Written by News From Dalhousie University
Monday, March 15, 2021 (Halifax, NS) – Dalhousie University is pleased to announce the launch of Lab2Market (L2M) – Halifax’s Winter 2021 cohort, which will include 23 teams from 11 universities across Canada. This cohort will include research in areas including pharmacology, plant science, chemical and petroleum engineering, and neuroscience, and will explore topics such as sustainable energy recovery, archaeological data automation, and driver drowsiness technology.
The 16-week program will equip graduate and post-doctorate researchers with the skills required to assess the commercial opportunity for their research and translate it beyond the doors of university laboratories. Teams will focus on validating their ideas through customer discovery to find commercial value in market.
“Dalhousie University is pleased to be offering our third cohort of Lab2Market in Halifax, and fifth cohort nationally with our partners at Ryerson University and Memorial University,” says Dr. Alice Aiken, Vice President, Research and Innovation at Dalhousie University. “After the Fall 2020 cohort, we saw 85% of participants identify that their research had commercial potential with 91% interested in starting their own company. This demonstrates the value of this program in supporting our researchers to think like entrepreneurs.”
Participants will be provided with hands-on support, access to mentorship, a tailored curriculum, and the opportunity to receive $15,000.00 in funding. Each research team includes three participants: the graduate student or post-doctorate fellow, the applicant’s supervisor or primary investigator, and an industry mentor from a related business sector.
“As a Post-Doctoral Fellow, I’m entering the program to gain knowledge and skills to translate my research into a marketable product,” said Dr. Rafaela Andrade-Vieira of Dalhousie University, who is participating in Lab2Market to support the development of a muscle performance molecular test. “I look forward to meeting fellow entrepreneurs, and senior leaders and welcome the opportunity to build connections with others interested in health science to create and innovate.”
Participating teams stem from Dalhousie University, Memorial University, University of Ottawa, University of Calgary, Ryerson University, McGill University, University of Victoria, University of New Brunswick, McMaster University, Saint Mary’s University, University of Toronto representing the widest range of participating postsecondary institutions to date.
The program is based on the successful I-Corps program in the United States, and the ICURe program in the United Kingdom. Led by Dalhousie University, Ryerson University, and Memorial University, funding to participating teams is provided with support from the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Mitacs as well as the Ocean Startup Project.
Lab2Market is one of a suite of offerings from Dal Innovates that helps deliver innovation and entrepreneurial skills and attitudes to students. Teams can go on to participate in the Ready2Launch accelerator, which is an intensive 3-month pre-accelerator to help teams advance and spin-out new start-ups.
To date, Lab2Market has graduated 68 teams from cohorts across Halifax, Toronto, and St. John’s with a focus on health technology and innovation. Interested future applicants can find more information at lab2market.ca.
The Teams
| Technology | University | Team |
| AttentionTrip: A video-game-like cognitive assessment tool. | Dalhousie University | Colin McCormick Dr. Raymond Klein |
| Recycled plastic waste to create different forms of Sustainable Sandwich Structures (SSS) for use in construction. | Dalhousie University | Raghad Kassab Dr. Pedram Sadeghian |
| Carvacrol-incorporated Honibe lozenges for the management of bacterial sore throat. | Dalhousie University | Niluni Wijesundara Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe |
| Tunable, High Throughput UV Exposure Device to support Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection and oxidation technologies for surfaces and fluids. | Dalhousie University | Sean MacIsaac Dr. Graham Gagnon |
| Highly sensitive sensors with applications in the healthcare industry. | Dalhousie University | Alireza Ghasemi Ghodrat Dr. Ghada Koleilat |
| A muscle performance molecular test to provide detection of patient recovery and risk stages both in and out of hospital. | Dalhousie University | Dr. Rafaela Andrade-Vieira Dr. James Fawcett |
| Downstream processing for fish-derived peptide bioproducts. | Dalhousie University/ Verschuren Centre for Sustainability | Subin Rajendran Dr. Beth Mason |
| Anthocyanin-based healthy food products and ingredients to boost immunity and manage inflammation-based chronic disorders. | Dalhousie University | Surangi Dharmawansa Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe |
