Previously Funded MRPM Projects

Project Title Primary Supervisor Primary Supervisor FoM Department, Division Co-Supervisor Co-Supervisor Department/School (Faculty) Postgrad Student Advisor Students Keywords
Gamifying Neuro Rehabilitation Lara Boyd Physical Therapy Sara Kraeutner Department of Psychology Beverly Larssen Nathan Lam, Dennis Tanujaya stroke rehabilitation, virtual reality, motor cortex
Towards data-rich, accurate diagnostics at the point of need: biofunctionalization of multiplexed silicon photonic biosensors Karen Cheung Biomedical Engineering Sudip Shekar Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Lauren Puumala Abdel-Rahman Al-Faouri, Maggie Wang biofunctionality, photonic biosensor, diagnostics
Development of novel hybrid co-polymer for corneal stromal tissue engineering Alfonso Lonvieno Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Johan Foster Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Roza Vaez Ghaemi Danish Hakim, Magnus Sun corneal blindness, artificial corneal transplant, implants
Etiopathogenesis of capsular contracture: Novel application of mathematical model Kathryn Isaac Surgery Leah Edelstein-Keshet Department of Mathematics Yuqi Xiao Muhammad Assad, Michelle Ho, Michelle Kim breast reconstruction, breast cancer treatment, bio-mechanics, mathematics
Exploring techniques used to elicit and record optimal pudendal nerve somatosensory evoked potentials in able-bodied controls John Kramer Anesthesiology Pharmacology & Therapeutics Tania Lam School of Kinesiology Paulina Scheuren & Alison Williams Winston Brandt, Stephanie Wilkinson electrical stimulations, pelvic structure, spinal cord injury, pudental somatosensory evoked potential
Access to the medication abortion pill mifepristone: A Survey of Pharmacies in British Columbia and Ontario Michael Law Population & Public Health Laura Schummers Pharmaceutical Sciences Elizabeth Nethery Carissa Chan, Catherine Xu abortion, access inequity, geographic disparities, reproductive health
Role of Cell-Cell Contacts in RPE Atrophy in Age-Related Macular Degeneration Joanne Matsubara Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Myeong Jin Ju School of Biomedical Engineering Harshini Chakravarthy Matthew Campbell, Emily Chen, Cole Wagen age-related mascular degeneration, blindness, immune response
Evaluating STEM identity and fit of elementary and middle school participants in outreach programs Robyn Newell Biomedical Engineering Katherine Wolf Department of Sociology Jessica Wolf Jenny Ge, Jess Tran STEM, children and youth, identity, belonging
Fast-TRIP: Fast TRIage of core biopsy Pathology reports by Natural Language Processing: expediting breast cancer treatment for high-risk breast cancers Alan Nichol Surgery Raymond Ng Department of Computer Science Yolanda Yang Jonathan Chan, Megan Hew, Keith Wu breast cancer, chemotherapy, biomarker information
Neuromodulation of the spinal cord Dena Shahriari Orthopaedics Wolfram Tetzlaff Department of Zoology Adan Moallemi Kimathra Reddy, Ben Rever spinal cord injury, neuroscience, genetic modification, optogenetic devices
Machine learning enabled high-throughput single cell isolation for cancer genomics using inkjet printing Adi Steif Medical Genetics Karen Cheung Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Eric Cheng Leon Li, Eric Fan? cancer cell behaviour, machine learning, genetic information

Project Title Primary Supervisor Primary Supervisor FoM Department, Division Co-Supervisor Co-Supervisor Department/ School (Faculty) Postgrad Student Advisor Students Keywords
A biomaterials-based approach for axon guidance and growth Dr. Dena Shahriari Orthopaedics Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff Department of Zoology Elham Mohseni Peter Jung & Brianna Tsuyuki Axon regeneration, biomaterials, 3D printing, hydrogels
Exploring techniques used to elicit and record optimal pudendal nerve somatosensory evoked potentials in able-bodied controls Dr. John Kramer Anesthesiology Pharmacology & Therapeutics Dr. Tania Lam School of Kinesiology Lukas Linde Jason Anasori, Meghan Henry & Lauren Platz Somatosensory evoked potentials; Pudendal nerve; Spinal cord injury; Electroencephalography; Peripheral Nerve Stimulation
Finding breast cancer relapses in pathology reports using natural language processing Dr. Alan Nichol Surgery Dr. Raymond Ng Department of Computer Science Yolanda Yang Nikolay Alabi, Jaimie Lee & Annah Zhang
Gender pathways into and out of biomedical engineering Dr. Negar Mohaghegh Harandi Biomedical Engineering Dr. Agnes D'Entremont Department of Mechanical Engineering Jessica Wolf Misato Law & Krishma Singla Gender, biomedical engineering, program selection, career path, mixed methods
Machine learning enabled high-throughput single cell isolation for cancer genomics using inkjet printing. Dr. Adi Steif Medical Genetics Dr. Karen Cheung Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Eric Cheng William Gervasio,Taylor Goldblatt & Kipling Ng biomedical devices, cancer genomics, bioinformatics, tissue processing
Blinded by Granzyme B: a key contributor in the development of age-related macular degeneration  Dr. Joanne Matsubara Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Dr. Myeong Jin Ju School of Biomedical Engineering Daniel Yoo Eric Ai, Khola Bilal & Natalie Ma extracellular matrix, blood-eye barrier, retina, vision, blindness, neuroscience
