Category: News
The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Role that Chemists Play
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the largest employers of chemists in the world, and there are many different roles that chemists can play in the drug development process. How are new drugs discovered? How do they get manufactured on a large enough scale? What steps are required to bring a drug to market? This talk is designed to give a brief overview of the various stages of the drug development process, with a particular focus on the different roles that chemists play at each stage. This talk is designed to give students an introduction to the types of jobs they could pursue in the pharmaceutical industry after graduating with a B.Sc, M.Sc. or Ph.D.
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Chemistry <3 Coffee
Most of us start the day with a cup of coffee. But have you ever wondered about the science behind our favourite beverage?
In celebration of National Chemistry Week, The CIC Toronto Section presents:
Chemistry ♥s Coffee
Join us for coffee cupping at Pop Coffee Works and learn about the science of how coffee is processed, roasted, and brewed!
Our guest speaker for the event is Abe Chen, coffee roaster, barista, and co-owner of Pop Coffee Works. He will share his wealth of knowledge about coffee and lead the cupping event. For more information about Abe, feel free to read his bio below.
General admission is only $5!
Most of us start the day with a cup of coffee. But have you ever wondered about the science behind our favourite beverage?
In celebration of National Chemistry Week, The CIC Toronto Section presents:
Chemistry ♥s Coffee
Join us for coffee cupping at Pop Coffee Works and learn about the science of how coffee is processed, roasted, and brewed!
Our guest speaker for the event is Abe Chen, coffee roaster, barista, and co-owner of Pop Coffee Works. He will share his wealth of knowledge about coffee and lead the cupping event. For more information about Abe, feel free to read his bio below.
General admission is only $5!
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/chemistry-s-coffee-tickets-75619418717?fbclid=IwAR1ZVMihDvMV1DVpKqBfwcLUmXiD1fkwd99yeYsYP_tjJxiYYzZ_G8MRYAE
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CICToronto Career Fair 2019
Join us on May 3rd, 2019 for our 6th annual CICToronto Career Fair! It’s the perfect opportunity to meet people in chemistry and chemical engineering working in Toronto and the GTA!
Get your tickets here ($5 for members, $10 for non-members):
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cic-toronto-career-fair-2019-tickets-60065496517
You will be taught how to network and look for jobs at the UofT Career Centre’s workshop. You can then use those newly learned skills during our round-table discussions or at lunch (included with your registration). Listen and learn from the career advice of directors, academics, patent agents, and many more experts, that were once in your shoes at your career stage.
We will also be hosting on-site interviews.
For a synthetic organic chemist position at Toronto Research Chemicals, please send your resume to Valerie Ng at vng@trc-canada.com with the email titled “CIC Career Fair interview application” by April 27th.
For an analytical chemist position at Toronto Research Chemicals, please send your resume to Valerie Ng at vng@trc-canada.com with the email titled “CIC Career Fair interview application” by April 27th.
For a post-doctoral fellowship position at York University, please send your resume to Prof. Caputo at caputo@yorku.ca with the email titled “CIC Career Fair interview application” by April 26th.
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2019 CIC Toronto Industry Tours
Are you graduating soon, or interested in industrial chemistry jobs?
The CIC Toronto Section is organizing industry tours hosted by two of Ontario’s top chemistry companies: Alphora Research Inc. and Apotex. See below for additional details.
Apotex
Date: Feb 22nd at 1:00 PM
Canada’s largest producer of generic drugs. They were founded in 1974 by Dr. Barry Sherman, a proudly Canadian, global pharmaceutical company that produces high-quality, affordable medicines (both generic and innovative pharmaceuticals) for patients around the world with annual revenues of CAD $ 1.19 billion in 2016.
Address:
50 Steinway Blvd
Etobicoke, ON M9W 6Y3
Agenda (1.5 h):
Lisa Montini, Manager of Global Communications, will give the plant tour of the warehouse, QA, production and packaging. Questions are encouraged throughout the tour.
Limited registration, 20 spots available, sign up now! https://cic_apotex_tour_feb22.eventbrite.ca
Password: Apotex
Alphora Research Inc.
Date: March 1st and March 8th at 2:00 PM
Founded in 2003 by Dr. Jan Oudenes, Alphora’s management team has over 200 years of combined experience; developing API technology for hundreds of pre-clinical and clinical compounds; and establishing manufacturing positions for commercial API’s with an annual market value of over US $ 1.5 Billion.
