Alison McGuigan recognized with NSERC’s Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship

Alison McGuigan, the Erin Edward Hart Professor of Chemical Engineering in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, has earned an Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).   

The Arthur B. McDonald Fellowships recognize early-stage academic researchers in the natural sciences and engineering to enhance their research capacity so they can become leaders in their field. NSERC awards up to six fellowships each year to researchers from across Canada.   

The award will enable McGuigan and her research group to scale up their work on disease modelling and tissue engineering, which includes creating in-vitro “tissue-in-a-dish” models that can mimic how diseases progress and respond to potential treatments. 

“I am a big proponent of team science and I am privileged to be part of an interdisciplinary team trying to solve these hard problems in regenerative medicine – a field that is constantly changing,” says McGuigan, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering and Disease Modelling. “I am deeply appreciative of the opportunities the fellowship will provide, especially being able to have this time to focus and plan how to take my research to the next level, where it can contribute to saving lives.”  

“Professor McGuigan’s innovative disease modelling and tissue engineering research is a remarkable example of our faculty’s commitment to finding new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent illness,” says Christopher Yip, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the entire faculty, congratulations on this national recognition and well-deserved honour.”  

Read the U of T Engineering story