To support the Acceleration Consortium’s (AC) goal of growing the emerging field of accelerated discovery, 11 diverse projects from across the University of Toronto (U of T) community will receive funding for research in fields ranging from healthcare and climate change to sustainable materials and robotics.

This funding is made possible, in part, by the AC’s historic $200 million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).

While the projects explore a diverse range of topics, they all involve self-driving labs (SDL) that use AI and automation to speed up the discovery of new materials and molecules. As one of the AC’s Accelerate seed grant recipients, Kevin Golovin will receive $125,000 to develop an SDL to formulate non-toxic anti-fingerprint coatings for smartphone screens to replace the PFAS currently used in our phones.  

We hear a lot about PFAS or perfluoroalkylated substances, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” which are the toxic chemicals that build up in our bodies and can cause long-term health issues, from endocrine and immune system disruption to cancer and birth defects. PFAS remain ubiquitous in the formulation of thousands of consumer products, such as water and oil-resistant coatings in textiles and paints; personal care products, including long-lasting cosmetics, diapers, and menstrual products; and other food-handling products, such as non-stick coatings on pans.

Annually, the estimated human health cost of PFAS across Canada exceeds $9M CAD, though this cost is likely an underestimate, as the PFAS content in most consumer products is not reported by manufacturers.  

The Accelerate grant program is divided into three categories: Seed – to help faculty enter the field or collaborate with those already doing accelerated discovery; Moonshot – to support high-risk, high-reward ideas that drive the development or use of SDLs, and; Translation – to support accelerated discovery projects with clear commercialization goals, as well as knowledge mobilization activities, training, and community engagement. This year’s recipients include researchers who are recognized leaders in their fields and early-career scientists set to make an impact.

The AC opens its next funding competition in summer 2025 to welcome proposals for projects that promise to accelerate scientific discovery so that we can secure a healthier, safer and more resilient future for everyone.

2025 Seed grant recipients:

Kieran Campbell (Molecular Genetics, UofT), Daniel Durocher  
Research goal: To create a self-driving lab to discover new synthetic lethal drug targets––a form of genetic interaction where two mutations become lethal when combined, a highly successful strategy for cancer drug target discovery 

Caitlin Maikawa (Biomedical Engineering, UofT), Frantz Le Devedec, Frank Gu  
Research goal: To develop a self-driving lab workflow for identifying and making inflammation-targeting polymer microgel drug carriers to treat things like inflamed gastrointestinal tissue 

Kevin Golovin (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, UofT), Frank Gu
Research goal: To develop a self-driving lab to formulate safe and non-toxic anti-fingerprint coatings for smartphone screens, which currently contain unsustainable “forever chemicals”

Yu Sun (Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, UofT), Christine Allen
Research goal: To accelerate the discovery of SEDDS (self-emulsifying drug delivery systems), a crucial technology for improving the absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs

Christine Allen (Pharmacy UofT), Michael J. Rieder, Tamorah Rae Lewis, Lucy Wang, Zeqing Bao
Research goal: To create a self-driving lab to autonomously compound adult medications into standardized, child-friendly formulations, a process traditionally done by healthcare providers or caregivers and which can sometimes lead to drug errors  

Helen Tran (Chemistry, UofT) Omar Khan, Owen Melville
Research goal: To demonstrate the seminal use of sequence-specific peptoids as poly(ethylene) glycol alternatives in lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery as an alternative to poly(ethylene glycol), which is commonly used in vaccines and can often trigger an immune response

Mohamad Moosavi (chemical engineering and applied chemistry, UofT), Frantz Le Dévédec, David Sinton
Research goal: To create a self-driving lab for accelerated mixture discovery, focusing on formulating advanced thermal fluids mixtures for cooling electric vehicle batteries for next-generation transportation 

2025 Moonshot grant recipients:

Cheryl Arrowsmith (University Health Network) Matthieu Schapira, Santha Santhakumar
Research goal: To use the AC’s medicinal chemistry self-driving lab to identify new chemical probes (drug lead compounds) for each of the 10 members of a new human drug target family

Jason Hattrick-Simpers (materials science & engineering, UofT), David Stinton, Jane Howe, Ted Sargent, Ali Shayesteh
Research goal: To develop a framework for discovering HEO catalysts, a promising class of materials that may help to realize hydrogen’s potential as a clean energy carrier 

Kai Huang (materials science & engineering, UofT) Mohamad Moosavi, Alex Vitkin
Research goal: To build a sustainable and automated approach to discover advanced lanthanide-based nanocrystals (LnNCs), a material with unique optical and magnetic properties that are essential for sustainable technologies such as renewable energy and biomedical imaging 

2025 Translation grant recipients:

Alán Aspuru-Guzik (Chemistry and Computer Science, UofT), Florian Sukirti, and Kourosh Darvish
Research goal: To create ChemDroid, an affordable and flexible AI-based robotic system that automates chemistry experimentation 

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