Address:
2395 Speakman Drive, Suite 2001
Mississauga ON L5K 1B3
Agenda (1.5 h):
We will have a 20 min presentation about Alphora Research Inc. followed by a tour of our facilities led by an R&D Managers. Following the tour, one of Alphora’s R&D senior staff will hold a Q&A.
Still curious about Alphora research? Check-out:
Limited registration, only 10 spots per date available, sign up now!
March 1st event: https://cic_alphora_tour_march_1.eventbrite.ca
Password: Alphora 1
March 8th event: https://cic_alphora_tour_march_8.eventbrite.ca
Password: Alphora 2
Important details
This is a great opportunity for you to network with your peers and industry representatives.
We want to make sure we respect our host’s time, as such we ask you to show up at least 10 minutes ahead of time.
Bring your Eventbrite ticket on the day of the event, only ticketholders will be admitted!
Tickets cost $5 per event.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Rodolfo directly at r.f.gomezbiagi@gmail.com.
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2018 Student Awards Night
Last week, CIC Toronto held its annual Student Awards Night celebrating the accomplishments of post-secondary students across the GTA. A summary of the evening can be found on the CIC National website here: https://www.cheminst.ca/magazine/society-news/cic-toronto-celebrates-student-accomplishments-2018-student-awards-night
Congratulations to all the 2018 award winners!
CSC Silver Medal
Shaishav Datta, University of Toronto Mississauga, Chemistry
Mariya Kalinina, Ryerson University, Chemistry Co-Op
Daniel Henryk Lysak, University of Toronto Scarborough, Chemistry
Tetyana Murdza, University of Toronto Mississauga, Biological Chemistry
Shiu Hei Tao, University of Toronto Mississauga, Forensic Chemistry
CSChE Silver Medal
Sargol Okhovatian, University of Toronto, Applied Science and Engineering
CSCT Silver Medal
Aakash Agrawa, Durham College, Chemical Laboratory Technician
Melissa Cameron, Durham College, Biotechnology
Justin Lines, Durham College, Chemical Engineering Technology
Sinthujah Paskaran, Durham College, Chemical Laboratory Technician – Food and Pharmaceutical Science
CIC Book Prize
Maharshi Kamlesh Desai, Durham College, Biotechnology
Bobbi Gibson, Durham College, Chemical Laboratory Technician – Food and Pharmaceutical Science
Henal Patel, Durham College, Chemical Laboratory Technician
Harie Rajamithiran, Durham College, Chemical Engineering Technology
Nicholas Dogantzis, Ryerson University, Chemistry
Samantha Pauline Kim, University of Toronto, Applied Science and Engineering
Olivia Adamczyk, University of Toronto Mississauga, Chemistry
Sofia Skromne Carrasco, University of Toronto Scarborough, Chemistry
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2018 Toronto Municipal Election Responses
The Government Liaison team at CIC Toronto sent out questions to the candidates for city councillor for the University-Rosedale ward in the municipal election. Unfortunately, due to the confusion surrounding the ward division in Toronto, we could not offer the candidates very much time to answer the questions. We received response from Marc Cormier, Joyce Rowlands, and Mike Layton. We hope to receive a more detailed response from the Layton campaign before Monday, please check back for updates. The Nicki Ward campaign was contacted (by email and phone) but gave no response. We also contacted Jennifer Keesmaat and John Tory with our questions, but they did not send response to our questions.
We hope this offers insight towards your vote on Monday, October 22nd. If you’re not sure where to vote, click here.
To view the responses, please see: 2018 Toronto Municipal Election Responses
Please note that CIC Toronto section does not endorse any candidate, and the inclusion or absence of responses from candidates does not reflect any bias of the CIC.
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Tasty cheese and lively voting at the 2018 AGM
The Annual General Meeting was held at the Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories building on the evening of June 12th. The evening commenced with our chair, Molly Sung welcoming members to the AGM and introducing our guest lecturer Dr. Art Hill who gave an informative lens onto the ‘Science of Cheese‘. Attendees learned about the processes and enzymes involved in making cheese as well as factors in developing flavour profiles of cheese. Dinner was served afterwards and the meeting began with the Chair’s report. Molly gave an overview of the year’s activities and initiatives. She also gave a preview of exciting new projects for the next executive team to tackle. The chair’s report ended with a note of appreciation towards the executive team and volunteers for making this year a successful one. Following was the treasurer’s report presented by Chris Seo, appreciation to our sponsors was expressed for donating to our various events.
