Kristy Strauss

Topic

Breaking Research

Rotman School of Management

Subheadline

“We are really hard on ourselves and what we do in our free time. I think the message of this paper is, don’t stress about it”

Hard day at work? It’s perfectly fine to park yourself in front of the TV. It might even make recovery – an essential part of burnout prevention – easier.

Workplace stress can take a major toll on a person’s health and research has shown that recovery is key to preventing burnout, depression and other negative health effects. But what happens when employees go home to chaotic environments – households where children are fighting, chores need doing and meals need cooking – making it nearly impossible to recover from the day?

“Household size is really about how many demands a person experiences when they go home. We tend to think that home might be a place of rest, but when you have more people – at least when you look at it in terms of number of children – it could create more demands for someone and so it’s not necessarily a place for recovery,” says Soo Min Toh, a professor of organizational behaviour at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

In her latest research, published in the Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, she found that adult screen time might be the (not so secret) remedy.

Across a series of studies, Toh and her co-author, Xian Zhao of Ohio University, found that watching television, scrolling on smartphones and playing video games after work may “buffer” the effects of stress in chaotic households, helping people feel more relaxed at home and, in turn, aid in their recovery from the day’s stressors.

Toh and Zhao first used data from the American Time Use Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and widely used by psychologists, economists and other social scientists. They examined how much time more than 61,000 American married adults spent watching TV, how many kids they had and the extent to which they felt tired and stressed.

Predictably, they found that households with kids reported feeling more fatigued and stressed. Yet, in a twist, even among those with kids at home, people who spent more time watching TV said they experienced less stress and tiredness.

The researchers also surveyed more than 100 Canadian post-secondary students about their levels of home chaos (rating statements such as “I can’t hear myself think at home”). Students then filled out nightly surveys on smartphone use and daily moods. Those who reported higher levels of home chaos also reported more negative moods – but when they spent more time on their phones, those negative moods were less intense.

A final study looked at nightly video game use and participants’ ability to focus on work the following day.

More than 100 Canadian post-secondary students were recruited and initially asked how many housemates they lived with. Over the following week, the students reported their time spent playing video games and their levels of reattachment to work the next morning. While people with more housemates had a harder time getting back into a work mindset the next day, those who played video games reported less difficulty reconnecting to work.

“There is a buffering effect of screen time to household demands, strain and chaos, number of people and responsibilities,” says Toh. “When people use digital devices, it can provide a space or a break, or even a relief or detachment, from both the demands at home and at work.”

Toh notes that the study didn’t take digital device addiction into account, which could potentially have negative effects on recovery.

“We’re not suggesting you should spend more time on your phone,” Toh says. “There’s that caution that if you do spend too much time on these devices, you might have more fatigue and you won’t experience those recovery benefits.”

Despite the risks of overuse, Toh believes the findings offer an important reminder: people shouldn’t be so hard on themselves when it comes to their digital device use.

“Screen time can actually be helpful to recovery,” she says. “It allows you to take a breather and be in this space where you get a break from all your responsibilities and that can be quite restorative for recovering our resources.

“We are really hard on ourselves and what we do in our free time. I think the message of this paper is, don’t stress about it.”

This article originally appeared on the Rotman Insights Hub

'No-fault' evictions trend highlights need for better tenant protections: U of T researcher

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:22:36 +0000

'No-fault' evictions trend highlights need for better tenant protections: U of T researcher

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 10/15/2025 - 11:22

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(photo by Nuttawan Jayawan/Getty Images)

Topic

Subheadline

PhD student Sean Grisdale's research showed that tenants in Toronto's Black-majority neighbourhoods were more likely to be evicted by owners who claimed they wanted to sell, renovate or live in a property themselves

When Sean Grisdale analyzed some 385,000 eviction filings in Toronto and its surrounding areas, he discovered a troubling trend – tenants increasingly faced “no-fault” evictions when they rented from landlords who treated properties as investments.

Such evictions don’t involve missed rent payments but are instead based on factors such as a landlord wanting to sell, renovate or use the property for themselves.

The tenants most affected by such evictions? Those living in Black-majority neighbourhoods, the research indicates.

Grisdale, a PhD student in the department of geography, geomatics and environment at the University of Toronto Mississauga, was looking particularly at “financialized landlords,” which can include large firms and individual investors that treat rental housing as financial assets.

He says his findings highlight the need for better protections against no-fault evictions.

