Waterloo biotech researchers are making healthcare smarter and more sustainable. “If there’s an area that will improve quality of life in the future, this is it.”
Imagine you need hip surgery but your new joint is a customized one built by a 3D printer with your own cells. Or imagine walking into your doctor’s office and getting an in-depth analysis of your DNA on the spot.
How about being able to identify future health issues long before they happen by simply looking at patterns in your DNA.
Sounds futuristic but researchers at the University of Waterloo are making progress on all three projects right now, says Catherine Burns, director of Waterloo’s Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology (CBB.)
Catherine Burns and Karim Karim, Associate Professor electrical and computer engineering.
Burns has been invited to take part in an Ontario Personalized Medicine Mission to Asia this week. Her goal is to build connections with researchers in Singapore and Japan to help bring Waterloo research in bioengineering and biotechnology to the next level.
Waterloo’s CBB has 119 researchers looking at ways to improve healthcare. “If there’s an area that will improve quality of life in the future, this is it,” says Burns. The centre is unique in that it encourages interdisciplinary research across the Faculties of Engineering, Science, Applied Health Sciences, and Mathematics. CBB is also home to researchers from Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy and the School of Optometry and Vision Science.
Waterloo solving healthcare problems
A journal called Canadian Healthcare Technology recently featured a wide range of research going on at CBB in an article called Waterloo R&D Centre solves healthcare problems.
Singapore is a global leader in personalized medicine and has made a very strong investment in its facilities. Japan is also a leader with the world’s second largest pharmaceutical industry. During the week-long mission, experts from the Ontario Genomics Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research will join Burns.
Burns said it’s a very creative time in biotechnology and she is looking to build relationships with the global leaders in personalized medicine. “I think the technology is just at the cusp of being able to take off,” says Burns. “More and more I see it as a more sustainable approach to healthcare.”
