NSERC CREATE Training Program for Controlled Release Leaders (ContRoL)

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Controlled release technology, the combination of a bioactive agent (e.g. a drug, pesticide, or nutrient) with a material that enables the bioactive to be delivered at the right dose over the right period of time, has revolutionized multiple industries. Controlled release products in medicine and agriculture have been used commercially since the 1950s; however, recent developments in our ability to fabricate advanced materials, to understand how to overcome various biological barriers that traditionally limit effective bioactive delivery, and to use accelerated design strategies (e.g. statistics, machine learning, and high-content screening) to rapidly optimize materials for specific applications collectively offer tremendous potential for designing next-generation controlled release vehicles. However, controlled release professionals are typically trained in one of three traditional disciplines (pharmaceutical sciences, chemical/biomedical engineering, or health sciences) that fail to give the comprehensive training foundation required to exploit this new diverse knowledge base. The NSERC CREATE Training Program for Controlled Release Leaders (ContRoL) aims to attract and train outstanding HQP with this broad-based perspective by establishing a world-leading training program focused on the integrated and accelerated development of next-generation controlled release vehicles. Through a mix of design thinking and leadership-focused courses, lab exchanges, industry experiences, workshops in industry-ready skills development and job readiness, entrepreneurship online modules, practical experience in multiple modes of scientific communication, and a unique integration with the leading Canadian non-profit organizations in the field (the Canadian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society), ContRoL will provide trainees at all levels with the technical and interdisciplinary skill foundation for meeting the high demand for professionals in this field. Trainees from this program will lead efforts to make patient therapeutics safer and more effective, facilitate precision agriculture to ensure food security, create functional foods for preventing disease, and design biomedical devices for long-term disease management.