At the University Health Network (UHN), Canada's #1 research hospital, every experiment, dataset, and discovery helps advance a vision of A Healthier World.  

Each day, UHN researchers are tackling some of the most complex health challenges of our time. By harnessing cutting-edge technology and building on visionary ideas, UHN is pushing research and medicine further.  In doing so, UHN’s work has the potential to transform care for those who need it most — in Toronto, in Canada, and around the world. 

Extended Organ Viability and Transplant Successes 

Leaders at UHN are innovating to help overcome one of the greatest challenges in organ donation: the shortage of viable donor organs. One such innovation from UHN’s Ajmera Transplant Centre (Ajmera), the Ex-Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) system, has revolutionized lung transplantation. The system, first developed in the late 2000s and recently celebrating its 1000th procedure, has been shown to be a safe and scalable approach to expand the donor pool. 

Similarly, another Ajmera team is developing an innovative technique to expand the donor pool for kidney transplantation. Their game-changing subzero preservation technique offers a way to keep kidneys colder — and potentially viable — for longer without the damaging effects of typical freeze-thaw cycles. For patients in need of a kidney transplant, this could lead to significantly reduced wait times for this life-changing procedure.  

Targeting the Root Cause of Disease 

At UHN, building A Healthier World means exploring and targeting the root causes of disease, not just treating the symptoms of it. For example, researchers are developing a treatment that aims to restore endogenous insulin production in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Using stem cell–derived islets — cell clusters that produce insulin — early trials suggest that this first-of-its-kind intervention may offer a way to control patients’ blood glucose without the need for insulin. Their novel approach offers a way to address the underlying physiological cause of T1D and improve the quality of life for those who live with this chronic condition.  

Responsible AI Integration and Innovation 

UHN is committed to championing AI as a clinical innovation in a responsible and transparent way. One UHN research team is utilizing AI to make cardiac assessments easier and faster—and making their innovation open source so that researchers and clinicians worldwide can utilize and build on their technology. Their program, called ECG-FM, equips clinicians with a reliable predictor that could support the creation of care plans with less reliance on extensive data — data that is frequently unavailable, thus typically hinders this process. 

Another team at UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is harnessing AI to understand the complex communication patterns between cells, such as in cancer. Their innovative tool, CELLNEST, outperforms existing techniques in assessing cell-to-cell signalling. It also offers a user-friendly online platform that allows scientists to explore these cellular conversations in real tissue samples. This tool has already proven invaluable in uncovering previously unknown cell signalling, thus far, and is poised to open new avenues both for understanding how diseases spread and for blocking harmful cellular interactions through targeted therapies. ​​

Rethinking and Revamping Standards of Care 

For researchers at UHN, innovating means finding ways to improve access to lifesaving treatments — not just developing new ones. For example, a team led by UHN’s Krembil Brain Institute has developed an improved catheterization system designed to use blood flow to reach very small brain blood vessels, helping to minimize risk and maximize precision of embolization. Using their novel system, clinicians may one day be able to treat delicate brain regions with less trauma, offering safer interventions and expanding options for conditions that were once challenging or impossible to treat. 

Commitment to A Healthier World, For All 

UHN is at the forefront of cutting-edge research and remains dedicated to bringing bold ideas to life. Through collaboration, visionary thinking, and leading-edge technology, UHN is making complex health challenges a thing of the past. And we are just getting started.  

UHN's work continues to showcase the power of research to create A Healthier World, here and beyond. ​