CONGRATULATIONS! TEC Edmonton 2019 Innovation Awardees

25 October 2019

The TEC Edmonton Innovation Awards celebrate the success of University of Alberta researchers. In 2019, awards were presented to ten University of Alberta spin-off companies and nine research teams that received a US patent and have an industry partner.

WWiKY's radiopharmaceuticals use the same drugs for molecular imaging and radiotherapy to create personalized and precise cancer care. These "theranostics" (therapeutics + diagnostics) reduce unnecessary symptoms caused by medical examination or treatment and greatly increase the success rate of targeting and managing hypoxic cells that are present in more than 40 per cent of solid tumors.


Leonard Wiebe, Ph.D., DSc professor emeritus, Department of Oncology, University of Alberta; president & chief executive officer, WWiKY Biosciences Inc.
Piyush Kumar, Ph.D., clinical professor, Department of Oncology, University of Alberta; vice president and chief scientific officer, WWiKY Biosciences Inc.
Michael Weinfeld, Ph.D., professor, Oncology, University of Alberta; chief operating officer, WWiKY Biosciences Inc.
Junzhi Yao, Ph.D., director, WWiKY Biosciences Inc.

https://www.tecedmonton.com/2019-innovation-award-winner-wwiky-biosciences-inc/

Dammika Manage, Ph.D. FACULTY OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY, DEPARTMENT OF ONCOLOGY (TIME OF INVENTION)
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURAL, LIFE & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (CURRENT)
Patent 9,957,559: Solid gel amplification method and apparatus for platform molecular diagnostics Manage developed a miniature cassette used to perform DNA testing. This cassette is part of an automated, low cost, easy to use DNA testing system. The cassette itself is made up of tiny channels containing all of the materials needed to perform the test. The user simply adds a sample to the cassette and once the reaction is complete, reads the result on a specialized instrument to detect the presence of specific cells such as bacteria and viruses. This lab-on-a-chip technology has integrated quality controls, is highly sensitive and can detect multiple pathogens in the same test. It is under development for use in water safety.

https://www.tecedmonton.com/2019-innovation-award-winner-dammika-manage-ph-d/

Michael Weinfeld, Ph.D.

FACULTY OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY, DEPARTMENT OF ONCOLOGY
Team: Todd Mereniuk, Edan Foley, Dennis Hall
Patent 10,087,448: Synthetic lethality in cancer

Synthetic lethality is a one-two punch against cancer. In boxing, this means a rapid succession of two blows; neither single hit knocks out your opponent, but the rapid and forceful combination of two hits can bring them to their knees. In cancer, a similar effect can be achieved by using two highly targeted drugs in a cancer cell at once; neither alone may kill the cancer cell, but the combination can be highly effective. Weinfeld and his team identified a number of common mutations in cancer cells that are synthetically lethal with human polynucleotide kinase/phosphatase (PNKP), an enzyme that plays a critical role in the repair of damaged DNA. Blocking PNKP in already-mutated cancer cells may be the one-two punch needed to kill certain cancers without the use of toxic chemotherapy. Weinfeld and his collaborators are designing and testing drugs that block PNKP with the goal of providing more effective, less-toxic cancer therapies.

https://www.tecedmonton.com/2019-innovation-award-winner-michael-weinfeld-ph-d/