Our News
October 2021
The effect of cannabinoids on thin-film morphology is published in Advanced Functional Materials
In this work, Zach takes a deep dive into the morphological changes induced in thin-film devices upon analyte exposure, shedding more light on the mechanism of cannabinoid sensing by OTFTs.
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October 2021
On the cover of Chemical Communications
Emilie and Nick's work developing a CEST-MRI contrast agent for mapping Vitamin B6 utilization is featured on the cover of Chemical Communications.
August 2021
Emilie Is Accepted to the QAQCC NSERC-CREATE Program!
Along with co-supervisor, Dr. Cory Harris, Emilie will undertake novel approaches to the non-destructive analysis of cannabinoids in live plants. More to come soon...
August 2021
Our MR Solutions MRI Has Been Upgraded to 7 T!
We can now perform mouse and rat imaging at 1.5, 3.0, and 7.0 T.
August 2021
Our Second Generation HydrazoCEST MRI Contrast Agent for Mapping Vitamin B6 Metabolism Is Published in Chemical Communications!
Emilie and Nick led the team in exploring the structure-activity relationship for aldehyde sensing using a hydrazinonicotinic acid core, resulting in Vitamin B6 metabolism mapping in human lung cancer xenograft models.
Published in the 2021 Emerging Investigators themed collection
July 2021
Finding Glycoproteins Quickly and Easily, Published in New Journal of Chemistry
Alexia and Tara published work applying one of Mojmir's aldehyde-reactive fluorophores to the specific detection of glycoproteins in native gels with ng-level sensitivity!
Published in the 2021 Emerging Investigators themed collection
June 2021
Sweet Synthetic Methodology Published in Carbohydrate Research
Mojmir's work generating the rare carbohydrate D-Tagatose from readily available D-Fructose has initiated a new line of research for our group.
October 2020
Solution Screening for OTFT Optimization Published in ACS Advanced Materials & Interfaces
Zach developed methodology to use solution-phase spectroelectrochemistry to predict the performance of thin-film transistors for cannabinoid sensing.
July 2020
Included in ACS Sensors Rising Stars in Sensing Special Issue
Zach's work developing rapid, on-the-spot sensors for cannabis was included in a special virtual issue on Rising Stars in Sensing, curated by Prof. Shana O. Kelley.
May 2020
Yen & Christine defended their M.Sc. degrees
Congratulations to Yen Truong and Christine Wong for defending their M.Sc. degrees.
May 2020
Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute Funding Received
Through the gracious support of the CCSRI, and in collaboration with Dr. Christine Addison, we have been awarded an Innovation Grant to evaluate aldehydes as imaging biomarkers of lung cancer prognosis using our radiotracer [18F]NA3BF3.
January 2020
Funding for new PET/CT received
Thanks to generous funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Province of Ontario, as well as support from the Vice-President Research Dr. Sylvain Charbonneau, we will be acquiring a new PET/CT to continue our radiotracer development program.
November 2019
Ekidna Sensing, Inc., is launched!
Based off of our cannabinoid analysis technology, we have launched Ekidna Sensing, Inc., in order to commercialize our rapid, on-the-spot cannabinoid testing. More information can be found here.
October 2019
On the cover of ACS Sensors
Zach's work developing rapid cannabinoid sensors was featured on the cover of ACS Sensors.
August 2019
NSERC CGS-M & Michael Smith Supplement
Émile was awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship (MSc) and a Michael Smith Supplement that will allow him to travel to work with Dr. Peter J.H. Scott at the University of Michigan. Great work Émile!
May 2019
Technology for on-the-spot Cannabinoid analysis is patented!
In collaboration with Dr. Benoît Lessard and Dr. Cory Harris, we have filed a patent to protect our technology for rapid, low-cost, and accurate chemical analysis of cannabis plants and plant-derived products.
August 2019
Our graduate students receive scholarships
Three of our graduate students, Nick Calvert, Yen Truong and Alexia Kirby, have just received the Ontario Graduate Student scholarship to support their studies. Congratulations Nick, Yen and Alexia!
April 2019
Radiotracer for mapping aldehydic load in live subjects is published in Chem Comm
In this work we continue to build on the N-aminoanthranilic acid moiety for rapid, catalyst-free complexation of aldehydes in living systems, developing a radiotracer capable of mapping aldehydic load in living subjects using Positron Emission Tomography.
February 2019
On the cover of ChemBioChem Probes & Sensors Special Issue
The cover illustrates our fluorogenic probes capable of speciation of biogenic aldehydes through fluorescent fingerprinting
February 2019
On the inside front cover of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry New Talent Special Issue
Here we apply our fluorogenic sensor for live cell imaging of aldehydic load following the induction of electrophilic stress. On the cover, labelled cells are raining down in front of a graffitied wall.
November 2018
Our work on aldehyde fingerprinting on ChemistryViews
Recent work on the fluorogenic fingerprinting of biogenic aldehydes was reported in ChemistryViews. See the article here.
November 2018
Imaging Aldehydic Load in live cells published in special issue
Expanding upon the capability of our fluorescent imaging of aldehydes, we have published work fully characterizing the reactivity of our aldehyde-conditional fluorogenic agent, as well as demonstrated its application to the imaging of Aldehydic Load via live cell microscopy. This work was an invited contribution to a New Talent issue of Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry.
October 2018
Fluorescent fingerprinting of aldehydes published in special issue
Our collaborative effort with Dr. Rolland-Lagan on identifying biogenic aldehydes through curvature analysis of excitation-emission matrices was published as a Very Important Paper in a special issue on Probes in Chembiochem.
August 2018
Our graduate students receive scholarships
Two of our graduate students, Yen Truong and Alexia Kirby, have just received the Ontario Graduate Student scholarship to support their studies. Congratulations Yen and Alexia!
May 2018
Hosting Kelsee, Grace, and Tyra in our lab was a blast!
Thanks to support from the Verna J. Kirkness Foundation, Kelsee, Grace, and Tyra visited us from indigenous communities across Canada so we could give them a taste of the work we do in the Mol Med Lab. Listen to the story on CBC's Ottawa Morning here.
March 2018
Aldehyde-conditional CEST-MRI contrast agent published
Our work developing a CEST-MRI contrast agent that selectively "turns on" when covalently bound to aldehydes was published in Chemistry: A European Journal.
August 2017
We are CIHR funded!
A Project Scheme grant in collaboration with the Rayner (UOHI) and Pratt (uO Chemistry) groups entitled "Aldehydes, Antioxidants, and Atherosclerosis: Translational prognostic molecular imaging with novel prognostic and companion diagnostic agents" was supported by CIHR.
March 2017
Industrial partnership established with Qu Biologics
Through an NSERC ENGAGE grant, we have initiated a collaboration with Qu Biologics to use PET/MRI to investigate the fate of their site-specific immunomodulators in mice.
February 2017
Patent filed for our aldehyde sensing compounds
Our imaging and sensing probes for biogenic aldehyde detection was filed by uOttawa, opening up our technology for further development and industrial partnerships.
October 2016
Our MRI has arrived!
An MR Solutions tunable field 3.0 T MRI obtained with CFI funding is now installed and ready to be used for pre-clinical contrast agent development.