This year’s AGM was more active than previous years with many nominees vying for a limited number of spots in 5 various executive roles. Democracy indeed took place and all 25 positions were completely filled. Congratulations to our incoming executives of 2018-2019, we look forward to serving you this year!
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2018 Provincial Election Responses
Earlier this year we asked you guys what topics you would like to hear from the 2018 MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) candidates in the University-Rosedale electoral district. Fast forward to this month, the Liberals, NDP and Green party stepped up to answer and comment on their party’s views on the following topics:
- science funding (including research funding and graduate scholarships and bursaries)
- scientific literacy among the public (including public health and climate change-based policies)
- representation of historically marginalized groups in STEM and politics
- science representation at Queen’s Park
We hope this offers insight that helps towards your vote, this was all made possible by our government liaison, José Eloy Méndez Campos and chair, Molly Sung.
Of the electoral candidates, the ones who had contact information registered with Elections Ontario were contacted. Of those who were contacted, the NDP party, Liberal party, PC party, Green party, and New People’s Choice party corresponded back. Of those that corresponded back with the Chemical Institute of Canada, Toronto section, the PC party did not respond with answers to the questions. The Green party responded with directions to refer to the party platform for specific issues.
To view the responses, please see: 2018 Provincial Election Responses
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Career Fair 2018 Overview
by Julia Bayne
This year the CIC Toronto Section hosted over 90 people at our annual Career Fair at the University of Toronto on Thursday, April 26th, 2018. The event was tailored towards graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and early career CIC members from across the Greater Toronto Area. This year’s event was supported through generous donations from our Platinum Sponsors: the University of Toronto Department of Chemistry and ChemClub, as well as our Silver Sponsors: Toronto Research Chemicals Inc., GreenCentre Canada and Ryerson University.
The day began with a presentation by keynote speaker Dr. Laura Reyes (Chemical Institute of Canada) followed by a presentation by Dr. Melanie Mastronardi (Top Hat). Both presentations provided an overview of their career path (during and after their PhD) and offered insightful career advice. The first panel discussion included Dr. Kazim Agha (Ridout & Maybee), Dr. Naveen Chopra (Xerox Research Centre of Canada), Dr. Glenn Ikeda and Dr. Alon Eisenstein (Pueblo Science), wherein students were able to ask questions pertaining to specific career paths and/or general pieces of career advice. After a quick coffee break, Jonathan Turner from the U of T Career Centre led a workshop entitled “Following Up in Your Career”. This interactive session was geared towards providing students with viable strategies for following-up with people after networking, after an interview and so on. After this workshop, Dr. Jan Oudenes (Kennarshore) gave a presentation on his unique career path through chemistry and entrepreneurship. Prof. Andy Dicks (U of T), Prof. Jessica D’eon (U of T) and Oriana Muzzin then led an “Education Panel Discussion”, and answered questions pertaining to a career in education. Students were then able to mingle with company representatives during the lunch hour. Booth participants included: Opalux, MITACS, Toronto Research Chemicals Inc, Kennarshore Inc., Alphora, NorthernChem Inc, Dalriada Therapeutics, Career Centre, GreenCentre Canada, Pliant Power Devices.
After lunch, the second panel discussion was scheduled, which included Kim Nosella (Xerox), Andrew Corbett (TRC), Doug Baumann (Syngenta) and Andrew Pasternak (GreenCentre Canada). The format paralleled the morning panel discussion – students were able to ask general and/or specific questions about career path, advice etc. The final session of the day was a round table discussion, where groups of 8-10 students were given 30 minutes to talk with 2-3 company representatives. Students were shuffled between company representatives after each 30-minute period to provide diversity and variability within possible career options. Roundtable participants included: Ridout & Maybee, Syngenta Crop Protection Inc., Xerox Research Centre of Canada, Toronto Research Chemicals Inc., Pueblo Science, Bereskin & Parr, Kennarshore Inc., GreenCentre Canada, Chemical Institute of Canada, Ontario Genomics, Career Centre, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.
In addition to the presentations and interactive sessions, Toronto Research Chemicals, NorthernChem Inc. and Dalriada Therapeutics held “on-site” interviews.
The organising committee (Julia Bayne, Jolie Lam, James LaFortune, Molly Sung and Jennifer Huynh) would like to thank everyone for their participation and for a successful career fair!
