Media Releases
Below is a selection of recent press releases. For all the latest news please visit www.utoronto.ca/news
General Inquires +1 (416) 978-0100 Email media.relations@utoronto.ca
Happy face tattoo does serious work
TORONTO, ON — A medical sensor that attaches to the skin like a temporary tattoo could make it easier for doctors to detect metabolic problems in patients and for coaches to fine-tune athletes’ training routines. And the entire sensor comes in a thin, flexible package shaped like a smiley face. “We wanted a design that could conceal the electrodes," says Vinci Hung, a PhD candidate in the Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences at UTSC, who helped create the new sensor.…
Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress releases Eleventh Annual Report.
TORONTO, ON — As the recession recedes, the Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress calls on all Ontarians to build on the province’s strengths and make the decisions and investments needed to achieve the 2020 Prosperity Agenda. The Task Force singles out the “dead cash” on the balance sheets of Ontario businesses as an opportunity to enhance the province’s prosperity. Toronto – The Task Force is concerned that a new status quo of slow or stagnant economic growth for…
U of T study: Children in full-day kindergarten still ahead
TORONTO, ON – Two years after implementing full-day early learning/kindergarten (FDELK) in Peel Region schools, a University of Toronto study has found that FDELK children were ahead of their peers who attended half-day kindergarten in subjects such as vocabulary, early literacy, number knowledge and parent ratings of their child’s readiness for elementary school. The study is being carried out over time from Junior Kindergarten/Senior Kindergarten until children are in Grade 3. Year 2 results replicated many of the positive findings from the program's…
U of T experts, Toronto city planner to discuss active school travel
TORONTO, ON – Research consistently shows that Canada’s children are becoming increasingly sedentary and yet with the health of our next generation in jeopardy, one of the easiest and most accessible forms of physical activity – the walk to school – is still being passed over by most parents. On December 5, hear from experts who are studying this challenge from a variety of angles at the free public symposium, “What Happened to Walking? Encouraging Active School Travel in Toronto.”…
“Fountain of Youth” technique rejuvenates aging stem cells
TORONTO, ON — A new method of growing cardiac tissue is teaching old stem cells new tricks. The discovery, which transforms aged stem cells into cells that function like much younger ones, may one day enable scientists to grow cardiac patches for damaged or diseased hearts from a patient’s own stem cells—no matter what age the patient—while avoiding the threat of rejection. Stem cell therapies involving donated bone marrow stem cells run the risk of patient rejection in a portion of…
U of T engineers awarded $2.2 million grant for toilet research
TORONTO, ON — A University of Toronto engineering team has received a major grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to continue work on designing for a waterless, hygienic toilet that is safe and affordable for people in the developing world. The Gates Foundation awarded the grant, worth $2.2 million for 15 months, to U of T Engineering Professor Yu-Ling Cheng, Director of the Centre for Global Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, and her team. Earlier this year, Professor Cheng’s team, which…
Being in the Public Service — Then and Now presentation
TORONTO, ON — “Being in the Public Service: Then and Now” is the third in the Governance in Toronto series presented by Cities Centre at the University of Toronto. Each event in the series pairs presentations by a practitioner and an academic, and allows generous time for audience-led questions, discussion and debate following the presentations. EVENT DETAILS WHAT: Being in the Public Service - Then and Now WHEN: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 6:30-8:30pm WHERE: FitzGerald Building, 150 College Street, Room 103, University of Toronto…
University of Toronto launches new heritage website
TORONTO, ON - Film footage of the 1939 Royal visit to Hart House and early photographs of Marshall McLuhan and Margaret Atwood are just a handful of the audio-visual treasures captured in a new University of Toronto website that documents the rich history of the institution. “A great library is really about preserving the record of human achievement, of human research, culture and history. We are very pleased to be the stewards of the documentary heritage of one of Canada’s…
Umbilical cord cells outperform bone marrow cells
TORONTO, ON - When repairing damage from a heart attack, an injection of cells derived from human umbilical cord tissue is better than one of cells derived from bone marrow, University of Toronto researchers say. Most stem cell therapies use cells harvested from bone marrow to stimulate tissue repair and control inflammation. But a new study published in Cell Transplantation found that, when injected directly into damaged heart tissue, cells originating from the tissues surrounding the blood vessels of the…
Anti-hypertensive drugs linked to increased risk of hip fracture
TORONTO, ON - Elderly people taking anti-hypertensive drugs are at a 43 per cent increased risk of having a hip fracture in the first 45 days of treatment, according to research conducted by family medicine Assistant Professor Dr. Debra Butt. A member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and a family physician affiliated with The Scarborough Hospital, Dr. Butt’s study was published on November 19, 2012 in Archives of Internal Medicine. The study…