| 3D-Printing for Remote Industries (3DPRI) focuses on the needs of industries working in remote areas, such as the offshore and oil and gas industries. | Dalhousie University | Alireza Vahedi Nemani Dr. Ali Nasiri |
| Weather-based predictor of cannabinoid metabolites (CBD &THC) in hemp crops. | McGill University | Dr. Dina Saleh Dr. Donald Smith |
| An intraocular injectable platform for long-term treatment of retinal diseases. | McMaster University | Dr. Karim Soliman Dr. Heather Sheardown |
| A numerical tool to provide solutions for advanced numerical analysis of geotechnical engineering problems. | Memorial University | Jin Chen Dr. Bipul Hawlader |
| An autonomous defect recognition and correction (AIDRAC) system for robotic welding and additive manufacturing using digital image correlation and machine learning. | Memorial University | Salar Salahi Dr. Ali Nasiri |
| A mobile soil-flushing and enhanced oxidation (MSFEOP) system for the remediation of petroleum brownfields. | Memorial University | Dr. Bo Liu Dr. Bing Chen |
| Lipopeptide production using fish waste as substrate. | Memorial University | Dr. Zhiwen Zhu Dr. Baiyu Zhang |
| Microfluidic Hydrogel-based biomolecule detection through the development of a device for rapid, inexpensive, and portable point-of-care diagnostics. | Ryerson University | Adrian Nash Dr. Dae Kun Hwang |
| Automated driver drowsiness control technology using artificial intelligence-based decision support system. | Ryerson University/ University of Toronto | Dr. Vahid Abolhasannejad Dr. Birsen Donmez Dr. Mohammad Abdoli-Eramaki |
| Designing a novel class of super-antioxidant cell-protectants from carbon nanotubes functionalized with natural phyto-phenols. | St. Mary’s University/Mount Saint Vincent University | Lázaro Andrés Castanedo Dr. Chérif F. Matta |
| Sustainable development of late-life post- Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) reservoirs for energy recovery. | University of Calgary | Pachari Detpunyawat Dr. Ian Gates |
| STRATUM: A Digital Archaeological Field Notes Tool: Mobile platform geared toward use by field technicians and project managers. | University of New Brunswick | Dr. Cora Woolsey Dr. Scott Bateman |
| Parallelization of solid-state nanopores for high-throughput digital biosensing. | University of Ottawa | Dr. Kyle Briggs Dr. Vincent Tabard-Cossa |
| Point-of-care breath and saliva analysis for early stage disease diagnosis. | University of Toronto | Dr. Moein Shayegannia Dr. Nazir Kherani |
| Augmented reality navigation assistant for sailboats. | University of Victoria | Dr. Eduard Wisernig Dr. Bruce Kapron |
About Dalhousie University:
Dalhousie University is Atlantic Canada’s leading research-intensive university. Located in the heart of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with an Agricultural Campus in Truro/Bible Hill, Dalhousie is a truly national and international university, with more than half of the university’s 20,000-plus students coming from outside the province. Dal’s 6,000 faculty and staff foster a diverse, purpose-driven community, one that spans 13 faculties and conducts more than $181 million in research annually. Part of a cluster identified as one of the world’s top international centres in ocean research, the university proudly celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018.
About Lab2Market
Lab2Market supports researchers who foresee impact and potential commercial value in their deep tech research, by providing opportunities and exposure to help commercialize their intellectual property. The program is developed and led by Dalhousie University, Memorial University, and Ryerson University, and leverages the national I-INC network. Learn more at www.lab2market.ca.
About Ready2Launch
Ready2Launch supports start-up teams who have identified a customer opportunity from the Lab2Market program in building the capacity they need to identify a viable business model, launch their venture, and reach their next developmental milestone. I-INC will offer a Ready2Launch summer accelerator for students and researchers across Canada with the goal of launching sustainable and scalable companies within 6 months of completing the program. Learn more at https://ready2launch.ca/.
About I-INC
The Incubate Innovate Network of Canada (I-INC) is a pan-Canadian, internationally connected network of high-performance university-linked accelerators and incubators. I-INC creates an ecosystem for the efficient commercialization of University-based and science and technology-enabled innovation. Founded in 2014, the network has expanded to include 13 universities across Canada. Learn more at www.iincanada.ca.
SOURCE Dalhousie University