Category: News

A Talk on the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Roles that Chemists Play

The CIC Toronto Section held a talk on process chemistry and the available chemistry positions in the pharmaceutical industry on October 23rd ,2019. At this event, members and non-members enjoyed a nice introduction to process chemistry, a field that is neglected in academic settings. A brief introduction of the major processes of launching a drug were discussed and where process chemistry is so important. The roles that chemists play in each of the stages of drug development were also discussed, along with the types of jobs that graduate students can achieve. There was a good focus on the idea that these jobs were very unique from one another and that skills off the bench were just as important as skills on the bench.

2019 Federal Election Responses

Scientific advancements have brought forward a series of revolutions that has transformed our perception of world. New scientific discoveries often challenge the justification of power distribution, placing science at the centre of politics. Also, the importance of policies and initiatives can never be ignored as they shape the future of science and determine the speed of its progress. This interdependent relation of science and politics is inherent.

CICTor has set out to provide its members with the updated information regarding both sectors; of science and politics, to enable them to make informed decisions. This information campaign is part of that effort where we wish to provide a comprehensive comparative point-of-view of representatives of all federal parties of various ridings on some very important scientific and community-based issues.

The focus of this campaign was to act as a liaison between voters and their potential federal representatives. For this campaign, we have consolidated questions related to the issues of great importance in terms of upcoming elections. We faced time constraints which led to the inability to get response from all the MP’s but its an effort well-directed.

We set out this year to ask Member of Parliament candidates in Ward 1 and Ward 11 questions on issues that resonate with our members and the greater community. This year, we asked questions on topics from climate change to underemployment of skilled immigrants.

We got a chance to speak to Liz White, Ward 11 candidate of the Animal Protection Party of Canada. To view her responses to our questions, please see: 2019 Federal Election Responses

Please note that the CIC Toronto section does not endorse any candidate, and that the inclusion or absence of responses from candidates does not reflect any bias of the Chemical Institute of Canada. We encourage everyone of the eligible voting age to go out on October 21st to exercise their right to vote for their preferred party!

 

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.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pharmaceutical-industry-and-the-role-that-chemists-play-tickets-76082212947

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!

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/chemistry-s-coffee-tickets-75619418717?fbclid=IwAR1ZVMihDvMV1DVpKqBfwcLUmXiD1fkwd99yeYsYP_tjJxiYYzZ_G8MRYAE

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

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.

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!

 

Password: Alphora 1

 

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.

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

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.

 

 

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!

 

CICTor Votes Logo

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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