Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences

Alana Ogata wins 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize in chemistry

lanthierj — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:37:28 +0000

Alana Ogata wins 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize in chemistry

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Tue, 01/17/2023 - 11:37

Faculty

Mississauga

John Charles Polanyi Prize

Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences

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(photo by Nick Iwanyshyn)

University of Toronto Mississauga analytical chemist Alana Ogata is one of five recipients of the prestigious 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize, which recognizes outstanding researchers in the early stages of their career.

An assistant professor in the department of chemical and physical sciences, Ogata is developing bioanalytical technologies that can help diagnose diseases sooner and lead to better treatment and outcomes. This includes investigating bioinspired nanomaterials – synthetic substances that can mimic the structure, properties or functions of living matter – for medical purposes and developing more effective diagnostics to detect biomarkers, such as proteins, in bodily fluids.

Bioinspired nanomaterials can enhance or replace biological reagents, including antibodies and enzymes, used in conventional liquid-biopsy methods, but there are currently significant limits to their implementation. Ogata investigates the formation-structure-function of synthetic crystals that mimic the function of particular enzymes and aims to develop new enzyme-mimic bioinspired nanomaterials to help advance liquid-biopsy technologies.

The Polanyi Prize is awarded each year to as many as five researchers from an Ontario university in the early stages of their career. Given by the Ontario Council of Universities, it is named in honour of John Polanyi, a University Professor Emeritus in the department of chemistry and recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize. This year, all five prizes were awarded to faculty from U of T.

David Dunlop receives John Adam Fleming Medal for lifetime achievement in geophysics

lanthierj — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 14:13:45 +0000

David Dunlop receives John Adam Fleming Medal for lifetime achievement in geophysics

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 09/24/2021 - 10:13

Faculty

Mississauga

St. George

University of Toronto Mississauga

John Adam Fleming Medal

Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences

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University of Toronto Mississauga Professor Emeritus David Dunlop has won the John Adam Fleming Medal for outstanding contributions to fundamental Earth and space science from the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Awarded for “original research and technical leadership in geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, space physics and related sciences,” the Fleming Medal recognizes Dunlop’s lifetime achievement in the field of geophysics.

“David has been a dedicated and invaluable member of our community for many years,” says Lindsay Schoenbohm, chair of U of T Mississauga’s department of chemical and physical sciences. “It is wonderful now to see this highest-level recognition for his scholarly achievements.”

Dunlop's best-known research has been in the fundamental magnetic properties of rocks and minerals and in Precambrian paleomagnetism and plate tectonics. During a 36-year career at U of T Mississauga and the St. George campus, Dunlop has taught and mentored countless students and early career professionals who have gone on to careers in geological and physical sciences. He has been the sole author of 63 papers and has co-authored more than 150 papers in scholarly journals and books. With his wife, Özden Özdemir, also a physics professor, he co-wrote what would become known as “the bible” in their field, Rock Magnetism: Fundamentals and Frontiers

“It’s a wonderful life we’ve had,” says Dunlop, who continues to publish research.

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Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences

Alana Ogata wins 2022 John Charles Polanyi Prize in chemistry

Read more about Alana Ogata's work

David Dunlop receives John Adam Fleming Medal for lifetime achievement in geophysics

Read the U of T Mississauga story