Hub Dialogues podcast showcases transformative research at U of T
What do new drug delivery technologies, electric vehicles, and values have in common? They are among the topics in focus during a six-part podcast series from The Hub Canada which features top researchers at the University of Toronto.
Interviewed as part of The Hub Dialogues, researchers explain the impact of their work on Canadians’ lives to host Sean Speer.
The series highlights the university’s strategic location in the GTA, a global hub for knowledge creation across industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology and advanced manufacturing, as well as a dynamic cultural centre.
Commercialization, collaboration and innovation are key themes in the series, with researchers highlighting partnerships with industry, researchers in related disciplines, and the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN), the academic hospital network comprised of 14 hospitals and the University of Toronto.
These are the researchers and questions featured in the series.
How can AI enhance higher education?
Susan McCahan, Provostial Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education.
Research and lessons: How can the new capabilities of artificial intelligence inform teaching.
- The emergence of artificial intelligence as a teaching and learning tool was expected. Working with a student, McCahan was exploring AI capabilities for the classroom. “When along came November 2022, ChatGPT hit,” she recalls. She found out about ChatGPT when a student showed it to her on their phone. “I was like, cool. Wow. Neat. Okay, we’re there. I knew we were going to be getting there, but all of a sudden, we were there.”
- Toronto and the U of T has one of the highest concentrations of AI talent in North America, thanks to the pioneering work of Geoffrey Hinton. This provided a built-in community from which to seek advice.
- AI can be used in innovative and responsible ways. A university-wide task force is working to keep UofT informed on developments in the technology. “While this is a new change, change is not new,” McCahan assures Speer, highlighting the university’s history of adapting to technological shifts in higher education.
How can better drug delivery improve patient outcomes?
Christine Allen, full professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, co-founder and CEO, Intrepid Labs. Research and lessons: AI, machine learning and automation that are transforming drug formulation and development and that enable researchers to more efficiently identify optimal drug formulations.
- Respond to market demand: Collaboration with patients, clinicians, and industry is critical.
- Protect intellectual property: “When you’re doing applied research, you’re always thinking about what those patent claims will be,” Allen explains. With support from the university’s Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO), Allen drafted her first patent application many years ago. IPO is a leader in patenting, filing over 70 priority patent applications last year and executing over 40 licensing and option agreements.
- Leverage location. “My lab is in the heart of this innovation hub. It’s such a phenomenal place to be, the breadth and depth of research excellence here is extraordinary… I can’t imagine having done what I’ve done anywhere else.”
How can new technology improve research results?
Milica Radisic, a professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry, is internationally renowned for shaping the field of organ-on-a-chip engineering.
Research and lessons: Organ-on-a-chip engineering. Radisic’s research centres on creating miniature, functional models of human organs on small chips known as ‘organ-on-a-chip’ devices. These devices replicate the complex environment of human organs, allowing researchers to observe how human cells respond to treatment in a controlled setting. They offer more reliable safety and efficacy data for new treatments than animal models.
Find pathways for research commercialization. Radisic is also an experienced entrepreneur, co-founding and founding two biotechnology companies. TARA Biosystems uses human engineered heart tissues in drug development and safety testing for pharmaceutical companies. Quthero’s proprietary technology regenerates a patient’s natural tissue with minimal scarring.
“To me, if we want our technology to advance to the next stage and really be used by humans or change the lives of people, or just continue to be used and not be a paper on the shelf, you have to, as an inventor, push for it and advocate,” she says.
Ranked second among North American universities for the number of startups emerging from its ecosystem, the U of T’s entrepreneurship community – which includes 12+ accelerators across the three campuses – has supported over 650 startups in the last decade.
Leverage the ecosystem. This community includes TAHSN, a hospital network that is a magnet for life sciences venture capital in North America. Radisic is a Senior Scientist at the University Health Network, part of the network.
Listen: ‘The future is already here’: University of Toronto’s Milica Radisic on organ-on-a-chip technology
How can research drive economic growth?
Dimitry Anastakis, L.R. Wilson and R.J. Currie Chair in Canadian Business History in the Department of History and the Rotman School of Management and Joseph Wong, a political science professor and Vice-President, International.
Research and lessons: As they tell Speer, once concerned taboo, interventionist industrial policy was a cornerstone of the 20th century state activity and is now the norm.
Anastakis notes industrial policy in Canada has evolved. “Industrial policy isn’t like the 60s and 70s. It’s much more targeted, leaner, smarter, and responding to strategic imperatives.”
“You can see this with the transition to an EV future where companies can’t really do it themselves – whether it’s the technology, the tariff structure, or the broader political economy of how this thing will get rolled out. As a society, we have to have statist intervention to some degree,” he explains.
Automotive and battery makers have invested over $31 billion in EV manufacturing over the past four years. The provincial and federal government have provided matching funding and tax credits, in addition to investing in charging infrastructure.
Honda’s decision to invest $15 billion to establish Canada’s first comprehensive EV supply chain in Ontario is “a real vote of confidence” for the province’s manufacturing sector, Anastakis says.
“For Ontarians to have this firm say, we think you’re a great place to do everything – from the mining to the assembly to the distribution of vehicles and their sale – is a kind of amazing statement of what the province has in terms of its capacity to do this going forward,” Anastakis explains.
But government and industry cannot support the EV sector and reach net-zero alone.
At U of T, researchers are conducting research on recycling lithium-ion batteries, next-gen EV technologies, ensuring the grid meets riding electricity demands, and more.
As Wong tells Speer, it is important for policymakers to identify areas of excellence or emerging excellence – like the EV sector – and leverage the university sector to work on research that benefits the country, economy, and society.
How can research help us understand our lives?
Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology and accomplished author.
Research and lessons. While the series is highlights research with commercial potential and supportive policies, it also explores the university’s role as a key centre of thinking about society.
Bloom begins with empathy. While it’s easy to empathize with friends and family, Bloom says it’s much harder to do so with someone who has a different political perspective or is in a distant country, for instance.
“Empathy makes us shortsighted. Kind of myopic. Empathy can be exhausting,” he adds. “There are these studies where they compare empathy… with a more distanced compassion. And they find that distanced compassion leads to less burnout. More happiness. More kindness in the end.”
He also tackles envy. “Of all the sins, it’s the one people don’t boast about,” Bloom notes. “Here’s a trick, when someone you know wins a prize that you wanted… be the first to congratulate them. Do it honestly, fulsomely, and publicly… that’ll make your envy go away. All of a sudden, you are no longer feeling like the world is saying you are less than that person.”
Bloom’s most controversial life hack? Six-minute blocks of sustained focus, which allows him to work on a multitude of tasks – from writing emails to reading a research paper and folding laundry – throughout the day.
As he tells Speer, several forces propelled him to join U of T in 2021.
“I’ve always loved the University of Toronto, both the city of Toronto and the University has this tremendous community of scholars,” especially within the psychology and philosophy departments.
“For the most part, it was probably one of the best choices of my life. And absolutely no regrets,” he says.
Listen: https://thehub.ca/podcasts/i-dont-think-people-want-an-equal-society-paul-bloom-on-empathy-equality-and-envy/
To catch all the episodes, visit thehub.ca/podcasts.