Michael Houston: Growing up Waterloo

For Michael Houston, PhD ’93, BSc ’87, the University of Waterloo is more than his alma mater. For a good chunk of his youth, the campus is where he called home.  

Houston’s connection to Waterloo began at a young age. He recalls sitting in the Physical Activities Complex and proudly watching his father, Michael Houston PhD ’69, receive his degree in chemistry. His father would go on to become a professor in the Department of Kinesiology of the Faculty of Human Kinetics and Leisure studies, now renamed to the Faculty of Health.

Growing up on campus among academics certainly impacted Houston. “I recall playing ball hockey in parking lots, running rampant around campus,” he says. “I have many fond memories of watching the Warrior hockey games on Friday nights too. Waterloo is a special place for me- it’s a strong emotional connection.” It’s this connection to campus that lead him to support Waterloo’s Chemistry Program Activation Fund.

Beyond the childhood memories and love of campus, Houston holds two chemistry degrees from Waterloo and participated in varsity track and field and soccer.  He completed his PhD under John Honek, spending a lot of time in the chemistry wing with Waterloo ‘legends’ TV Viswanatha, Morris Tchir and Michael Chong to name a few. He has high praise for his former supervisor and maintains that there “is a lot of exciting research in bionanotechnology happening there in his [Honek’s] lab.”

Currently, Houston is the Chief Scientific Officer for TriLink Biotechnologies in San Diego, California. TriLink is contract development organization that is involved in the production of various nucleic acid-based therapeutics. Their CleanCap mRNA capping technology is critical to the production of mRNA vaccines including the Pfizer COVID19 vaccine. The company has seen tremendous growth over the last 3 years. Houston points to chemists as the driver behind its success, “how do we grow our company, where do we need chemistry? It’s chemistry to the rescue,” he insists.

The University of Waterloo shares Houston’s belief in chemistry’s place in the world and has recently created the Chemistry Program Activation Fund. “Ensuring our program remains on the leading edge of academic delivery is very important,” says Bill Power, Chair of the Department of Chemistry. “Donors like Mike will allow us to expand our experiential learning opportunities, bring cutting edge lab techniques to our students. We want to remain in the forefront of discovery in Canada and beyond. His work shows us the potential that’s out there, and it proves how exciting and important chemistry is to humanity.”

Houston believes that the world of biotechnology and specifically biopharmaceuticals, is an industry with unlimited potential. And it’s this entrepreneurial potential he says needs to be pursued by Canadian chemists. “Students need to realize how valuable their degree is,” he says. “Waterloo chemists are so well schooled in physics, math and chemistry. The jump to biologics is an easy one for chemists as they can readily pick up biology.” Specifically, Houston sees biologics as an area that chemists can excel at. Biologics, or biological drugs, can include blood products, vaccines, genetic cellular therapies, and monoclonal antibody products to name a few.

Houston points to Ian Maclachlan as proof of Canada’s contribution to chemistry. Maclachlan was recently highlighted by Forbes Magazine, who named the Canadian chemist as “Covid’s forgotten hero”.  Nearly two decades ago, Maclachlan, who is now an independent biotechnology consultant, developed lipid nanoparticle technology that allowed a new way to deliver the RNA message safely to a cell. It was this break though technology that allowed Pfizer and others to create the COVID19 mRNA vaccine used today.

Experiential learning, or ‘a day in the life’ style of learning is something Houston would like to see more of for undergraduate students. Specifically, Houston would like to see the Department of Chemistry provide opportunities for students to understand the work force. At his current company the breadth of roles that chemists are pursuing goes beyond performing reactions and extends to quality assurance, quality control, regulatory affairs, product development, program management, operations and business development. “Looking back, I am surprised at the various roles I have undertaken and I strongly believe my chemistry education and training at Waterloo was the foundation for my career.”

At the end of the day, Michael Houston seems content with the path chemistry has taken him on and the role the University has played in his life. “My ties to Waterloo are very important to me- the place, the people and with chemistry. You could say Waterloo is in my DNA. I’m happy to support something that means so much.”