“Financialized landlords buy units in disinvested buildings, and then their strategy is to renovate and get in higher income tenants,” says Grisdale, referencing large firms in particular.

“We need a much more robust system for preventing people from being displaced just because their landlord wants to renovate.”

Grisdale’s work is detailed in a report published by the University of British Columbia-based Balanced Supply of Housing, a network of academics and community organizations that conducts research aimed at fostering equitable housing systems.

Grisdale examined data from the Landlord and Tenant Board between 2010 and 2021, focusing on Toronto and the surrounding regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York.

During that time, financialized landlords were purchasing more properties in Toronto and surrounding areas as housing prices went up, says Grisdale.

Such landlords include large firms, such as publicly traded companies, pension funds and private equity firms, as well as individuals who take out a mortgage to purchase condos or houses in the suburbs and rent them to tenants, he says.

Grisdale’s report found that no-fault evictions rose from 10 per cent of total filings in 2010 to nearly 25 per cent in 2021.

While more research is needed, Grisdale believes the trend can partly be explained by the fact that it’s much easier for landlords to evict tenants for “no fault” reasons, including renovations or claiming to move their own family into the unit.

The report also indicates tenants with financialized landlords in majority-Black neighbourhoods were far more likely to face eviction than the average Toronto renter. One reason for that might be that land values have been rising in those areas, says Grisdale.

He points to neighbourhoods such as Toronto’s Jane and Finch area and its Little Jamaica, which are being linked to several new transit lines. Those new transit options will substantially increase land values and raise the price of rent, he notes.

The report highlights the need for policymakers to create a much more robust system that protects tenants from no-fault evictions and higher rents when a landlord wants to renovate. Currently, landlords are allowed to justify rent increases by promising to renovate, Grisdale says. But there can be issues with how that money is spent, he says.

“Sometimes it gets spent on the lobby first rather than fixing problems in people’s units – and the costs get passed to the tenant,” he says. “But the tenants are not getting the benefit and they might not be able to afford it, and then they get displaced.”

In today’s market, Grisdale says there’s been a large shift to purpose-built rental developments, with developers being offered favourable loans to build such housing. But that still raises a potential problem, he says.

“A lot of developers building these new units are going to be the same actors – these financialized landlords that are identified in this report, who we know historically evict at much higher rates,” Grisdale says.

What the report shows, Grisdale says, is that there is a significant need for more non-profit housing.

“Non-profit housing, such as Toronto Community Housing, had the largest decrease in evictions and did not see high rates of evictions historically,” he says.

“Ultimately, they are the only form of rental housing that has provided stable tenure to people.”

Marginalized neighbourhoods across Canada have fewer and smaller street trees: Study

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 20:05:44 +0000

Marginalized neighbourhoods across Canada have fewer and smaller street trees: Study

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 07/16/2025 - 16:05

Cutline

Researchers from U of T Mississauga's department of geography, geomatics and environment have provided the first cross-country snapshot of tree distribution in Canadian municipalities – and how they relate to population demographics (photo by Jason Krygier-Baum)

Topic

Sustainability

Subheadline

“Neighbourhoods without trees are often those that also face higher temperatures, greater air pollution and less access to nature"

Marginalized neighbourhoods tend to have fewer and smaller street trees – and less species diversity – than wealthier areas, according to a new study from the University of Toronto Mississauga.

For the study, researchers in U of T Mississauga’s department of geography, geomatics and environment analyzed publicly available municipal tree inventories from 32 cities across eight provinces, with nearly half located in Ontario.

They found inequalities in distribution of street trees in all 32 cities, with neighbourhoods bearing high-density populations found to have lower tree species diversity across the board.

Published in npj Urban Sustainability, the research provides the first cross-country snapshot of tree distribution in Canadian municipalities, and how the patterns relate to population demographics.

Lead author Alex Martin, who conducted research during his graduate studies, said street trees offer more than just aesthetic benefits – they help cool neighbourhoods, clean the air and support physical and mental well-being.

“Neighbourhoods without trees are often those that also face higher temperatures, greater air pollution and less access to nature,” said Martin, a researcher in the Household-level Urban Socio-Ecology (HOUSE) Laboratory, which is led by Tenley Conway, professor and associate chair, research in the department of geography, geomatics and environment. “Planting and maintaining street trees in these areas is an important community-based approach that can help address health inequalities.”

