Despite being in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT) held its research symposium—virtually.

The event showcased new microfluidics-enabled technologies for human health being developed by researchers at the University of Toronto (UofT) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Examples of featured technologies included heart-on-chip models for improved cardiac drug screening, 3D-printed liver tissues and diagnostic tests for trauma patients that can process blood samples and produce lab results in minutes and at bedside.

Three internationally renowned researchers headlined the symposium, including Drs. John McDevitt (New York University), Valeria Orlova (Leiden University) and Adam Feinberg (Carnegie Mellon University), each of whom regaled the audience with their latest findings. Dr. McDevitt provided a timely talk about his promising new point-of-care tool that can rapidly predict which COVID patients are at highest risk of dying. Such a tool would enable health care providers to quickly prioritize care and resources for these patients to improve their chance of survival and other health outcomes.

The symposium also featured eight talks given by CRAFT Fellows (i.e., graduate students and postdoctoral fellows supported by CRAFT) and NRC researchers. In particular, Dr. Keith Morton, a Senior Research Officer at NRC, discussed his work towards fabricating microfluidic devices out of biodegradable materials. Attendees also had access to 40 on-demand videos of trainees and NRC researchers giving five-minute presentations about their work. Those who gave the best presentations were rewarded with prizes. A full list of prize winners can be found at the end of this story.

Sixteen companies, mainly Canadian-based microfluidics-related companies, hosted ‘booths’ in the virtual industry exhibit hall, where their representatives mingled virtually, via Zoom or the platform’s virtual chat/videos tools, with attendees during the exhibit hall session.

Up to 175 people tuned in for the sessions. Most participants joined from Canada, but a small number were located in the US, Germany, France and Russia.

CRAFT’s co-Directors, Drs. Axel Guenther and Teodor Veres, congratulate all prize winners for their amazing work and thank CRAFT’s sponsors, which made the event possible. CRAFT is supported by the NRC, as well as UofT and its faculties of Applied Science & Engineering, Arts & Science, Medicine and Pharmacy. And, they look forward to seeing everyone again at the next CRAFT symposium in August 2021—virtually or in person.

CRAFT Virtual Symposium 2020 Award Winners

Oral Presentations

1^st: Siwan Park, PhD candidate, Young Lab, UofT

1^st: Joseph Sebastian, PhD candidate, Simmons Lab, UofT

2^nd: Dr. Daniel Brassard, Senior Research Officer, NRC

Business Pitches

1^st: Angus Lam, MASc candidate, Santerre Lab, UofT

2^nd: Noosheen Walji, PhD candidate, Young Lab, UofT

3^rd: Matthew McFee, PhD candidate, Gilbert Lab, UofT

November 9 Poster Session

1^st: Neal Callaghan, PhD candidate, Simmons Lab, UofT

2^nd: Dr. Qinghua Wu, postdoctoral fellow, Radisic Lab, Uoft

3^rd: Lucas Poncelet, Technical Officer, NRC

November 10 Poster Session

1^st: Dawn Lin, PhD candidate, Zhang Lab, McMaster University

2^nd: Mary Liu, PhD candidate, Radisic Lab, UofT

3^rd: Wuyang Gao, PhD candidate, Guenther Lab, UofT

3^rd: Michael Mohan, PhD candidate, Young Lab, UofT