Keynote Speakers
November 8th, 1:00 PM
Alison Flynn. PhD
3M National Teaching Fellow
Vice-provost associée – académique | Associate Vice-Provost – Academic, uOttawa
Directrice de l’accréditation, Société canadienne de chimie | Director of Accreditation, Canadian Society for Chemistry
Member of the Global Young Academy
University of Ottawa
Alison is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and the Associate Vice-Provost – Academic at the University of Ottawa. She is a 3M National Teaching Fellow, Canada’s highest recognition for excellence in education at the post-secondary level, and a member of the Global Young Academy. She recently received the Chemical Institute of Canada’s Award for Chemistry Education and is co-recipient of uOttawa’s Transition to Online Learning Leadership Award. Her work includes developing online learning tools as Open Education Resources to support student learning, including OrgChem101, a Growth & Goals Module (course-integrated FR, EN; course-independent FR, EN), and eBooks on remote teaching for educators (FR, EN) and TAs (FR, EN). Her research group studies student learning in organic chemistry and the impacts of the Growth & Goals module. At the provincial level, she has been a Director on eCampusOntario’s Board. At the National level, she is the Canadian Society for Chemistry’s Director of Accreditation and the inaugural associate editor for chemistry education research with the Canadian Journal of Chemistry. In all her work, she is committed to helping students succeed in their chosen careers and goals.
Alison thinks about students' learning... a lot! When not doing that, she plays ultimate, kayaks, camps, bikes, skis, coaches a little soccer and hockey, and has a great time with her family.
Student learning in an organic chemistry: Research findings and applications in courses
Chemistry education research has revealed numerous challenges students face learning organic chemistry, including barriers learning chemistry’s language, interpreting, rationalizing, and predicting mechanistic processes and driving forces, and limitations in curricula connecting organic chemistry to broader contexts. In this presentation, I will more deeply describe these challenges, explain our efforts at addressing these challenges with a redesigned curriculum, share our associated research findings, and suggest possible uses of research findings in courses.
November 9th, 10:45 AM
Warren Chan
Director
Distinguished Professor
ACS Nano Editor
Institute of Biomedical Engineering
University of Toronto
Dr. Chan is currently the Canadian Research Chair in Nanoengineering in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is also the Head of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Chan received his B.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 1996, Ph.D. degree from Indiana University in 2001, and post-doctoral training at the University of California (San Diego). He moved to Toronto in 2002 to lead the Integrated Nanotechnology/Biomedical Sciences Laboratory. His research interest is in the development and translation of nanotechnology for diagnosing and treating cancer and infectious diseases. He has received NSERC E. W. R. Memorial Steacie Fellowship, Kabiller Young Investigator Award in Nanomedicine, the BF Goodrich Young Inventors Award, Lord Rank Prize Fund award in Optoelectronics (England), and Dennis Gabor Award (Hungary). He is currently an Associate Editor of ACS Nano. Finally, he is also affiliated with a number of different departments at the University of Toronto: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Terrence Donnelly Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Research Chemistry, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
Nanoparticle chemistry and engineering to deliver drugs to cancer
The delivery of medical agents to a specific diseased tissue or cell is critical for diagnosing and treating patients. Nanomaterials are promising vehicles to transport agents that include drugs, contrast agents, immunotherapies and gene editors. They can be engineered to have different physical and chemical properties that influence their interactions with their biological environments and delivery destinations. In this presentation, I will introduce current design of nanoparticle delivery systems and how the biology of disease should inform their design. I will also use case studies using nanoparticle delivery to solid tumour to illustrate the importance of pathophysiology in mediating the delivery process. Finally, I will introduce a new framework for building optimal delivery systems that uses nanoparticle–biological interaction data, machine learning and computational analyses to guide future nanomaterial designs and delivery strategies.