For their analysis, Martin and co-authors, who included research assistant Ashlynn Fleming, used the Gini Index – a tool often used to study income inequality – to measure how evenly trees are distributed within each city.

Then, using spatial statistics, they examined how tree coverage aligned with factors like population density, residential instability and the proportion of racialized and immigrant residents.

“[The Gini Index is used] in geography increasingly to measure the equity of things like access to hospitals, access to parks and in this case, access to street trees,” said Martin, who graduated from U of T Mississauga in June and is preparing to start his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford.

“We use metrics that allow for benchmarking between cities. Urban planners and cities can see where they stand and prioritize resources accordingly.”

Researchers found that in every city, street trees weren’t evenly spread out, and the largest, most established trees were mostly clustered in a few neighbourhoods.

Among the factors they looked at, residential instability – a measure characterized by more renters and frequent moves – was the strongest and most consistent predictor of tree inequality.

Neighbourhoods with more racialized and immigrant residents also tended to have fewer, smaller and less varied trees.

The study also found that while tree density and size tended to increase with population density, species diversity declined, likely because fewer tree species can thrive in denser urban environments.

The researchers focused on street trees specifically because unlike trees in parks or on private property, they’re publicly managed and consistently documented across cities. This allowed for more reliable data collection, said Martin, while also offering more direct pathways for urban planning and equity interventions.

Some cities stood out. Fredericton, N.B. had the most equal tree distribution, which the researchers attribute to its smaller population and long-standing planting programs. At the other end of the spectrum, Maple Ridge, B.C., had the most uneven distribution, likely due to rapid development and a focus on parks and private land over street planting.

Toronto had the highest average species diversity but still showed disparities, with racialized and immigrant neighbourhoods having smaller trees and lower diversity.

In Mississauga, some marginalized areas had relatively more trees than other parts of the city, highlighting how local context shapes distribution, the authors noted.

The findings, Martin said, contribute to ongoing conversations about environmental justice and climate resilience. Diverse street tree plantings not only help reduce air pollution and extreme heat, he noted, but are better able to withstand pests and rising temperatures.

Ensuring equitable access to healthy tree cover is key to both public health and sustainability, he said.

“To improve climate resiliency, we often need more trees and larger trees and trees that are of a species that will survive,” Martin said. “We know that a more diverse urban forest is more capable of handling changes into the future projected climate scenarios.”

Sowing seeds of discovery: U of T postdoc makes waves in plant metabolism research

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:29:58 +0000

Sowing seeds of discovery: U of T postdoc makes waves in plant metabolism research

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 12/23/2024 - 10:29

Cutline

Sonia Evans completed her PhD at U of T Mississauga and will continue her research as a Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow at U of T Scarborough (photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

Department of Biological Sciences

Topic

Our Community

Department of Biology

Graduate Students

U of T Scarborough

Subheadline

Sonia Evans's research is opening the door to novel strategies for engineering crops that are more productive and resilient

Sonia Evans has published in high-profile scientific journals, won several awards and completed a PhD from the University of Toronto, but she traces her achievements to someone who had no formal education whatsoever: her grandmother.

A believer in the healing power of plants, Evans’s grandmother hailed from a southern Nigerian village, and regularly crafted plant-based traditional medicines for ailments ranging from infertility to skin conditions.

“She knew the type of plants to go to, and made different concoctions for us,” says Evans, who defended her PhD in U of T Mississauga's department of cell and systems biology in November and is poised to continue her research as a postdoctoral fellow at U of T Scarborough. “She never knew the names of the plants, but she knew the types of plants to put together to get the result she was expecting.”

Evans, who was born and raised in Nigeria, completed undergraduate studies in plant science in her home country before earning a master's degree in plant biology in Israel. With a growing interest in plant metabolism, she decided to pursue a PhD at U of T Mississauga under the supervision of Michael Phillips, an associate professor in the department of biology.

“[Phillips] was really involved in plant metabolism… and really trying to understand how plants make chemicals that are important not just for their growth, development and for photosynthesis, but also for us,” Evans says. “These are chemicals that we use as drugs, flavours, fragrances, cosmetics and biofuels. I was really interested in that part of the research.”

Since joining the Phillips lab, Evans has focused on how plants control carbon supply towards the production of isoprenoids – high-value compounds that are critical to plant growth, defense and crop productivity and also have a range of industrial and pharmaceutical applications.

Her research has had a huge impact on the field. In 2024 alone, Evans published two papers in the prestigious Nature journals, as first author.