PhysViz: validation of a new telerehabilitation platform Dr. Alex Scott Physical Therapy Dr. Calvin Kuo School of Biomedical Engineering Kipling Squier Max Honey & Dennis Tanujaya telerehabilitation; tendon strain; evidence-informed healthcare
Unraveling drug- and virus-specific biosignatures using high-content and super resolution microscopy. Dr. Ivan Robert Nabi Cellular & Physiological Sciences Dr. Francois Jean Department of Microbiology and Immunology Jimena Perez-Vargas & Milene Ortiz-Silva Danielle Gordon & Kshemaka Gunawardena Covid-19, organelles, membrane contact sites, anti-virals, super-resolution microscopy
Towards data-rich, accurate diagnostics at the point of need: biofunctionalization of multiplexed silicon photonic biosensors Dr. Karen Cheung Biomedical Engineering Dr. Sudip Shekhar Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Samantha Grist Sajida Chowdhury & Jaden Sequeira Biosensors, Microfluidics, Silicon Photonics, Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Turning pain off - Neurophysiological markers of pain 'onsets' and 'offsets' in response to contact heat Dr. Michael Berger Medicine Dr. John Kramer School of Kinesiology Lukas Linde Atrina Shadgan & Christina Whang Pain, Neuroimaging, Electroencephalography, Temperature, Pain rating

Project Title Primary Supervisor Primary Supervisor FoM Department, Division Co-Supervisor Co-Supervisor Department/ School (Faculty) Postgrad Student Advisor Students Keywords
Host directed therapies in Tuberculosis Dr. Yossef Av-Gay Medicine, Infectious Diseases Dr. Elitza Tocheva Department of Microbiology and Immunology (Faculty of Sciences) Leah Rankine-Wilson Echo Zhou, Jessica Shen, N/A TB, Infectious disease, Imaging, CRISPR, Westerns
Understanding breakthrough neuropathic pain Dr. Michael Berger Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Dr. John Kramer School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Lukas Linde Hannah Ro, Sohat Sharma, Margot Schmidt ecological momentary assessment, neuropathic pain, DN-4, breakthrough episodes, peripheral neuropathy
Capture of human movement in the real world: Integration of markerless motion capture with gamified rehabilitation Dr. Lara Boyd Physical Therapy Dr. Sarah Kraeutner Department of Psychology (Faculty of Arts) Justin Andrushko Anna Zhu, Kaylee McGeough, N/A Movement tracking, machine learning, motor learning, stroke, artificial intelligence
Project discovery: COVID-19 Dr. Ryan Brinkman Medical Genetics Dr. Ali Bashashati School of Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Applied Sciences) Sebastiano Montante Leon Li , Quentin Michalchuk, N/A COVID-19, machine learning, bioinformatics, flow cytometry
Analytical validation of silicon photonic biosensors Dr. Karen Cheung Biomedical Engineering Dr. Sudip Shekhar Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Faculty of Applied Sciences) Samantha Grist Nick Tang, Akshay Khale, N/A Biosensors, Microfluidics, Silicon Photonics, Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Open code academic health platform Dr. Mike Figurski Medicine Dr. Zheng Liu Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Faculty of Science) Debsasha Sarkar Rahma Hamza, Anthony Moss, N/A interdisciplinary open simulation platform team
Development and application of natural language processing and machine learning to accelerate breast cancer research Dr. Kathryn Isaac Surgery Dr. Raymond Ng Department of Computer Science (Faculty of Science) Caroline Illmann Annah Zhang, Christy Kwok, N/A Artificial intelligence, Breast Cancer, automation, prediction
Temperature dependency of tonic pain responses: A comparison of tonic cold and tonic heat pain protocols to assess temporal summation in humans Dr. John Kramer Anesthesiology Pharmacology & Therapeutics Dr. Jean-Sébastien Blouin School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Lukas Linde Jaimie Lee, Nazanin Sadoughian, N/A Pain, Neuroimaging, data processing, EEG
Quantitative localization of autonomic neurons activated by exercise and neuromodulation after spinal cord injury Dr. Andrei Krassioukov Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Dr. Tania Lam School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Tamila Kalimullina Aaryan Dwivedi, Chantal Lam, N/A spinal cord injury, spinal cord stimulation, passive exercise, autonomic dysreflexia, CUBIC tissue clearing
Characterization of the neurodegenerative features in the retina associated with eye and brain diseases Dr. Joanne Matsubara Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Dr. Myeong Jin Ju School of Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Printha Wijesinghe Matt Campbell, Miranda Tsuyuki, Charles Li neurons, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), in-vivo imaging, amyloid beta, mouse models
Evaluating the role of transcervical 3D ultrasound imaging of the oropharynx during transoral robotic surgery Dr. Eitan Prisman Surgery Dr. Septimiu Salcudean Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Wanwen Chen Angela Li, Katya Zaraska, N/A transoral robotic surgery, ultrasonography, head and neck
