Reference number : GC-2017-Q1-02265, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Elvira, Katherine (University of Victoria), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : British Columbia|Colombie-Britannique, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Discovery Grants Program - Individual, program name french : Programme de subventions à la découverte - individuelles, program purpose english : Lipid bilayers are complex and ubiquitous entities that regulate fundamental processes within cellular environments. In particular, the complexity of lipid bilayers and how they mediate the transport of drugs and molecules into cells is an essential unsolved problem in biology, which has damaging ramifications for drug discovery. 
The miniaturisation of chemical and biological systems is a recent, but exciting trend in the natural sciences, providing a host of advantages such as enhanced analytical throughput, reduced sample sizes and heightened control over experimental parameters. Microfluidic platforms in particular, where the technology is designed to manipulate fluids on the microscale, have allowed the development of artificial cell-type systems using volumes and scales that are comparable to real cells. 
The aim of my research program is to develop miniaturised bottom-up methods for the formation of biomimetic lipid bilayers that allow the analysis of transport across them and enable the study of their properties. These platforms will allow complete control over each component of a bilayer system, from lipid composition to bilayer size and architecture. 
This research program will harness the power of microfluidic devices to answer fundamental questions regarding the mechanism of bilayer transport. To ensure that the application of microfluidic technologies to these problems has a lasting effect on the way that the pharmaceutical industry develops new drugs, from the start, this research program will be informed by the needs of industry through collaborations with domain specialists so that all developments have the potential to be used in pharmaceutical environments. As such, there are a series of modules that need to be developed, such as on-chip biosensors, biomimetic lipid formulations, and microfluidic platforms using materials that allow mass-production. 
The multidisciplinary nature of this research program has numerous advantages for the researchers involved. They will be trained in a variety of widely applicable techniques (such as microfluidic device design and fabrication), will become adept at problem solving in a variety of scientific research fields (such as analytical chemistry, biology and engineering) and will benefit from collaborations both with academic experts and industry contacts., program purpose french : Lipid bilayers are complex and ubiquitous entities that regulate fundamental processes within cellular environments. In particular, the complexity of lipid bilayers and how they mediate the transport of drugs and molecules into cells is an essential unsolved problem in biology, which has damaging ramifications for drug discovery. 
The miniaturisation of chemical and biological systems is a recent, but exciting trend in the natural sciences, providing a host of advantages such as enhanced analytical throughput, reduced sample sizes and heightened control over experimental parameters. Microfluidic platforms in particular, where the technology is designed to manipulate fluids on the microscale, have allowed the development of artificial cell-type systems using volumes and scales that are comparable to real cells. 
The aim of my research program is to develop miniaturised bottom-up methods for the formation of biomimetic lipid bilayers that allow the analysis of transport across them and enable the study of their properties. These platforms will allow complete control over each component of a bilayer system, from lipid composition to bilayer size and architecture. 
This research program will harness the power of microfluidic devices to answer fundamental questions regarding the mechanism of bilayer transport. To ensure that the application of microfluidic technologies to these problems has a lasting effect on the way that the pharmaceutical industry develops new drugs, from the start, this research program will be informed by the needs of industry through collaborations with domain specialists so that all developments have the potential to be used in pharmaceutical environments. As such, there are a series of modules that need to be developed, such as on-chip biosensors, biomimetic lipid formulations, and microfluidic platforms using materials that allow mass-production. 
The multidisciplinary nature of this research program has numerous advantages for the researchers involved. They will be trained in a variety of widely applicable techniques (such as microfluidic device design and fabrication), will become adept at problem solving in a variety of scientific research fields (such as analytical chemistry, biology and engineering) and will benefit from collaborations both with academic experts and industry contacts., agreement title english : In vitro biomimetic microfluidic models for toxicology studies, agreement title french : In vitro biomimetic microfluidic models for toxicology studies, agreement number : RGPIN, agreement value : 110000.0, agreement start date : 2017-05-10, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023), additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2022-2023), owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada