Profiles

More than 20 years ago CBB member Prof. Wayne Brodland was approached by a biologist who was studying the forces that drove early embryo development. He was so interested in this topic that he decided to make it the main focus of his research. Over the years, he and his team have developed advanced techniques to investigate cellular interactions and have made significant contributions to the understanding of cell movements.

When patients go to Credit Valley Hospital complaining of sore joints, there’s a chance their care will involve a rheumatology tool developed by CBB member Catherine Burns.

It is the thrill of discovery that motivates Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology member and University of Waterloo professor Dr. Trevor Charles, He and his team perform research not only on plant-microbe interactions, but also work to create platforms through which scientific discoveries can be made and their resulting knowledge can be shared with colleagues worldwide.

Data has always been important in healthcare and this is increasingly true nowadays. Indeed, with more and more sensing and imaging devices being used to treat different diseases, there is a lot of data to manage. Data management is so important and time-consuming that most hospital clinics have at least one full time employee in charge of it.

Drinking water, it is said, is the next petroleum; the next great scarce resource. And as such, the conservation of what water we have is becoming of increasing importance. We must be concerned with much more than merely conserving quantities of water, we must also be concerned that what water we have remains potable. The ability to consume water is however, being put at risk as we continue to allow industrial run-off and other pollutants to contaminate it. It is ensuring the availability of high quality water, for both aquatic and human life, which is one of the current areas of research for Dr. Bernard Duncker, Associate Professor in the University of Waterloo’s Department of Biology and member of the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

CBB member, Dr. Maud Gorbet's research focuses on problems of biocompatibility with biomaterials and biomedical devices.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a growing health concern. CBB member Prof. Brian Ingalls is using his background in Applied Mathematics and Synthetic Biology to tackle this problem.

Restoring proper movement following a joint replacement can be a long, arduous process, requiring many hours of work. The current clinical practice following a joint replacement involves physiotherapy. Physiotherapists use visual inspection and questionnaires to assess patients before assigning them exercises. The physiotherapist will then observe patients to ensure that the exercises are completed correctly and watch for progress, updating exercises based on capabilities as a patient progresses.

CBB member Prof. Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan is a theorist who works in the field of biomedical image analysis amongst other areas which include optical physics and mathematical modeling. He is a recognized expert in this area and is involved in U.S. national science policy (e.g. National Photonics Initiative).

Murray Moo-Young, member of the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo, has had an illustrious career. While formally trained as a chemical engineer, Moo-Young’s career took a turn towards bioengineering during his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Edinburgh and he has since been influential in the development of the field.

In Ontario, we produce a massive amount of soy. According to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Ontario farmers planted an estimated two and a half million acres of soybeans in 2013. This means that in Ontario, this year, we have planted more soy than corn, and more soy than rye, oats, and barley combined. Large scale uses of this soy include human and animal consumption, and the production of oil.

Many scientists have thought of perception as a one way process. Vision, for example, has traditionally been modeled as a feed-forward process with photons entering the eye and then information being sent to higher levels of the brain. But, in fact, there’s a theory that says that there are also predictions coming down from higher brain areas to the lower levels of this perception hierarchy, so-called feed-back.

There are things we do instinctively, without ever considering how they happen, and until we lose the ability to perform these things, we may never feel the need to investigate how we accomplish them. Speaking is one of these activities. Most of us speak every day, using the sounds we produce to communicate with those around us, never considering the possibility of losing this valuable ability. Thankfully, there are members of the the scientific community who dedicate their efforts to understanding the things we take for granted. Dr. Sean Peterson, member of the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, is one such individual. And for those who may one day come to find their speech impaired, they may well be grateful for Peterson’s study of how air passed between the vocal fold to produce human speech.

Safieddin (Ali) Safavi-Naeini, Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology member and University of Waterloo Professor, uses electromagnetic waves to solve problems encountered in everyday life. Specifically, he has found a way to use electromagnetic waves to image and analyse materials to improve healthcare.

In the pharmaceutical industry, everyone knows that developing a drug that will actually find its way to patients is difficult to say the least. Many recent compounds which have the potential to treat diseases are not marketable because they can’t be delivered properly. This is a huge loss for people across the world.

Some cancers can be treated with high levels of success, if found early. The requirement to catch cancer in its earliest stages places a high emphasis on their early detection. Consistent and accurate early diagnosis of cancers such as skin and prostate cancers can save lives. Unfortunately, diagnosis at an early stage is not always consistent. Centre for Biotechnology and Bioengineering researcher and University of Waterloo Assistant Professor Alex Wong is working to address this problem. Motivated by his desire to meaningfully contribute to improving quality of life for all individuals, Wong is working on clinical decision support systems for assisting in the diagnosis of prostate and skin cancers.