Our Research
The Donnelly Centre is a research hub where scientists from diverse fields work across disciplinary boundaries and develop cutting-edge technologies to advance discovery, medicine and health.
Our community includes emerging and established leaders in biomedical research, many of whom are credited with key advances in biology that have transformed medicine over the past decade. Our faculty consists of 34 members and is continuously growing to expand our collective expertise as a leading biomedical research centre in Canada. In addition to our faculty members, we support nearly 100 postdoctoral fellows, around 200 graduate students and more than 90 undergraduate students throughout the academic year.
We prioritize innovation and collaboration in our approach, with the goal of conducting impactful research that translates to more effective treatments and therapies for disease. The Donnelly Centre facility is designed to encourage faculty and trainees to work together on high-risk, high-reward projects to solve the biggest and most urgent issues in global health.
We streamline our research through four themes to tackle the areas of greatest need in biomedicine. The following research themes encompass the directions in which we are driving medicine forward.
Research Themes
Bioengineering
Our faculty develop cutting-edge methods and materials, including organoids and organs-on-chips, to conduct research that is more efficient and representative of biological processes that occur in the human body. We aim to harness technological innovation and biomimetic design to improve how disease is studied and treated.
Computational Biology & AI
We are making advances in the rapidly evolving fields of computational biology and artificial intelligence to bring new dimensions to studying cellular and molecular biology. Our faculty are at the forefront of large-scale and high-throughput analysis of genomic data for drug discovery.
Discovery Genomics
Historically, our faculty have made significant breakthroughs in genomics that serve as the foundation for biomedical research. We are continuously working to make the human genome more accessible and easier to understand, with the goal of informing more effective treatments of genetic disorders.
Stem Cells, Regenerative Medicine & Aging
We are improving the treatment of challenging diseases, such as neurodegenerative and musculoskeletal disorders, by exploring how cells and tissues with regenerative capabilities can be integrated into medicine. Our faculty are revolutionizing the treatment of debilitating diseases that lead to the loss of cells with critical functions and are developing treatments that will contribute to healthy aging.