CRAFT 2.0: Academic hospital network joins microfluidic network

The Centre for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies (CRAFT) has expanded to formally include Unity Health Toronto, an academic hospital network and leading Canadian health research institute.

With the addition of Unity Health Toronto, clinicians will now join CRAFT scientists in developing new microfluidic technologies for a range of uses, such as monitoring risks of infection in intensive care unit environments and rapid detection of arterial peripheral diseases. This will allow scientists and clinicians to directly test and validate their technologies in care settings and develop new pathways to work with industry partners.

Formed through a partnership between the University of Toronto, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and now Unity Health, CRAFT develops leading-edge microfluidic devices – technologies that take advantage of the fundamental difference in behaviour of many fluids at the micro-scale – that can address many challenges in human health. 

The latest agreement, which includes $21 million in new investments and an extension of the partnership to 2028, will support dozens of U of T trainees who will work alongside NRC scientists and engineers, as well as clinical scientists, on projects related to diagnostics bio-fabrication and organ-on-chip systems.

“CRAFT has been a team effort all along. In addition to the NRC, we have been supported as an institutional strategic initiative through U of T’s Division of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and by U of T’s faculties of Engineering, Arts & Science, Medicine and Pharmacy. We all look forward to an exciting next chapter in partnering with Unity Health,” says Axel Guenther, a professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and co-director of CRAFT.