Drs. Gordon Keller and Michael Laflamme are co-winners of UHN’S 2017 Inventor of the Year Award for their pioneering contributions to the study of stem cells and the field of regenerative medicine.
As founding scientists at BlueRock—a Toronto-based biotech that was launched with a US$225 million series A investment and which has licensed UHN enabling technology—Drs. Keller and Laflamme have made outstanding therapeutic advances in preclinical heart failure disease models.
“Their bold achievements in pluripotent stem cell therapy have the potential to go beyond symptomatic treatment to discovering new therapies that promise to cure many chronic degenerative diseases,” said Dr. Brad Wouters, UHN Executive Vice President, Science and Research, in announcing the award at UHN’s 2018 Annual General Meeting in the Auditorium at the MaRS Discovery District.
Dr. Keller’s laboratory has demonstrated that stem cells can be coaxed, under laboratory conditions, to become functional heart cells (such as beating atrial, ventricular and pacemaker cells), while Dr. Laflamme’s laboratory has shown that differentiated stem cells can regenerate and repair damaged heart muscle.
Both researchers have appointments at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, which was founded by the generous support of Rob and Cheryl McEwen. Dr. Keller is the director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and a Senior Scientist at UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Laflamme is a Principal Investigator at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, the Robert R. McEwen Chair in Cardiac Regenerative Medicine, as well as a Senior Scientist at UHN’s Toronto General Hospital Research Institute.
UHN's Technology Development & Commercialization Office (UHN-TDC) grants the award annually to UHN researchers that demonstrate outstanding inventiveness in research coupled with important contributions to the advancement of healthcare via commercialization success. To view past awardees, visit the TDC website.