This annual competition provides SickKids researchers with targeted funding and strategic support to advance promising discoveries toward commercialization. By helping to de-risk early-stage projects, the program aims to attract investment, enable partnerships, and lay the groundwork for future life science ventures.

On October 8, 2025, finalists presented their proposals in a Dragon’s Den–style Pitch Day, where an expert panel of commercial and scientific reviewers evaluated each project’s innovation, feasibility, and potential for real-world impact.

After a highly competitive process, the following researchers were selected as this year’s recipients:

Dale Podolsky | Cleft & Craniofacial Paediatric Surgeon & Associate Scientist: Streamlining a Novel Minimally Invasive Cranial Bone Cutting Tool

Robert Hamilton | Staff Physician, Cardiology & Senior Associate Scientist: Congenital Heart Block in Autoimmune-Related Maternal Conditions (CHARM)

Christopher Pearson | Senior Scientist, Genetics & Genome Biology: Developing AI-Screened Slipped-DNA Ligands that Target Expanded Repeats for Therapeutic Benefit

These projects demonstrate the ingenuity and translational excellence that fuel innovation at SickKids. Stay tuned for more success stories as IP&C continues to accelerate SickKids innovations from discovery to impact.

IP&C’s Proof of Principle (PoP) Grant Competition helps SickKids researchers bridge the gap between discovery and commercialization. By providing funding, guidance, and access to IP&C’s commercialization expertise, the competition supports innovations that have the potential to transform healthcare through partnership, licensing, or start-up creation.

We sincerely thank our panelists for their time, expertise, and thoughtful evaluations. Their insights were instrumental in guiding the selection of this year’s PoP Grant recipients.

Commercial Reviewers:

• Ines Holzbaur | Founder & Managing Partner, AmorChem
• Ido Kaminsky | Director – Technology & Venture Development, TIAP
• Evelyn Pau | Operating Principal, Amplitude Ventures
• Anick Auger | Executive Director, Head of Pharmacology, Frontier Discovery
• Jack Lee | Senior Director – Capital Access, OBIO

Scientific Reviewers from SickKids:

• Olena Zhulyn | Scientist, Developmental, Stem Cell & Cancer Biology
• Madeline Hayes | Scientist, Developmental, Stem Cell & Cancer Biology
• Yaron Finkelstein | Physician, Emergency Medicine & Senior Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences
• Mathieu Lemaire | Physician, Nephrology & Scientist, Cell & Systems Biology