It’s the little things that count

Roberto Botelho is all about exploring the little things in life. The Ryerson University researcher wants to know more about the microscopic organs that make up a cell – the organelles.

It’s not just knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Botelho – who teaches in the new Faculty of Science’s Chemistry and Biology department – is exploring how these tiny organs work so he and his team of graduate students can better understand the regulation of the immune system. If he unlocks these secrets, it could mean more effective drugs and treatments for people who are suffering from infectious diseases like tuberculosis and autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s.

We’re not just tooting his horn. Botelho has garnered a five-year operating grant worth nearly $500,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to further his research. And the CIHR liked his application so much, it also gave him the prestigious Maud Menten New Principal Investigator Prize for the highest ranked application by a new investigator (with less than five years of experience) in the country.

This award-winner has seen research grow at Ryerson by leaps and bounds since he arrived in 2008, and it’s accelerating. There is a great sense of optimism at the newly minted Faculty of Science, which is placing an even greater focus on nurturing innovative research.

Botelho and his team aren’t the only ones involved in groundbreaking exploration. Ryerson has experienced the largest growth in research of any Ontario university for 2011 according to Research Infosource Inc. The almost $30 million in sponsored funding is a 31 per cent increase from the year before – a massive jump. As a result, Ryerson has been named a “University of the Year” in the undergraduate category. It’s a testament to the thriving research culture at Ryerson.