Wastewater-based surveillance of infectious diseases Dr. Natalie Prystajecky Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Dr. Ryan Ziels Department of Civil Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Xuan Li Finn McCord, Paniz Ataei, N/A wastewater-based epidemiology, molecular biology, next-generation sequencing
Validation of a bluetooth-enabled load cell for objective and accessible assessment of lower extremity strength and symmetry Dr. Alex Scott Physical Therapy Dr. Cameron Mitchell School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Kohle Merry Josh Seto, Spencer Pratt, N/A telerehabilitation; muscle; evidence-informed healthcare
Minimally invasive technologies for spinal cord injury Dr. Dena Shahriari Orthopaedics Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff Department of Zoology (Faculty of Applied Science) Shahriar Shalileh Alex Golab, Stephanie Wilkinson, Ken Ong Axon regeneration; biomaterials; spinal cord injury; polymers; magnetic actuation
Using digital pathology with spatially resolved gene expression for biomarker discovery Dr. Amrit Singh Anesthesiology Pharmacology & Therapeutics Dr. Raymond Ng Department of Computer Science (Faculty of Science) Yolanda Yang Patrick Thangarajah, Gurjot Hothi, Kayla Korolek PyTorch, mRNA, imaging, spatial transcriptomics, digital pathology
High-throughput cell isolation for cancer genomics using inkjet printing Dr. Adi Steif Medical Genetics Dr. Karen Cheung Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Eric Cheng Jared Chan, William Rees-Jones, N/A biomedical devices, cancer genomics, bioinformatics, tissue processing

Project Title Primary Supervisor Primary Supervisor FoM Department, Division Co-Supervisor Co-Supervisor Department/ School (Faculty) Postgrad Student Advisor Students Keywords
Non-invasive neuromodulation for treatment of autonomic dysfunctions after spinal cord injury Dr. Andrei Krassioukov Medicine, Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine Dr. Tania Lam School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Rahul Sachdeva Ali Hosseinzadeh, Tamila Kalimullina & Marco Law spinal cord injury, transcutaneous stimulation, non-invasive, bowel, autonomic
Woodsmoke exposure-on-a-chip Dr. Chris Carlsten Medicine, Respiratory Medicine Dr. Karen Cheung School of Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Min Hyung Ryu & Tanya Bennet Bora Jin & Hana Zhang air pollution, airway disease, wildfire, microfluidics, lung-on-a-chip
A biomaterials-based platform coupled with drug delivery to induce nerve repair after spinal cord injury Dr. Dena Shahriari Department of Orthopaedics Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff Department of Zoology (Faculty of Science) Shahriar Shalileh Adan Moallemi & Nadine Truter Nerve regeneration, nerve repair, drug delivery, biomaterials, spinal cord injury
Development of universal/stealth red blood cells by novel cell surface engineering methods Dr. Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Dr. Stephen Withers Department of Chemistry (Faculty of Science) Haisel Moon Waris Bhatia & Aanisah Golam Universal Blood, Stealth RBCs, Cell surface engineering, ECO-RBC, Polysialic acid
Biomedical Ophthalmic Imaging of the Retina and Ex Vivo Validation of Cell Degeneration in Mouse Models of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Dr. Joanne Matsubara Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Dr. Myeong Jin Ju Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and School of Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Manjosh Uppal Grace Hu & Jacob Ng blood-retinal barrier, granzyme B, adaptive optics, eye imaging, retina
Three-dimensional, microscale in vitro model for studying axon growth Dr. Karen Cheung School of Biomedical Engineering Dr. John Madden Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (Faculty of Applied Science) Tanya Bennet Michelle Ling, Noah Stewart & Lily Yang biomaterials, axon regeneration, 3D cell culture, microfabrication
Establishing a data processing pipeline using artificial intelligence to capture human kinematic data: DeepLabCut as a markerless motion capture system Dr. Lara Boyd Department of Physical Therapy Dr. Nicola Hodges School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Sarah Kraeutner Sowmya Gopalakrishnan, Fatemeh Khounsarian & Devyani McLaren Movement tracking, machine learning, motor learning, human kinematics, artificial intelligence
Measuring balance deficits in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) Dr. Michael Berger Medicine, ICORD Dr. Mark Carpenter School of Kinesiology (Faculty of Education) Kyle Missen Angus Chan & Kai Leong chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, balance, falls, autoimmune, concurrent validity
Cellular and molecular biomarkers to predict vaccine responses in newborns Dr. Scott Tebbutt Medicine, Respiratory Medicine Dr. Gabriela Cohen Freue Department of Statistics (Faculty of Science) Abhinav Checkervarty William Gervasio, Emili Gubskaya & Madison Hung Vaccines; newborns; multi-omics; statistics; data visualization
Host signalling as target for TB therpaeutics Dr. Yossef Av-Gay Medicine, Infectious Diseases Dr. Elitza Tocheva Department of Microbiology and Immunology (Faculty of Science) Leah Rankine-Willson Hasti Haghdadi & Hana Rahili Tuberculosis, Phagosome acidification, Macrophages, Drug development