The most recent paper, published in Nature Plants in October, sheds light on a decades-old mystery: the origins of pyruvate, a vital precursor for production of isoprenoids, amino acids and fatty acids in chloroplasts, which are responsible for plant photosynthesis. The research revealed that Rubisco, a critical enzyme that’s responsible for fixing carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, also plays a secondary role in supplying pyruvate.

This discovery not only redefines how scientists understand plant metabolism, but also solves a long-standing paradox of the origin of pyruvate, with Evans’s findings providing a critical link between photosynthesis and the production of isoprenoids. By uncovering how plants channel carbon toward these valuable compounds, her research opens the door to innovative biotechnological strategies for engineering crops with enhanced productivity and resilience.

The previous paper, published in Nature Communications in February, laid the groundwork for how a key metabolic pathway could be engineered in plants for synthetic biology applications.

All the more impressive: Evans managed these accomplishments while carrying out her responsibilities as mother to a young child – which she credits to a strong support system of family, her spouse, friends and peers. “It’s been a learning curve… but I have tried to take everything one step at a time, and check myself every day,” she says.

Evans’s scholarly excellence resulted in her earning the Roberta Bondar Graduate Student Excellence Award last fall. She was also named a Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow, and will carry out her postdoctoral research in the lab of Eliana Gonzales-Vigil, assistant professor in U of T Scarborough's department of biological sciences.

Reflecting on her decision to come to U of T, Evans reveals she doubted her chances of being granted admission to Canada’s top-ranked university. “I was like, ‘Oh my God – who am I to be at the University of Toronto?’” she says. “But I wanted to be at a very good university, and I had to keep trying to aim higher and higher for myself.”

U of T researcher tracks 1,000 years of sea ice

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 17:18:44 +0000

U of T researcher tracks 1,000 years of sea ice

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 10/15/2024 - 13:18

Cutline

Minoli Dias, a PhD student at U of T Mississauga, examines coralline algae, which live for approximately 1,500 years and grow in annual layers, to construct a record of changes in sea ice cover over time (photo by Natasha Leclerc)

Topic

Sustainability

Faculty of Arts & Science

Subheadline

Minoli Dias says the baseline data she and her fellow researchers are constructing could "inform model projections that predict what future conditions will look like”

Minoli Dias’s interest in sea ice began in an unlikely place: polar bear poop.

She was studying microplastics in polar bear feces and intestinal tracts as part of a research project during her undergraduate years at Queen’s University.

“It was a smelly job, but it was really interesting,” says Dias, who is now a PhD student in the department of Earth sciences at U of T Mississauga.

Her early work revealed some troubling trends: for instance, declining sea ice levels meant that certain species of polar bears were being driven inland – with garbage and landfills increasingly serving as their food sources. At the same time, members of northern communities, particularly the Inuit, had noted in their own experiences, observations and research that declining sea ice levels had impacted access to essential needs – such as transportation, food security through hunting, and other culturally important activities.

It wasn't long before Dias decided she wanted to pursue sea ice research – and ultimately chose to study at U of T Mississauga after speaking with Jochen Halfar, a paleoclimate and paleontology professor and researcher in U of T Mississauga’s Climate Geology Research Group. “UTM gave him a wonderful lab, and we have incredible facilities. But his research and his passion for the work was what really drew me,” she says.

Now part of Halfar’s research group studying changes in sea ice cover in northern Labrador, Dias and her co-researchers are developing sea-ice cover records for the past 1,000 years off the coast of Nunatsiavut and are examining coralline algae as part of their research.

Minoli Dias's view from the research vessel off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador (photo by Minoli Dias)

Dias says that coralline algae live for approximately 1,500 years and they grow in annual layers (like tree rings). The growth, she explains, is dependent on light. When the algae have more light, meaning there’s less sea ice in the water, they grow a lot thicker. When they have less light, meaning there’s more sea ice cover, the layers grow thinner. By examining these variations and growth over time along with chemical tracers, the research team can essentially watch the sea ice cover change.

Dias conducted field work in the community of Agvituk (Hopedale), N.L. this past summer. The lab also explored multiple sites in Greenland, Norway, Nunavut and the Labrador coast.

“If we can create a network of these types of ocean reconstructions, we’ll be able to have this baseline data going back several centuries that can then hopefully inform model projections that predict what future conditions will look like,” she says.

Since joining the lab, Dias says she has had some incredible experiences – including a recent opportunity to work with members of the Hopedale community.

