*Deadline approaching*
Health Science Technology Training for
Software and Data Professionals
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Applications are open for the second cohort of our national upskilling program! This training program addresses the shortage of multidisciplinary tech professionals in the health science industry by integrating traditional software skills with industry-specific knowledge. It also connects participants with potential employers and provides exposure to new and innovative practices to prepare them for a role in the health science industry.
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*Applications open until May 17*
Enrolment space is limited and eligible candidates will be selected on a rolling basis.
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Announcing new graduates of the first cohort of the OBIO® Health Science Technology Training | |
We are thrilled to announce the graduation of the first cohort of the OBIO® Health Science Technology Training for Software and Data Professionals. This upskilling program equips top-tier professionals with the digital technology skills required in the fast-evolving health science sector – regulatory frameworks for digital health technologies, software development in health science, cybersecurity & privacy, data management, AI & ML applications, and concepts.
Our graduates have more than three years of experience in various industries, and now possess enhanced skills that position them to step into high-demand roles and drive innovation in the health science sector.
Ready to hire from this talented pool of industry-ready candidates? Connect with us!
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Digital Skills for Youth Wage Subsidy Program | |
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As an employer, you can take advantage of BioTalent Canada’s Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y) wage subsidy program to support your recruitment efforts for these roles, which offers up to $24,000 to support you team’s growth and advance digital innovations in the health science industry.
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How to make your biotech data AI ready
Live Workshop / May 9 / 12–2:30 pm EDT
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The workshop, hosted by Scispot in partnership with OBIO®, is designed specifically for biotech companies aiming to become
AI-ready. The workshop is an opportunity to engage with leading experts who will guide you through the creation of a robust data infrastructure, crucial for establishing a competitive edge and fully leverage AI technologies in your operations.
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Pitching opportunity at FemTech Breakfast Club
*Applications open until May 8*
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Cap Inclusive and FemTech Canada are launching a 2024 series of pitch competitions around innovations in women's health (FemTech). The FemTech Breakfast Club is a dynamic platform that unites incubators, accelerators, and investors in a common mission – to uplift FemTech innovators aiming to secure Pre-Seed or Seed funding. The FemTech Breakfast Club will travel across Canada to find one winning FemTech company per city. The Toronto event will take place on June 21.
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OBIO® is an event partner for the Femtech Breakfast Club. The Toronto winner will win one year of OBIO® membership and the top five companies will receive one-hour coaching sessions. | |
Forcen closes $8.35 million CAD in funding to develop its touch-tech for robots | |
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Toronto-based robotics sensing company Forcen has closed an $8.35 million CAD funding round as it looks to scale up its prototype production facilities. The all-equity round closed in February and was co-led by Brightspark Ventures and BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund with participation from Garage Capital, MaRS IAF, and returning investors including EmergingVC. Forcen will use the investment to support more customers and continue developing its force sensing technology for robots.
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Forcen is an alumnus of our CAAP® program. | |
Front Line Medical Technologies achieves CE marking for transforming aortic occlusion | |
Front Line Medical Technologies Inc., an innovator in trauma care medical devices, recently announced the attainment of CE marking for its COBRA-OS (Control of Bleeding, Resuscitation, Arterial Occlusion System). This milestone broadens their innovative medical device's market presence.
| Front Line Medical is an alumnus of our EAHN™ and WiHI programs. | |
KA Imaging's inCiTe 3D X-ray Microscope to support orthopaedic research at the University of Waterloo | |
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X-ray equipment manufacturer KA Imaging has announced the installation of a unit of the inCiTe™ 3D X-ray Microscope at the University of Waterloo. The inCiTe™ 3D X-ray Microscope is the first commercial system that utilizes BrillianSe™, a patented high spatial resolution amorphous selenium (a-Se) detector exclusively developed by KA Imaging Inc.
The new system is installed in the new Orthopaedic Mechatronics Laboratory, co-led by Dr. McLachlin and Dr. Naveen Chandrashekar. It supports interdisciplinary research interests in studying bone and joint tissue mechanics and interfaces at the microstructural level.
| KA Imaging is an OBIO®member, an alumnus of our BDSP™, CAAP®, EAHN™ and H2BB™ programs, and presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit. | |
Membio's bioreactor technology acquired by ABEC | |
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Membio’s bioreactor technology has been acquired by ABEC, a leading global supplier of stainless steel and single-use integrated solutions and services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. When brought to market, this technology will give customers a significant advantage in manufacturing their cellular products.
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Membio is an alumnus of our BDSP™ and WiHI programs. | |
Nanostics receives funding from the University of Alberta Innovation Fund | |
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Nanostics Inc., a precision health company developing diagnostic tests with its ClarityDX® platform technology, recently announced that it received an investment from the University of Alberta Innovation Fund (UAIF) to help propel adoption of Nanostics' ClarityDX® test in North America. The ClarityDX Prostate test, launched in Canada in September 2023, is available to patients from Nanostics' accredited clinical laboratory in Edmonton, Alberta.
This innovative blood test, which uses biological data, clinical information, and machine learning models to generate a risk score for aggressive prostate cancer, marks a significant advancement in prostate cancer screening. It provides critical support to men and their healthcare providers in making more informed decisions about whether additional screening is required following a high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test result.
| Nanostics Precision Health presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit. | |
USask’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization receives $30 million from Government of Canada | |
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USask’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) will receive $30 million in construction funding to strengthen Canada’s preparedness for emerging infectious diseases and to become Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research. This funding for VIDO supports building a new animal housing facility and upgrading key areas to containment level 4 (CL4), the highest level of containment. VIDO has some of the most advanced high-containment research and development capacity in the world, aimed at protecting the health of Canadians and Canada’s agriculture sector.
