Medicine by Design (MbD) - Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Medicine by Design (MbD)

Medicine by Design was created in 2015 with a $114-million investment from the federal government’s Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) to bring together researchers at U of T and its affiliated hospitals at the convergence of science, engineering and medicine to advance regenerative medicine discoveries. Building on a long-standing partnership, Medicine by Design has transitioned in 2025 to become CCRM’s link to the academic research community.

Medicine by Design team

Medicine by Design events

Learn more about Medicine by Design

Medicine by Design's 9th Annual Symposium: Driving translation with transformative science

November 25, 2024

This year’s symposium is themed “Driving translation with transformative science.” Invited speakers and Medicine by Design principal investigators will focus on telling strong translational stories, starting with leading edge science and enabling technologies through to commercialization and patient impact. Since 2016, Medicine by Design has married high risk, high reward research, with a strategy for […]

Medicine by Design symposium panel and announcement put a focus on intentional innovation through partnerships

December 22, 2023

Medicine by Design’s 8th annual symposium — themed “Intentional Innovation” — attracted more than 750 registrants and featured an announcement about a new strategic alliance between Medicine by Design and CCRM.

Medicine by Design, CCRM launch alliance to bolster Canada’s leading position in regenerative medicine

December 13, 2023

Medicine by Design and CCRM are launching a new strategic alliance that aims to unlock Toronto’s potential as a world-leading ecosystem for regenerative medicine.

U of T-anchored hospital network among leading life sciences research hubs, report finds

November 20, 2023

The University of Toronto and its partner hospitals are propelling the Toronto region as a leading global hub for life sciences research – but its success is at risk from underinvestment. That’s among the findings of a new report that examines the strengths and challenges within the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) – which comprises U of T […]

Leah Cowen and another scientist in a lab

Canada’s opportunity in the future of genomics

One of U of T’s strengths lie in human genomics, which is supported by top-ranked faculty and researchers, anchored by a strong network of affiliated hospitals and medical research centers. Together, this network continues to advance frontiers of knowledge in critical areas of genomics including genetic susceptibility to disease, personalized medicine, machine learning for biomedical data, and more. Innovation hubs like the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium (EPIC), Precision Medicine Initiative (PRiME), Medicine by Design, and the Structural Genomics Consortium are part of a network of high-impact interdisciplinary research centres that leverage areas of focus such as infectious disease, regenerative medicine, cell therapy, drug discovery, open science and more.

Students push the boundaries of research and innovation: Groundbreakers S2 Ep.4

November 8, 2022

In Ep. 4 of the Groundbreakers video series, host Ainka Jess goes behind the scenes with student researchers from the Robotics Institute and Medicine by Design strategic initiatives, as well as the Black Founders Network. Some of their work is literally out of this world.