Derek Toms's Biography

Derek Toms, PostDoctoral Fellow, University of Calgary

Dr. Derek Toms is an interdisciplinary scientist with expertise in cellular and molecular biology, tissue engineering and bioinformatics. He is presently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Calgary in the Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, where he focuses on developing scalable cell-based therapies for the treatment of diabetes. His investigation of oxygen diffusion in 3D cell culture has supported commercial bioreactor development that is necessary for generating large numbers of uniform cellular aggregates to scale up translational research.

Dr. Toms continually looks for unique ways to develop and incorporate computer sciences in biological research; he is presently integrating mathematically-modeled experimental design with liquid handling robotics to mass-produce complex tissues from stem cells. By developing these innovative tools, Dr. Toms aims to improve our ability to analyze complex biological systems using a process engineering approach that models and simulates natural phenomena to ultimately provide novel insight to understand biological trends for the benefit of society.