National Research Council of Canada opens medtech innovation centre at U of T

The National Research Council of Canada has opened a Centre for Research and Application in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT) at the University of Toronto.

The goal of CRAFT is to be a national innovation hub for in vitro diagnostics, regenerative medicine, and precision medicine. The innovation will work on publishing in scientific publications, patents, and the commercialization of advanced health technology.

Projects at CRAFT will use microfluidic technologies—the precise control of a tiny amount of fluids—to do the following:

In vitro diagnostics: the rapid diagnosis of diseases using clinical samples (blood, urine, etc.), shrinking what now takes entire medical laboratories onto one small chip.

Organ-on-a-chip engineering: re-creating the physiology of entire human organs on small devices to test the precise physiological responses of organs to medicines, for research and for personalized medicine.

Bioprinting: printing biological tissues for personalized regenerative medicine.

“Close collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada and partners, such as universities, organization and other government departments, in common research areas, will advance knowledge and support Canada’s regional and national economies,” said Iain Stewart, president of the National Research Council of Canada.

Projects at the Centre for Research and Application in Fluidic Technologies will be managed by more than 25 University of Toronto students and postdoctoral researchers who will be co-mentored by University of Toronto and National Research Council scientists and engineers.

“This partnership between the National Research Council of Canada and the University of Toronto will lead to discoveries and advances in microfluidic research, accelerating the development and commercialization of biomedical technologies that will benefit Canadians and the Canadian health care system,” said Vivek Goel, VP of Research and Innovation at the University of Toronto. “The interactions with leading NRC scientists and U of T researchers will provide invaluable applied research experience and unique training opportunities for our students and young investigators.”