Toronto Funding at the Frontier: hosted by ARIA and Nucleate Canada

We are gathering Toronto’s most ambitious scientists, AI engineers, hard-tech founders, and technical operators who are pursuing research at the edge of what is possible.

UK’s Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) is coming to Toronto to establish a relationship between Canadian scientific excellence and world-class, high-risk capital.

Join us alongside Rotman Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Association (REVCA) and Impact Consulting Group Rotman at the Rotman School of Management for an evening exploring how ambitious science gets funded, and learn how exceptional technical leaders can shape entirely new research directions.

We will begin with a short introduction to ARIA, followed by lightning talks from our peers, researchers and founders working on ambitious technical problems before continuing the conversation over food and drinks.

What is ARIA?

The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) is the UK's high-risk, high-reward R&D funding agency, created to unlock scientific and technological breakthroughs by supporting research that is too ambitious, speculative, or interdisciplinary to pursue elsewhere.

Instead of traditional committees, ARIA operates through Programme Directors: Exceptional scientific and technical leaders who spot overlooked opportunities, define bold technical visions, and bring together the people and projects needed to pursue them.

Why This Matters for You?

ARIA funds high-risk R&D to both academics and startups. Five of their team members will be in the room, alongside Toronto's deep-tech and life science community.

ARIA will start recruiting its third cohort of Programme Directors, with applications opening in August 2026 for a May 2027 start.

A night among peers, a curated assembly of Canada’s academic research chairs and frontier researchers from our very own Universities alongside our friends from ARIA.

Who should attend?

This event is intended for deeply technical subject matter experts who:

Have experience leading ambitious, outcome-driven scientific or technical work

Enjoy uncovering non-obvious approaches to difficult problems

Care about shaping the future of science and technology

May be interested in becoming a future ARIA Programme Director or applying for ARIA's funding

Schedule

17:00-17:30 | Arrival, food & drinks

17:30-17:35 | Welcome from Nucleate Canada

17:35-18:00 | What is ARIA? Programme Directors and funding opportunities

18:00-18:35 | Lightning talks from researchers and founders

18:35-20:00 | Food, drinks & networking

Speakers

Dan Giles is a Science and Technology Lead at the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and an Honorary Associate Professor at University College London (UCL). As the technical lead for ARIA's forecasting tipping points programme, his work sits at the frontier of climate modelling. At UCL, he is a theme lead for the Met Office Academic Partnership. Holding a PhD in Applied Mathematics, his research fuses machine learning and high-performance computing to enhance complex ocean and atmospheric models.

Dr. Tamorah Lewis is a physician-scientist, the Sellers Endowed Chair in Pharmacology & Pharmacogenetics, and Division Head of Clinical Pharmacology at SickKids. As an active NICU clinician, her pioneering research investigates the intersection between ontogeny and pharmacogenetic effects focusing on population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions in neonates for common use and under development drugs. She is also a prominent advocate for health equity and biomedical diversity.

Dr. Bogumil J. Karas is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Western University and the CEO of Designer Microbes Inc. He is also an R&D Creator (ARIA grant recipient) on the synthetic plants programme. A pioneer in synthetic biology, his research focuses on large-scale genome engineering and developing novel methods for transferring and manipulating whole natural and synthetic chromosomes.

Dr. Gabriel Siebiger is a physician, working towards his PhD, and Research Fellow at the Latner Thoracic Research Laboratories within the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. Mentored by Dr. Marcelo Cypel, his pioneering research focuses on expanding the lung transplant donor pool through Ex-Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) and mitochondrial transplantation. He recently showcased his work in organ preservation to Mark Carney, highlighting the frontier of Canadian medical innovation.

Dr. Sushant Singh is the CEO and Co-Founder of VRiT, a Nucleate alumni company building a dual-use platform for severe skin wounds. A UofT postdoctoral fellow, his work centers on INSITE™, a semi-robotic bioprinting system delivering regenerative therapies at the point of care. By replacing autografts with off-the-shelf cell therapies, his technology aims to revolutionize global wound care infrastructure. He recently won the 2026 UofT Desjardins Startup Prize and is a BetaKit "Most Ambitious" 2026 Honouree.

Dr. Sean Caffrey is the Executive Director of the Acceleration Consortium at the University of Toronto and a recipient of the President’s Excellence Award. Combining a PhD in Microbial Genomics with an MBA, he builds interdisciplinary teams and strategic partnerships to scale global research networks. Previously he led major institutional initiatives including BioZone and helped launch the Emerging Pandemics and Infections Consortium. Notably, he was instrumental in securing a historic $200 million grant to advance self-driving labs, specializing in translating deep-tech discoveries into high-impact applications.

Dr. David Sinton is a Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and the Canada Research Chair in Energy and Fluids at the University of Toronto. An award-winning researcher, he serves as the Academic Director of the Climate Positive Energy Initiative and Interim Director of the Lawson Climate Institute. His research group pioneers fluid systems for energy efficiency and CO2 capture and conversion. Translating his discoveries into industry, he co-founded deep-tech startups CERT Systems Inc., Interface Fluidics Ltd. and FL01.