“We’re not the experts. We don’t live there. It’s the people who live along the coast – and actually live the change and see the change – who are the experts,” she says. “When you speak to community members, they have a clear understanding of how changes occurred over time, and what is the importance of sea ice to these ecosystems.”

Once she completes her PhD, Dias hopes to continue pursuing climate research by either working directly with impacted communities or working to address the effects of pollution or climate change.

Dias says she feels inspired by the many women scientists who came before her, including her female professors who have served as role models in what traditionally has been a male-dominated field.

“They paved the way for us to be able to do the work that we do, and to do it in relative comfort,” she says. “Having these women to look up to is what makes it possible for me to do the type of work that I do, and I hope I can make a similar contribution and pay it forward to the women that are coming after me.”

Get That Hope: Alumna and former U of T Mississauga instructor premières latest work at Stratford Festival

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 15:27:55 +0000

Get That Hope: Alumna and former U of T Mississauga instructor premières latest work at Stratford Festival

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 08/29/2024 - 11:27

Cutline

Andrea Scott says she wrote her latest play, Get That Hope, after seeing Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, asking herself, “Why don’t we have plays like this about Black Canadian families?” (photo by Helen Tansey)

Topic

Humanities

Theatre

Subheadline

Andrea Scott's play tells the story of a Toronto family in the lead-up to a Jamaica Independence Day celebration

Andrea Scott has never forgotten the moment when her dreams of becoming a writer were quashed.

It was during a Grade 9 English class.

“I remember proclaiming something I felt was very literary and my English teacher shot me down so quickly,” says the University of Toronto Mississauga alumna and former instructor at U of T Mississauga. “It killed my desire to be a writer and I’ve never forgotten her.”

The death of Scott’s writing ambitions would prove to be premature. She just wrapped up a contract writing for Disney and recently her play Get That Hope, which tells the story of a family in the lead-up to a Jamaica Independence Day celebration, made its debut at the Stratford Festival.

Scott’s journey to becoming an award-winning playwright and screenwriter began when she temporarily gave up on writing in high school, and turned her attention to the stage. She received an honours bachelor of arts degree in theatre and drama studies through U of T Mississauga’s joint program with Sheridan College, with a minor in English.

She later earned a master’s degree in drama through U of T’s School of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Arts & Science. 

She recalls being “an annoying theatre kid” at U of T Mississauga, but says she had many professors who encouraged her and gave her a well-rounded theatre education.

“It is good to have a three-dimensional education regarding the ‘why’ of certain stories and the historical context,” Scott says. “I have a lot of those books still on my shelf because they inform how I write.”

Following graduation, she pursued an acting career in Toronto. As she auditioned for TV shows, she noticed a theme: Black characters often supported the protagonist – who was usually white – and didn’t have robust stories of their own.

When she auditioned for the role of a grieving mother who had lost her son to gun violence, she turned her attention back to writing.

“I was like, ‘Yeah ... I could write better than this,’” Scott says.

She wrote her first play, Damaged, a one-woman show that debuted at b current’s rock.paper.sistahz festival. Her second play, Eating Pomegranates Naked, was included in the SummerWorks Performance Festival.

It was a turning point for Scott.

“There were people lining up to see the play who did not know me and had never heard of me, and that felt very validating,” she says, adding that the play also earned her the RBC Arts Professional Award. “That was the moment where I realized, ‘Maybe I could do this.’”

Scott continued to achieve success with her plays, including Better Angels: A Parable, Don't Talk to Me Like I'm Your Wife (produced by her production company, Call Me Scotty Productions) and the award-winning Controlled Damage. She also taught playwriting to undergraduate students in U of T Mississauga’s department of English and drama.

In 2020, Scott worked in the writers’ room on the CBC/BET production The Porter. Following that, she worked on Murdoch Mysteries for three seasons and wrote four episodes.

“Murdoch Mysteries was a huge achievement for me,” Scott says. “I never assumed that I would ever get a job quite like that.”

Scott recently wrote for the upcoming Disney series High Potential, which stars Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) with Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas as showrunner.

“The first time that I got to walk into the Disney lot, it just did not seem real,” she says. “It was a dream come true.”

On Aug. 10, Scott made her Stratford debut with the world première of Get That Hope. She says she was inspired to write the play after seeing Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

“All I kept thinking was, ‘Why don’t we have plays like this about Black Canadian families?’” she says.

