Innovation Profile: Stem Cell Research in the Toronto Region

It all began in the early 1960s when Toronto researchers Drs James Till and Ernest McCulloch dazzled the world with their discovery of stem cells. Today, there are about 100 principal investigators here and the region is widely known for the calibre and breadth of its stem cell research, partnerships and investment. Read about stem cell research in the Toronto Region.

View video clips of:

Dr Mick Bhatia
Director, Stem Cell and Cancer Research
Institute, McMaster University

 Dr Janet Rossant
Chief of Research
The Hospital for Sick Children

Building on Success: World-Centre for Stem Cell Discovery

It all began in the early 1960s when Toronto researchers Drs James Till and Ernest McCulloch dazzled the world with their discovery of stem cells. Today, there are about 100 principal investigators here and the region is widely known for the calibre and breadth of its stem cell research, partnerships and investment.

Why Stem Cells Why Toronto Region Why Now Who's Here What's Available

With their remarkable ability to grow into hundreds of different human cell types, stem cells hold great promise for repairing and regenerating damaged cells and tissues -- even creating new organs. They open the door to more targeted cancer treatments, and to new kinds of stem cell therapies for people suffering from blood disorders.

"Stem cells offer really exciting new opportunities to change the way we deliver medicine," says Dr Janet Rossant, a leading developmental biologist and Chief of Research at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. "Stem cells have a capacity to copy themselves and to make endless supplies of cells that, if they have the right properties, could be used to repair many tissues in diseases like Parkinson's, diabetes, congenital and chronic conditions, and spinal cord injury."

Some stem cells help explain life, while others contribute to disease. Cancer stem cells, which have been implicated in various cancers in recent years, are seen by many as the culprits in the recurrence and spread of cancer. These mutant stem cells are now the focus of intense research activity by local scientists such as the team led by Dr John Dick at University  Health Network. Their aim: to better understand cancer stem cells and target them through new therapies and drugs.

Stem cells also provide valuable new models for studying human disease, and are a unique source of human cells for developing and testing new drugs. For example, new compounds can now be tested on human heart progenitor cells in a petri dish -- something that only recently became possible thanks to Toronto scientist Dr Gordon Keller.

And as our understanding of stem cells deepens, the potential benefits of these amazing cells become even more apparent.

View Toronto Region Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Fact Sheet.

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