Professor Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, and his team grabbed the top spot on the list for Psiphon, a tool that allows broad Internet access to citizens of countries where use is censored by the government without the fear of their being detected, since the tool uses safe serves outside their home countries. Toronto Life hails them for making “Internet use is a human right.”
Toronto Life magazine high on U of T research
Faculty generate 10 of top 25 world-changing ideas
By Elaine Smith, posted Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The December 2009 issue of Toronto Life magazine features 25 World Changing Ideas from the Smartest Torontonians and 10 of them – 40 per cent — come from research done by professors based at U of T and its teaching hospitals.
Professor Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, and his team grabbed the top spot on the list for Psiphon, a tool that allows broad Internet access to citizens of countries where use is censored by the government without the fear of their being detected, since the tool uses safe serves outside their home countries. Toronto Life hails them for making “Internet use is a human right.”
“We are proud to have one of our projects recognized as being a world-changer by Toronto Life, as that’s what we set out to do with Psiphon — challenge the growing trends worldwide restricting access to information and freedom of speech online,” said Deibert.
The university’s researchers also occupy spots two, five, seven, 13, 15, 18, 21 and 25 on the list. Professor Mohini Sain from the Faculty of Forestry’s Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials Processing follows Deibert at No. 2, lauded for his Ontario BioCare Initiative that is working to transform agricultural and forestry waste products into lighter, more fuel-efficient auto parts. He expects prototype parts, made from materials such as potato peels and corn cobs to be available in 2012.
Professor Ted Sargent of engineering is no stranger to publicity for his research; much of his work in nanotechnology has been acclaimed. Toronto Life cites his work (No. 5) in creating a paint that can capture and convert the sun’s infrared light to energy that can be used to heat homes or power vehicles, a technology he hopes to have ready by 2013.
Dynemo, a tool that looks at a segment of a breast cancer tumour and analyses the proteins, can help physicians predict whether a woman is likely to remain cancer free. At No. 6 on the list, this tool was created by Professors Jeffrey Wrana of medical genetics and microbiology and Ian Taylor of medicine, both based at Mount Sinai Hospital. Wrana told Toronto Life that they are working with clinicians to determine whether the tool can also help determine the appropriate treatment for each patient.
Biomedical engineering PhD student Sheena Luu, working at Bloorview Kids Rehab with Professor Tom Chau, Canada Research Chair in pediatric rehab engineering, has created a communications breakthrough: a headband fitted with fibre optics that reads the intensity of light absorbed by the brain, No. 8 on the list. For children who can’t speak, the distinct patterns of light absorption in reaction to various choices can help to indicate preferences.Testing is ongoing
Engineering professor Milica Radisic, No. 13, is working towards using cardiac tissue grown in vitro from stem cells to patch damaged hearts that have been hurt by diabetes, heart attacks or high blood pressure. Radisic hopes the technique will be ready for doctors to use within the decade. Meanwhile, at Mount Sinai Hospital, Professor Robert Casper of obstetrics and gynecology has developed a pair of glasses (No. 15) that may help shift workers combat diseases to which they are prone, such as obesity, cardiovascular ailments and cancer. He theorizes that such problems are due to the amount and type of light absorbed by the bodies during the hours they should normally be sleeping. By blocking these light rays, the glasses allow their bodies to return to rhythms that more closely approximate their normal circadian cycle.
Professor Sheena Josselyn of physiology, Canada Research Chair in molecular and cellular cognition, is working towards understanding how traumatic memories are stored in the brain with the aim of learning to treat them (No. 18). By identifying and deleting memories of mild shock in mice by destroying the affected neurons, Josselyn has demonstrated a possible strategy for treating post-traumatic stress disorder and other debilitating fears.
People involved in the local food movement aren’t necessarily fond of U of T Mississauga geography professor Pierre Desrochers, who is no proponent of the environmental benefits of eating locally grown items. Desrochers, No. 21 on the Toronto Life list, believes that most of the energy needed to get produce to our tables is expended during production, not delivery, so concerns about environmental effects should focus on food production, not distribution. Desrochers, who took part in the recent Global Food vs. Local Food debate at UTM’s Brunch With the Bulletin, told Toronto Life, “Activists romanticize subsistence agriculture and ignore the facts.”
Rounding out the U of T contribution to these 25 big ideas is Professor Herbert Kronzucker of biological sciences at U of T Scarborough (No. 25). Kronzucker simulates tropical rice-growing conditions in his lab in order to develop a strain of rice that will be resistant to damage from the salt seeping into the water in Asia’s most fertile rice-growing regions. It’s more than food for thought; it’s food for a hungry world.
“The wide variety of research and innovation taking place at the University of Toronto is contributing to economic and social prosperity, creating jobs and transforming the lives of Canadians,” said Professor Paul Young, vice-president (research). “As one of the world’s leading research intensive universities I am delighted to see that the work done here is generating such enthusiasm locally.”
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/campus-news/toronto-life-magazine-high-on-u-of-t-research.html