, examines how nucleic acids function and how they can be used as novel molecular tools for therapeutics, biomolecular detection, drug discovery and nanotechnology. “When DNA’s cousin, RNA, was discovered to function as an enzyme, it changed the notion of what DNA and RNA can do,” explains Li. “Part of what we do at my lab is apply that idea and use DNA for something nature didn’t intend it for — namely therapeutic applications. To do that, we create our own DNA-based enzymes (DNAzymes) and receptors (DNA aptamers) because there is no natural source to fetch the DNA or RNA molecules for this purpose.”
Since an early age, Heather Sheardown has been intrigued by the intersection between medicine and engineering for, as she explains, “the body is essentially a series of engineering systems.” After completing doctoral research on corneal wound healing, she continues to use her expertise in chemical engineering and biomaterials to address the widespread and serious issue of vision impairment and loss. For example, it’s been estimated that just two age-related ocular diseases, macular degeneration and glaucoma, affect about six million Canadians. As the population ages, the number of affected Canadians and associated healthcare and societal costs will only increase unless new and more effective approaches are found and commercialized. Founding director of the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) 20/20 Ophthalmic Materials Research Network, Heather is currently juggling responsibilities as the Canada Research Chair in Ophthalmic Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Systems at McMaster, educator, and founder of a biologic start-up, 20/20 OptimEyes.
Dr. Sheila Singh, BSc, MD, PhD, FRCS(C), FAANS, is Head of Pediatric Neurosurgery and an investigator at the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute at McMaster University. A neurosurgeon who specialized in pediatric brain tumours, she is currently utilizing developments stemming from a Terry Fox Foundation grant to launch Empirica Therapeutics to commercialize new, precision-medicine treatments.
A professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University, Dr. John Valliant is internationally recognized for his research in radiochemistry and creating new diagnostic and therapeutic drugs (radiopharmaceuticals) for imaging and treating cancer. His work in developing and advancing new radiopharmaceuticals, improving patient care and generating economic growth has already earned him a number of distinctions, including being named one of ͞Canada’s Top 40 Under 40͟and, as part of a Canadian team of researchers, the Brockhouse Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering. John is the founder of the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC) at McMaster; a not-for-profit centre of excellence established in 2008 to provide the necessary combination of scientific, technical, regulatory and business expertise. CPDC facilitates the translation of new radiopharmaceuticals into clinical tools to ensure patient access and the commercialization of Canadian discoveries. To date, CPDC has completed over 50 radiopharmaceutical discovery, development and manufacturing programs and brought over a dozen radiopharmaceuticals into clinical development. Dr. Valliant’s program has provided doses for thousands of patients and created two new companies, including Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. which is developing a novel treatment for chemotherapy-resistant cancers.