Celebrated as UHN trailblazers and legacy builders at the inaugural UHN Mission Excellence Awards ceremony in March of 2025, Drs. Jean Wang and John Dick, along with Dr. Jayne Danska, are the winners of this year's Inventor of the Year Award. They are being awarded for their work in cancer immunotherapy, recognized for identifying and commercializing a novel way that cancer cells evade destruction.

Their research led to development of TTI-621, a SIRPα fusion protein that specifically targets the signal receptor CD47, responsible for activating the “Don’t Eat Me” signal that cancer cells give to the immune system as they attempt to spread​, grow and avoid destruction. The novelty of the discovery at the time was unprecedented – while everyone was looking at other strategies, they began looking at signal receptors. This work partially underpinned the platform for UHN start-up Trillium Therapeutics, created in 2004.

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On October 10, 2024, the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto was abuzz with excitement as over 200 life science industry leaders, investors, and researchers gathered for the inaugural UHNLeashed Commercialization & Partnering Showcase. Hosted by Commercialization at UHN, this event showcased cutting-edge biomedical innovations and fostered meaningful partnerships aimed at transforming game-changing research into real-world medical applications.

The showcase featured a day packed with inspiring keynote presentations, dynamic breakout sessions, and a thought-provoking panel on harnessing the power of AI and data in health care.

View event highlights here.