Accelerator Fund Announces Inaugural Recipients

Accelerator Fund Announces Inaugural Recipients

We are pleased to announce Drs. Sarah Crome, Pamela Ohashi and Shin Ogawa receive a total of $750,000 in internal funding through the Innovation Accelerator stream to further advance their work towards commercialization:

Dr. Sarah Crome (TGHRI) is focused on advancing cell therapeutics to improve clinical outcomes for stem cell transplantations.

Dr. Shinichiro (Shin) Ogawa (McEwen) is developing a novel stem cell-based liver regenerative therapy for patients with liver failure.

Dr. Pamela Ohashi (PM) seeks to develop and validate a novel cell therapeutic agent to improve immunotherapy for cancer patients.

Aiming to breach the gap between the high-risk and precarious journey of turning early scientific discovery into a product with impact, the Accelerator Fund, encompassing the Innovation Accelerator and future Clinical Accelerator, is a collaboration between UHN researchers and business development experts from the Commercialization at UHN team.

Commercialization project leads supporting our researchers above are Brian Bobechko (Dr. Sarah Crome), Ernest Ho (Dr. Shin Ogawa) and Heman Chao (Dr. Pamela Ohashi.

Thanks to a generous partnership with the UHN and Princess Margaret Foundations, the Innovation Accelerator stream provides a maximum of $250,000 in de-risking funding per proposal, helping to take promising novel technologies further towards commercialization and future patient impact.

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About the winning projects

‍Dr. Sarah Crome – Advancing ILC therapy towards the clinic ($250,000)

 Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), or the transfer of blood stem cells to help patients rebuild immunity, is a potentially curative therapy for a range of immune disorders. It is most widely used for the treatment of a variety of blood cancers. A common limitation with this treatment approach is the development of Graft-versus-Host Disease (GVHD) – with acute GVHD common in roughly 50% of HSCT transplant recipients. The Innovation Accelerator funding will help Dr. Crome and her team further advance work on a novel cell therapy to prevent or treat GVHD following HSCT, using a newly identified population of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) as a potential therapeutic solution to improve clinical outcomes for HSCT.

Dr. Pamela Ohashi – Developing a new cell therapeutic agent for wider patient accessibility in various cancers ($250,000)

Conventional T cell based immunotherapies for cancer, though effective in some circumstances, remain restricted in others for reasons of practicality and toxicity. Dr. Pamela Ohashi’s work involves the optimization of T cell properties to overcome current limitations and improve clinical outcomes. This project centers around an important subset of unconventional cancer-killing T cells called Gamma delta. These cells can maintain reactivity against cancers that have been rendered unrecognizable to conventional tumour-killing T-cells, and seem to do so through the presence of a particular molecule. Studies in Dr. Ohashi’s lab involving this identified, clinically relevant molecule demonstrated its potential to target a variety of blood and solid cancers now beyond the reach of current immunotherapies. Innovation Accelerator funding will further support the development and pre-clinical validation of this novel therapeutic cell product, with the goal of improving immunotherapy for cancer patients.

‍Dr. Shinichiro (Shin) Ogawa – Bioprinting to treat liver failure: innovations in stem cell-based liver regenerative therapy ($250,000)

Dr.Shinichiro Ogawa’s work centres on developing novel cell and tissue-based replacement therapies as an alternative to liver transplant for patients with liver failure. He has developed methods to use human pluri-potent stem cells (hPSCs) to create liver progenitor cells (hepatoblasts) – cells which can eventually generate functional liver cells. Using hPSC-derived liver cells and organoids, he works to assess restoration of liver function in an experimental model with the goal of developing treatments for liver failure. His proposed approach seamlessly integrates directed stem cell differentiation with 3D tissue printing and has the potential to revolutionize liver regenerative therapy. With support of Innovation Accelerator funding, Dr. Ogawa will continue designing, developing and testing the first functionally complete vascularized liver tissue, aiming to overcome current inefficiencies in stem cell-based liver regenerative therapy with the goal of eventually treating liver diseases more effectively. His work lays the groundwork for the successful clinical translation of stem cell therapies in the future.  

‍ More about the Accelerator Fund