THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Methods and compositions for identifying, quantifying, or characterizing specific biological molecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites, antibodies) or microbial species, often for diagnostic, prognostic, or quality control applications.

Development of catalytic materials and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) specifically designed for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) or carbon monoxide (COx) into valuable chemicals or fuels.

Utilization of electrochemical processes to synthesize a variety of chemical products, materials, or to treat waste streams, by selectively promoting redox reactions of specific feedstocks beyond hydrogen or CO2 reduction.

Delivery systems specifically engineered to administer advanced drug formulations (e.g., microparticles, biologics, extended-release systems) to achieve precise targeting, controlled release kinetics, or enhanced therapeutic efficacy within the body.

Therapeutic strategies employing nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, oligonucleotides) to modulate gene expression, deliver genetic material, or interfere with disease-causing pathways. Includes gene therapy using viral vectors.

Self-contained or modular devices designed to automate and integrate multiple steps of molecular diagnostic assays, from sample preparation to result interpretation, often for point-of-care or high-throughput applications.

Development of lipid-based nanoparticles, liposomes, or other molecular platforms to encapsulate and deliver therapeutic agents, particularly nucleic acids, to target tissues or improve pharmacokinetics.

Development of therapeutic approaches involving the genetic modification of cells (e.g., T cells, stem cells, macrophages) or the use of viral/non-viral vectors to deliver genetic material for disease treatment.

Involves the design and synthesis of semiconductor or perovskite nanocrystals and other nanostructures with tailored optical and electronic properties for advanced applications in light-emitting devices, displays, or quantum technologies.

Methods and systems for the efficient and scalable production, purification, and formulation of proteins and peptides, including fermentation, chromatography, and cell-based expression systems.

Methods and components for optimizing the performance, efficiency, and control of electric motors, inverters, and power converters within electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle drivetrains.

Specialized hardware, architectural designs, and computational methods to improve the speed, efficiency, and security of artificial intelligence and machine learning model execution, particularly for inference and data processing.

Technologies for efficiently delivering power to electric vehicles, encompassing fast charging, wireless charging, and smart grid integration, alongside vehicle-side control and management of the charging process.

Design and modification of antibodies or antibody-derived fragments for targeted therapeutic intervention, including bispecific formats, Fc region modifications, and activatable constructs.

Design and synthesis of acyclic or carbocyclic organic compounds that selectively modulate specific biological targets or pathways for the treatment of diseases.

Design and engineering of proteins or peptides to directly modulate immune responses, including enhancing antigen presentation, suppressing inflammation, or activating specific immune cell types.

Utilizing dedicated hardware components, secure enclaves, or trusted execution environments to perform cryptographic operations, enhancing security, performance, or isolation from software vulnerabilities.

Techniques for improving the performance, efficiency, or practicality of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) schemes, often involving hardware accelerators or optimized algorithms for operations like bootstrapping and key-switching.

Hardware and control techniques for optimizing memory access latency, ensuring data integrity, and managing storage resources efficiently. This includes error correction, read/write voltage control, and intelligent data placement or in-memory computation.

Modification of protein or peptide sequences, structures, or post-translational modifications (e.g., glycosylation, lipidation) to enhance their stability, solubility, delivery, or therapeutic efficacy.

Development and use of engineered biological systems, such as organ-on-a-chip devices, dynamic hydrogels, or genetically modified cells, to mimic physiological conditions, study disease mechanisms, screen compounds, or develop cell-based therapies.

Novel hardware designs and processing pipelines tailored for specific computational tasks, such as graphics rendering, neural network operations, or matrix transformations, often involving custom circuits, memory arrays, or data flow mechanisms.

Methods and reagents designed to improve the specificity, efficiency, or yield of nucleic acid capture, ligation, amplification, or library preparation steps, particularly for sequencing applications or quantitative analysis.

Assays leveraging CRISPR-Cas systems (e.g., Cas12, Cas13) for highly specific and sensitive detection of target nucleic acids, often involving collateral cleavage activity or reporter molecules.

Development and optimization of organic chemical compounds and their structures, including guest-host systems and metal complexes, used within the emission layer to achieve specific light emission characteristics such as color, efficiency, and operational lifetime.

Methods for training machine learning models across multiple decentralized devices or servers while keeping data localized, often involving aggregation of model parameters and secure communication.

Identification and measurement of specific nucleic acid sequences (DNA, RNA), their expression levels, or epigenetic modifications (e.g., methylation) as indicators for disease presence, progression, risk, or treatment response.

Employs materials engineered at the nanoscale to create highly sensitive and selective sensors for detecting chemical, biological, or physical analytes, often leveraging plasmonic, photonic, or surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effects.

Developing and applying machine learning algorithms that leverage quantum computing principles, such as quantum circuits or autoencoders, for tasks like simulation or data processing.

Therapeutic approaches involving the use of living cells, often genetically modified or ex vivo activated, to treat diseases, particularly cancer, by modulating immune responses or replacing damaged cells.

Catalytic processes and novel catalyst materials designed to efficiently produce hydrogen gas from various feedstocks, including hydrocarbons (e.g., methane, natural gas) and ammonia.

Techniques for generating human-like text or other content using large pre-trained models, often involving prompt engineering, speculative decoding, or multi-modal inputs for content creation.

Methods and systems for enhancing the operational lifespan, stability, and performance management of electrolyzers, including strategies for preventing degradation, restoring activity, and regulating operating conditions.

Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to enhance cryptographic systems, such as generating encryption models, improving zero-trust architectures, or enabling privacy-preserving computations like federated learning.

Therapeutic interventions that target immune checkpoint pathways to either enhance or suppress immune responses, often used in cancer immunotherapy or autoimmune diseases.

Methods and kits for amplifying nucleic acids at a constant temperature, enabling faster results and point-of-care applications, often used for pathogen or contamination detection.

Systems and methods for encrypting data at a fine-grained level (e.g., per data unit or based on sensitivity) and controlling access to it, often involving delegated authorization, contextual policies, or secure data sharing.

Creation of membranes and surfaces with nanoscale features to control properties like porosity, hydrophobicity, or catalytic activity, particularly for applications in filtration, separation, and environmental remediation.

Design and engineering of non-catalytic parts within an electrolysis cell or stack, such as separators, gaskets, flow fields, porous transport layers, and manifold devices, to improve efficiency, sealing, or gas management.

Methods and systems for generating, distributing, updating, rotating, and securely destroying cryptographic keys to maintain data confidentiality and integrity over time, including quantum key distribution.