Adnan Sharif broke ground on his interest in plant science research with an undergraduate project on plant immunity in Prof Keiko Yoshioka‘s lab.
He was inspired to move on to graduate studies in the Faculty of Engineering, where he developed sustainable synthetic hydroponic soil. Sharif went on to win Falling Walls Lab Toronto 2024, a pitch competition for students and recent graduates who want to break down barriers..
The prize for Sharif was flight and accommodations in Berlin before his presentation to the annual Falling Walls Science Summit. The Falling Walls Lab event collected 100 students from 58 countries to share their ideas on breaking down walls.
The German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD, took Sharif and his colleagues on tours of research facilities in Berlin’s Freie Universität. Sharif felt these facilities were comparable to the equipment he worked with in Toronto, both in Cell & Systems Biology and Engineering.
Sharif presented his idea in a three-minute presentation and was inspired by hearing the work of other Lab presenters. He was not selected as the overall winner, but several people from the audience approached him after his talk to learn more.
Falling Walls also has additional talks and panels for more developed ideas from key opinion leaders in the Venture, Engage, Breakthrough, Female Science Talents and Circle streams. Sharif remembers in particular talks from Rafael Prieto-Curiel on modelling cartel activity with data science and from Tiange Wang on explaining climate change with food.
At networking events, Sharif gained insights into the business environment in Germany; “Business leaders I spoke with consider that both generative AI and open science are innovations they will have to focus on in the future. Magdalene Skipper had some interesting perspectives on science publisher’s role in Open Science during one of the Round Tables.
“I was struck by the support for SMEs, the Mittelstand, in Germany. I spoke with agricultural investors, including a former minister, who were open to collaborating with Lyrata.” Sharif contrasts this experience with the situation in Canada, “It was harder for me to get started as a founder in Canada without my own personal funds due to the higher cost of capital.
“I was able to get to this point due to the credibility of the University of Toronto. My first funding, my lab space, my colleagues and my letters of support all came from UofT. Whereas in the German market, I don’t feel like the university you come from will dictate those supports.”
Sharif’s future plans include exploring use of his sustainable soil to feed crews in space. Sharif is establishing a collaboration with ARC Plants for Space in Adelaide, Australia to share expertise and experience for this project. This provides partnership opportunities with the City of Brampton; Brampton is a food manufacturing centre, but also home to MDA Space, a mission partner to the global space industry.
Cell & Systems Biology is a sponsor of Falling Walls Lab Toronto, along with Research and Health Science Education at Temerty, Life Sciences Ontario and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.