Contact:

Sam Lee
Director, Life Sciences and Health Care
1 416 673 6681

Life Sciences

A reputation for excellence in life sciences research

From the discovery of the first heart pacemaker to the identification of the genes responsible for Alzheimer's and cystic fibrosis, the Toronto Region has long been a recognized leader in biomedical sciences research, biotechnology research and health care research. A few statistics tell the story:

• Home to one of North America's largest health care and health sciences complexes, with more than 60 hospitals, 37 medical institutions, 8,200 physicians and 54,000 health professionals
• Home to one of North America's largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology clusters with more than 300 firms and 40,000 employees   
• The University of Toronto and McMaster University medical schools together have 12 associated research hospitals
• The University of Toronto medical school ranks third in the world for research publication citations

The region's growing reputation for excellence in  bio life sciences research has attracted major private and public R&D investment, including $1 billion from pharmaceutical companies for advanced drug development programs and $347 million over five years from the Ontario government for the new Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR). Scientists from across the province will come together at the OICR to work towards a coordinated cancer-fighting strategy, from prevention and detection through diagnosis and treatment.

Leading Research Clusters

OICR heads the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) which is described as one of the most ambitious biomedical research efforts since the Human Genome Project.  The consortium will help to coordinate current and future large-scale projects to understand the genomic changes involved in cancer, and will generate high-quality genomic data on up to 50 types of cancer.  OICR will spearhead the pancreatic cancer project while serving as the administrative lead for this global consortium.

The Toronto Region also has research strengths in diabetes and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), with publications from the region's institutions generating high citation impact by other researchers around the world. 

Other initiatives like MaRS and the Structural Genomics Consortium combine with these world-class programs to make this cluster a leading international force conducting leading-edge research in advanced biomedical sciences.

What's New

Ontario invests $6.5 million in Teva Canada, part of $56 million expansion More

University of Toronto researchers crack 'splicing code'  More

Ontario launches Life Sciences Commercialization Strategy To Boost Health Technology Sector More

Ontario invests $4.2 million in Therapure Biopharma's $28 million expansion More

Ontario invests $86 million in 14 Toronto research projects More

Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) invests $5 million in Toronto Region research projects More

Ontario invests $11.5 million in McMaster University to develop stem cell-based therapies More

Pfizer Global Research and Development funds colon cancer research in Ontario More