The Donnelly Innovation Awards invest in the Shoichet and Taipale Labs

The Donnelly Centre has selected Molly Shoichet and Mikko Taipale as the winners of the 2025 Terrence Donnelly Innovation Award, funding $375,000 in support of research projects with a focus on knowledge mobilization and potential for commercialization. Made possible by a generous donation from philanthropist Terrence Donnelly, the chosen projects aim to accelerate innovations in areas with unmet needs, funding research with a high degree of potential to have socio-economic impacts. 

MOLLY SHOICHET - $250,000 towards a hydrogel that could change eye surgery. 

In a field full of innovations, there has been one unchanging technology in eye surgery that hasn’t seen improvement for over three decades. Inside the eye, there is a jelly-like substance called the vitreous fluid, which, among other functions, keeps the eye’s shape. The vitreous is removed in many eye procedures, including in cases of retinal detachment in which the retina is reattached and kept in position by a substitute. 

“[The retina] is held in place with fluorinated gases or silicone oils, neither of which were designed to replace the vitreous,” explains Molly Shoichet. “Patients are unable to see immediately after treatment and have to lay on their faces for several weeks if they are treated with gas; they often require a second surgery when treated with silicone oil.” 

The Shoichet Lab is trying to change the status quo: they have developed a hydrogel substitute that mimics the eye’s native vitreous. 

“It is transparent, biocompatible, and has the same density as the native vitreous,” Shoichet says. “Our closest competitors are using materials that were never designed for the eye. Because of this, those materials can swell uncontrollably as they degrade, increasing the pressure in the eye and resulting in glaucoma. We specifically designed our hydrogel for use in the eye and, consequently, our vitreous substitute is non-swelling.” 

The funding from the Innovation Awards will help finance the project and resulting studies as the lab advances towards pilot-scale manufacturing and clinical translation. Shoichet describes this stage of development as a “valley of death” to overcome, with unexpected costs needed to ensure a reproducible, sterile product.   

“We are grateful to have the confidence of our colleagues and honoured to receive the Terrence Donnelly Innovation Award!” Shoichet says. “We’re particularly excited to make a difference to those who suffer from retinal detachment and to advance our hydrogel for therapeutic delivery to the eye.” 
 

MIKKO TAIPALE - $125,000 towards an investigation into the cancer-linked protein c-RAF 

For years, Mikko Taipale has had his eyes set on a large-scale investigation into c-RAF (CRAF), a protein that has a proven role in the development of certain cancers. The CRAF protein has the potential to mutate into a cancer-driving oncogene, a gene that causes uncontrollable cell growth that is highly expressed in tumors. 

“CRAF can promote resistance to modern targeted therapies against melanoma, leading to poor efficacy and relapse,” explains Mikko Taipale, winner of the Donnelly Innovation Award. “Inhibiting its function could have significant implications for cancer therapy. However, despite many efforts by both academic groups and biotech industry, it's been frustratingly and surprisingly difficult.” 

The Taipale Lab has been working towards a new approach: Taipale’s team has developed a method to survey the entire set of proteins that can be expressed in humans—the proteome—to find proteins that might inhibit CRAF function. The lab will apply their award funds towards the synthesis of molecules for large-scale proteome screens and the financial support of a graduate or postdoctoral student. The goal at the end of the long journey Taipale is about to undertake, is the development of a CRAF inhibitor. 

“An inhibitor could be used in the clinic against melanoma, lung cancer, and other tumors—specifically targeting cancer cells that depend on CRAF function without affecting normal cells.” says Taipale. “It could be used in combination with other modern cancer therapies such as RAS and BRAF inhibitors to provide a one-two death punch to cancer cells.” 

THE FUTURE 

The road to commercialization is never smooth, but in a place like the Donnelly Centre, where innovation is always being catalyzed, our faculty members know they won’t be travelling that road alone. 

“Every scientist has ideas that they'd like to test but don’t have sufficient preliminary data to support a typical grant application,” Taipale says. “Most grants have become impossible to get unless you have so much preliminary data that you’re almost done with the project. It is incredibly important to have funding mechanisms that support proof-of-concept studies and focus on the potential of the idea. This award that allows us to do exactly that!”