Startups for Better Health
Entrepreneurs creating
HEALTH IMPACT
McMaster startups are transforming how we diagnose and treat cancer. From using AI to discover new antibiotics and advancing a next-gen vaccine, our founders are building the future of health.
McMaster startup aims to prevent cancer from spreading to the brain
A McMaster University startup is developing a new treatment to prevent cancer from spreading to the brain, an innovation that could revolutionize the future of cancer care.
The Block Biosciences team is working on a new, first-in-class precision medicine that would be taken proactively by patients after a diagnosis of lung, breast or skin cancer, to prevent secondary metastatic brain cancer, which happens when cancer cells from another part of the body travel to the brain.
“Think of the cells that initiate brain metastasis as tiny ships voyaging toward your brain,” suggests Block Biosciences co-founder Jakob Magolan. “We have figured out how to sink these ships while they’re in transit — and likely before they ever even set sail.”
NodeAI boosts accuracy of lung cancer diagnoses
Lung cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis in the world, and because it’s often diagnosed at advanced stages when treatment options are limited, it accounts for the highest mortality rates among men and women.
That’s where NodeAI comes in. The McMaster startup has developed a new AI-powered diagnostic procedure with the capacity to save countless lives.
Waël Hanna, co-founder of NodeAI and division head of thoracic surgery at McMaster University, says diagnosing lung cancer requires evaluation of the lymph nodes in the chest. The current procedure is outdated, inefficient and unreliable, but NodeAI’s technology has the power to change that.
Tessella Biosciences creates 3D-printable ‘bioink’ that simulates lung tissue
McMaster researchers have developed a new material that could accelerate medical research and drug discovery by making it easier to 3D print soft, realistic tissue models.
Developed by McMaster-backed Tessella Biosciences, the bioink can be used to print flexible, stable, three-dimensional structures at body temperature, an advantage over conventional bioinks that require low temperatures and often result in 3D shapes that collapse into puddles.
Tessella’s bioink structures simulate how real tissue works in the body, so they can test drugs or understand how human cells interact in a more realistic way.
Better than hope: Using AI to discover new antibiotics
Jon Stokes makes poison for a living.
Sure, he’s also an assistant professor at McMaster University, a member of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR), and the founder of Stoked Bio, a new biotech startup company; but he’ll tell you it all comes back to “making new poison.”
That’s a drastic oversimplification of extremely complex work, but it is true. Stokes is using artificial intelligence (AI) to discover new antibiotics — functional poisons designed to kill dangerous, disease-causing bacteria.
He launched Stoked Bio to ensure that such discoveries make it out of the lab and into the patients who need them.
50+ years of vaccine innovation at McMaster
For over half a century, McMaster University has been at the forefront of vaccinology, making groundbreaking contributions that have shaped the field.
From pioneering critical research tools to leading innovation in next-generation inhaled vaccines, McMaster’s impact on global health is profound and far-reaching.
Discover more about the life-saving achievements that have happened here at McMaster.
Made at Mac: Translating ideas into impact
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