Scott is working on a new play called Truthfully Jackie about Jackie Robinson’s time playing for the Montreal Royals in 1946.

While she has seen success throughout her career, Scott says she has also faced challenges – including not being taken seriously enough.

“I’m a woman, I’m a Black woman, and I’m really tiny – like five feet tall. But I have this voice, and I try to use it to make sure people take me seriously,” she says, adding that her advice for budding writers is to not take criticism to heart.

“Reacting emotionally to something that was maybe constructive criticism won’t help you,” Scott says. “Also, write and write and write – and don’t close off any kind of source material that you can be inspired by. You never know where it might come from.”

Get That Hope runs until Sept. 28 in the Stratford Festival's Studio Theatre.

Kidney therapy startup Atorvia named inaugural recipient of U of T Mississauga's Blue Ticket program

rahul.kalvapalle — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:23:12 +0000

Kidney therapy startup Atorvia named inaugural recipient of U of T Mississauga's Blue Ticket program

rahul.kalvapalle Fri, 04/19/2024 - 12:23

Cutline

Biotech company Atorvia was recently named the first-ever winner of the SpinUp Blue Ticket program, sponsored by Merck (photo by Chokniti Khongchum via Pexels)

Topic

Our Community

U of T Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Startups

Subheadline

Atorvia is developing novel treatments that target the molecular causes underlying kidney damage

Acute kidney injury can be devastating for patients, resulting in chronic kidney disease, end-stage renal disease, stroke and heart attack.

There’s currently no effective treatment for the condition, which the World Health Organization estimates affects some 78 million people each year. The only option is supportive care like dialysis which requires patients to rearrange their lives around lengthy hospital treatment sessions.

Atorvia is looking to change that. A woman-led biotech startup headquartered in the Ottawa area, Atorvia is developing novel treatments that target the molecular causes underlying kidney damage.

The company was recently named the inaugural winner of the Blue Ticket competition at the University of Toronto Mississauga’s SpinUp wet lab incubator. Sponsored by pharmaceutical company Merck, the Blue Ticket program aims to empower the next generation of global health innovators.

As prize winner, Atorvia receives a free one-year membership to SpinUp, an up-front cash prize and mentorship from scientific and business leaders at Merck.

“This opportunity is game-changing for us,” said Jane Lapon, founder of Atorvia. “It will help us to accelerate faster.”

Among Atorvia’s key innovations is a treatment that addresses acute kidney injury that occurs as a complication of cardiac surgery. The company is developing medicine that can be administered before a patient undergoes cardiac surgery, in order to help prevent kidney failure.

While preliminary experiments have been carried out, the company needed dedicated space and equipment to conduct further lab work – something that’s hard to come by for biotech startups with limited financial resources. “The fact that SpinUp was there with availability, and was subsidized, was fantastic,” Lapon said.

“Because we’re getting the mentoring with Merck as well, it means that we can develop this medicine and hopefully get it to patients sooner. We’ve got this expertise to help us along the way.”

Lapon said startups often face a “very lonely journey,” but that the mentorship and financial resources provided by Merck, as well as SpinUp’s vast network, will provide much-needed support. “One of the advantages of SpinUp is that we’ve got access to University of Toronto researchers and the potential to then partner with some of the researchers, as well as students and co-op students,” Lapon said. “With the resources we have, there is a very high probability that we would have this ready to go into trials during our first year at SpinUp.”

She said team is currently gearing up to re-run previous experiments and conduct new ones in order to validate the medicine and prepare for filing with health authorities.

Kent Moore, vice-principal, research at U of T Mississauga, said he looks forward to tracking Atorvia's progress. “Strong partners like Merck enable us to enhance the support SpinUp offers to propel promising early-stage startups,” said Moore. “We're delighted to be working with Merck to help drive Atorvia’s innovative approaches forward through Merck’s mentorship support and SpinUp’s wet lab capabilities and programming.”

U of T primatologist finds monkeys alter social behaviour to adapt to deforestation effects

rahul.kalvapalle — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 20:01:35 +0000

U of T primatologist finds monkeys alter social behaviour to adapt to deforestation effects

rahul.kalvapalle Mon, 03/11/2024 - 16:01

Cutline

White-faced capuchin monkeys altered their behaviour in forest edge areas to reduce the chances of attracting predator attention, according to research by U of T Mississauga primatologist Laura Bolt and colleagues (photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Topic

Breaking Research