The University of Toronto took a major step into the future last November when the Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (CCBR) opened officially in its gleaming new building on our St. George campus.

The CCBR is unique in Canada and one of the few research centres of its kind in the world, bringing together scientists from the faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy, Applied Science and Engineering, and Arts and Science to conduct collaborative investigation into the cause and cure of disease. This marvelous facility will also be one of our greatest teaching centres, providing hands-on training for at least 300 students and 100 post-doctoral fellows.

While the CCBR is a new model of research and teaching, it is also a shining example of the convergence of a variety of supporters. The building is named for Terrence Donnelly, who donated $13 million towards its construction. The Government of Canada's Canada Foundation for Innovation invested $30.8 million and the Province of Ontario's Ontario Innovation Trust invested $30 million. Further funding came from private donors and U of T's own infrastructure investment fund.

This kind of support — and the investments that come from a variety of organizations for buildings, equipment, research chairs, individual research programs, and all the other requirements to fuel the research engine - is absolutely crucial to sustaining U of T as a world leader in university research and scholarship. Without it, our research enterprise simply could not thrive.

This issue of Edge includes, for the first time in its history, a special section that recognizes the organizations that have supported research at U of T over the past year (charitable donations are acknowledged in a similar feature in the U of T alumni magazine). On behalf of the University of Toronto, let me extend our profound thanks for this investment to all our donors and supporters.

Tom Chau of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre received the Professional Engineers Ontario 2005 Engineering Medal in the Young Engineer category. The award recognizes his leadership in the field of rehabilitation engineering and his role in enhancing the quality of life of children with disabilities. Chau is utilizing sophisticated computer chips and software to develop modes of rehabilitation that can meet a child's changing needs and abilities and adapt to suit them (see the spring 2005 issue of Edge).

Joseph Paradi of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, along with researchers at U of T's Centre for Management of Technology and Entrepreneurship (CMTE), received a Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council in recognition of an enduring partnership with TD Bank Financial Group, RBC Financial Group, BMO Financial Group and Bell Canada that focuses on developing innovative technologies for the financial services industry.

Last October, researchers at the University of Toronto and affiliated hospitals received over $43 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Examples of funded projects include an investigation into the relationship between housing, neighbourhood and food security among low-income families by Valerie Tarasuk of Nutritional Sciences and a study into HIV and sexually-transmitted infections among Nigerian men by Ted Myers of Public Health Sciences.

Seven U of T researchers received $1.6 million last November in the final round of the Canada Foundation for Innovation's New Opportunities Fund (NOF) program. Recipients included: Christopher Beck (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Computer Science), Brian Ciruna (Medical Genetics and Microbiology, Hospital for Sick Children), Tenley Conway (Geography, U of T at Mississauga), Kate Mclean (Psychology, UTM), Helen McNeill (Medical Genetics and Microbiology, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute), Yu Sun (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering {IBBME}) and Kevin Truong (Electrical and Computer Engineering, IBBME).

The NOF has been replaced by CFI's $300-million Leaders Opportunity Fund, which aims to build on the successes of the NOF, the Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund and the CFI Career Awards.

Renowned geneticist Janet Rossant of the Department of Medical Genetics and Microbiology and The Hospital for Sick Children received the 2005 Michael Smith Prize from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This annual $100,000 prize, formerly known as the Michael Smith Award for Excellence, has been given to U of T researchers - including President David Naylor - seven times in its 11-year history.

U of T's team of Canada Research Chairs - the largest in the country - was further strengthened last November with the announcement of 13 new chairs in such diverse areas as law, psychiatry and electrical and computer engineering.

The new Tier I chairs, who receive $200,000 annually for seven years, are: John Cairney (Psychiatry), Rodolphe el-Khoury (Architecture, Landscape and Design), George Eleftheriades (Electrical and Computer Engineering {ECE}), Mohammad Fadel (Law), Alison Fleming (Psychology), Siew-Ging Gong (Dentistry), Daphne Goring (Botany), Glenn Gulak (ECE), Kullervo Hynynen (Medical Biophysics and Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre), Alberto Leon-Gracia (ECE), Molly Shoichet (Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry), Ross Upshur (Family and Community Medicine and Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre) and Jeffrey Wrana (Medical Genetics and Microbiology).

Edge won a Gold Award for Best Magapaper in the 2005 Council for the Advancement and Support of Education District II "Accolades" awards. District II includes over 600 post-secondary institutions in the U.S. and Canada.