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VIDO presented at the OBIO® Investment Summit. | |
Industry News, Events & Funding Opportunities | | |
May - November 2024 events | | |
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Hosted by the KITE Research Institute at the University Health Network and
co-presented by the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, International Conference on Aging, Innovation & Rehabilitation (ICAIR) is a platform for scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs seeking to reinvent care.
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Life Sciences
Investor Day
May 8 I Toronto
| Join the event to hear presentations from some of the most innovative public and private life sciences companies from across Canada. Detailed agenda and list of companies will be announced soon. |
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Get ready for
BIO 2024
May 8 I 2 pm EDT
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Join this insightful webinar tailored for small to
mid-sized companies attending BIO 2024. This webinar will guide you through the essentials of crafting a robust Intellectual Property (IP) strategy and highlight the lucrative benefits it brings to your business.
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Catalyst Cyber Challenge
Info session I May 8
| Cyber Challenge is an innovative program that puts industry-identified cyber challenges in front of startups for them to solve. This session will give an overview of the Challenge Program, and focus on the first two challenges - automotive and life sciences. | |
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Growing & building an early-stage AI venture in life sciences
May 14 I Toronto
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The event will bring together industry leaders, founders, investors, and academics in the AI field in life sciences to discuss the latest insights and strategies for
early-stage AI ventures in life sciences.
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LSO Awards Presentation
May 15 I Toronto
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The LSO Awards are an important part of the
organization’s goal to advocate for Ontario’s life sciences sector, by celebrating the individuals and companies behind its success.
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Obtain funds for R&D with SyngeriQc
Deadline: May 15
| SynergiQc facilitates biopharma innovation by consolidating public-private partnerships between university researchers and Quebec companies, to generate economic benefits for Quebec. Contact the team for more info. | |
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CQDM is looking for
world-class research to develop novel and efficient approaches for obesity and metabolic disorders therapeutics to present to domain experts from leading
global pharmaceutical organizations on CQDM Connect-Pharma: Pitch Day.
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Cybersec and Infosec Europe 2024
May 27 - June 7
| The mission to Cybersecurity and Infosecurity Europe 2024 represents a unique opportunity for innovative Ontario ICT companies to get introduced to potential clients, partners from UK, Belgium, and across Europe. | |
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UTEST Applications
Deadline: May 30
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The UTEST Program is announcing its annual call for research-based UofT and affiliated research hospital companies. UTEST can provide start-up companies with investment/funding opportunities, intense entrepreneurial education corporate and intellectual property legal support,
and more.
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Funds for drug discovery research
Deadline: May 30
| CQDM's program, Quantum Leap, helps Canadian SMEs and universities carry out innovative translational research projects in biopharmaceuticals. The selected projects aim to develop cutting-edge technologies with a significant potential impact on the R&D activities of CQDM's pharmaceutical members. | |
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Annual TC3 Research and Innovation Symposium
May 30 I Toronto
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This is an opportunity to network, showcase your research, and gain insights from the new career panel! Whether you're a researcher, trainee, innovator, or simply curious about the latest advancements in cannabinoid research, this symposium is the place
to be.
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Applications open for CanExport SMEs funding program
Deadline: May 31
| This program provides up to $50,000 (matching your contribution) to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) registered in Canada for international business development activities. Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. | |
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Advancements in Life Sciences Sector: Cell and Gene Therapy
in Canada
June 3 I San Diego
| Clinical Trials Ontario, Life Sciences Ontario, and OBIO® are bringing industry and research leaders together for an event at the 2024 BIO International Convention discussing Cell and Gene Therapy in Canada. | |
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Discounted rate for OBIO® network to RESI Conference
June 17 I Barcelona
| Register to save up to €500 on registration with the "tech hub & constituents" rates. | |
OBIO® members receive these rates on registration up until the event. Contact the
team here.
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The Age of AI
Deadline: June 18
| At this event, industry leaders from Roche, Takeda, AstraZeneca, Klick Health, EY, PAAB, DLA Piper, and many more will share how AI is creating exponential business and brand value. Know how to enhance the value you provide to healthcare professionals and patients with AI. | |
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BioCreate cohorts
4 & 5 are open!
Deadline: June 23
| The BioCreate program is now open to SMEs in southern Ontario looking to commercialize genomics and engineering biology enabled products and/or technologies in the health, food and agriculture, and cleantech sectors at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4+. | |
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LSO Golf Classic
August 14 I Brampton
| This event provides an important and engaging environment for the life sciences community and supports crucial programs, including LSO's policy and advocacy work, and mentorship programs. | |
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ON Trade Mission to
BIO-Europe
Nov – 4-6 I Stockholm
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Delivered in collaboration with the Trade Commissioner Service and BIOTECanada, the mission program will include registration for
BIO-Europe, networking, and more. For more info, contact Patrick Barry.
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Science Horizons Youth Internship | |
The program helps
bio-economy, healthcare, and environmental employers hire the talent they need and helps graduates gain skills to secure full-time employment. For further info, please contact
Jennifer Ash.
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EY Entrepreneurial Winning WomenTM North America | |
The program annually identifies a select group of high-potential founders who have built profitable companies and provides them with connections and vast resources needed to think bigger and sustainably scale their companies to
full potential.
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Regional Development Program | The program supports eligible SMEs investing in new equipment and training to expand operations in these regions, and also provides support to municipalities and economic development organizations investing in economic development projects. | |
The Career Starter Program facilitates the transition of barriered youth into the labour market. It bridges the gap between talent and industry, introduces participants to bio-economy as a viable career path, and enables employers to strengthen their workforce. | |
Calling companies to collaborate with Mayo Clinic | |
Medical Alley is working with the Mayo Clinic to source company partnerships in two areas: surgical innovations and artificial intelligence.
Contact Frank Jaskulke for more info.
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