Notch Therapeutics’ Peter Zandstra Appointed to the Order of Canada
— The appointment recognizes Dr. Zandstra’s world-leading innovation in stem cell research and biomedical engineering —
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, January 6, 2022— Notch Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing renewable, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies for cancer, is excited to announce its Chief Scientific Officer and scientific co-founder, Peter Zandstra, has been appointed to the 2021 Order of Canada. Dr. Zandstra’s appointment recognizes pioneering leadership in stem cell bioengineering and its subsequent innovative health and economic impacts.
The Order of Canada is one of the country’s highest honours, recognizing people who make extraordinary contributions to the nation and take to heart the motto of the Order: Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam (“They desire a better country”). Order of Canada recipients are celebrated for their ability to ignite imaginations through innovation and unite communities through their compassion.
“The Notch team, across operations in Canada and the United States, are inspired by Peter every day; we are delighted our colleague is being recognized for his ongoing contribution to saving people’s lives,” says David Main, Notch’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We’ve got a team comprising some of the most brilliant minds in preclinical science, advanced cell manufacturing, bioengineering, and systems biology, and it is Peter’s scientific vision that guides us as we work together to solve the complex challenge of making cellular immunotherapies mainstream.”
Dr. Zandstra is a highly respected member of the global life sciences community and co-founded Notch in 2018. He is also the Founding Director of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) School of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Zandstra’s research focuses on understanding how functional tissue forms from stem cells and how this information can be applied to design novel therapeutic technologies based on living cells. He is an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada (Engineering), the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering (Tier 1) and is a recipient of many awards and fellowships. Read more here.
About Notch Therapeutics (www.notchtx.com)
Notch is developing a pipeline of cellular immunotherapies originating from pluripotent stem cells that are specifically engineered to address the underlying biology of complex disease systems. The company has unlocked the ability for large-quantity production of T cells and other cells from any source of stem cells to bring best-in-class cell therapies for cancer and other immune disorders to thousands of patients. The core of the Notch platform is the Engineered Thymic Niche (ETN), which enables precision control of cell fate during the differentiation and expansion of stem cells in suspension bioreactors without the need for feeder cells or serum. The ETN has the potential to generate immunotherapies with decreased variability, increased potency, and engineered improvements. The technology was invented in the laboratories of Juan-Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker, Ph.D. at Sunnybrook Research Institute and Peter Zandstra, Ph.D., FRSC at the University of Toronto. Notch was founded by these two institutions, in conjunction with MaRS Innovation (now Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners) and the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), which initially incubated the company.
Media Contact:
Megan Helmer
Puzzlewood Communication Inc.
1.604.240.5223
megan@puzzlewood.ca