Member, College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists
Royal Society of Canada
Principal Investigator
Dr. Emilio I. Alarcón
Biomaterials scientist and chemist designing peptide-based materials that repair heart, cornea and skin, built from day one for clinical translation.
- Full Professor (Tenured), University of Ottawa
- University Research Chair in Peptides for Tissue and Organ Repair
- Principal Investigator, University of Ottawa Heart Institute
- Assistant Dean, Student Experience and Program Development
115+Peer-reviewed articles
6,800+Citations · h-index 41
$30M+Research funding as PI
150+Trainees mentored
5Patents filed · 1 spin-off
50+Invited talks
Recognition
Awards and honours
National recognition for research, leadership and inclusion, from the Royal Society of Canada to the Heart Institute.
Talent Builder Award
Stem Cell Network
Researcher of the Year (Biomedical)
Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
- 2025Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award
- 2024Latin American LeaderGroup of Latin American Ambassadors to Canada
- 2024Early Career Investigator AwardCanadian Biomaterials Society
- 2023Award for Leadership in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity and AccessibilityFaculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
- 2022Outstanding Early Career Researcher in NanotechnologyNanoOntario
- 2019Researcher of the YearUniversity of Ottawa Heart Institute
- 2019Early Researcher AwardGovernment of Ontario
- 2018Global Achievement AwardUniversity of Ottawa Heart Institute
Research excellence
Materials engineered for the operating room
A wet-lab chemistry group embedded in the Division of Cardiac Surgery Research since 2014, working side by side with surgeons so every material is designed with the patient in mind.
Injectable human collagen that repairs the infarcted heart
The first injectable recombinant human collagen matrices shown to limit adverse remodelling and improve cardiac function after a heart attack, now protected by an issued patent family.
A spray-on cardiac patch, no sutures needed
A nanoengineered patch that forms in place on the heart's surface and delivers protected stem cells, plus electroconductive materials that restore lost signalling.
Light-activated peptides that gel on demand
Fully synthetic peptides that set under low-energy visible light, with no added crosslinker. One platform repairs three soft tissues, tuned simply by sequence.
LuzCornea: rebuilding thinning corneas
An injectable, light-activated material that restores corneal thickness and curvature. Now in a CIHR-funded commercialization program and the basis of the spin-off REKUPERA.
Open-access devices any lab can build
BEaTS-α and BEaTS-β bioreactors and a hand-held device that prints small vascular grafts, all released under open licences and rebuilt by laboratories worldwide.
Five patents and a biotech spin-off
Three issued or published patents and two under review cover injectable hydrogels, light-activated peptides, delivery devices and an extrusion nozzle for miniature grafts.
Track record
Funding, leadership and mentorship
Selected active funding
More than $30M secured as Principal Investigator.
- NFRF TransformationNext frontier in regenerative medicine · Co-PI · 2026–2032
- NSERC CREATE: INTBIOTECHTraining in biomedical technologies · PI · 2022–2028
- CIHR Project Grant: LuzCorneaPI · 2025–2028
- NSERC Discovery GrantNanoengineered materials for tissue repair · PI · 2023–2028
- CFI John R. Evans Leaders FundPeptide-based therapeutics · PI · 2022–2024
Academic leadership
Shaping graduate training at the Faculty of Medicine.
- Assistant Dean, Student Experience and Program DevelopmentGraduate and Postdoctoral Studies · 2025–present
- Director, Clinical Science and Translational Medicine Graduate Program2025–present
- Director, INTBIOTECH–CREATEInterdisciplinary Training in Biomedical Technologies · 2022–present
- Treasurer, Canadian Biomaterials Society2024–present
- Director, Biochemistry Graduate Program2022–2025
Mentorship
More than 5,000 students taught in the classroom.
- 8Postdoctoral fellows trained
- 10PhD graduates
- 10MSc graduates
- 100+Undergraduate, Honours and medical students
Five former team members now lead their own research groups as faculty. Trainees have held Banting and Best CGS, NSERC doctoral and endowed postdoctoral awards.
Community engagement
Science that opens doors
A long-standing advocate for accessibility in the life sciences, putting research in front of the public and building tools anyone can use. Work featured by CTV News, CBC, NSERC and Heart & Stroke.
BEaTS Research Radio
Founder and host since 2019. More than 270 episodes where early-career scientists explain their work in plain language.
Listen nowAccessibility leadership
Chair of the Royal Society of Canada Working Group on Anti-Ableism and Accessibility, and former member of CIHR's External Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Systemic Ableism.
Accessibility in Action
Principal Investigator of an Ontario Ministry of Education project now scaling across the province, and of a pilot for accessible blood-pressure monitors for people with low vision.
Open science
Open files and code for every lab device, and an open-access textbook on reading scientific papers, published in English and French.
Young scientists
Three articles for high-school readers in Frontiers for Young Minds, mentoring of high-school students, and the COVID-SPECTRUM and BioNTERM online series.
Latin America and beyond
Recognized as a Latin American Leader in 2024, and leading a United Nations University workshop on low-cost bioprinting for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Selected publications
Recent highlights
- 2026Mechanically stable and tunable photoactivated peptide-based hydrogels for soft tissue adhesionAdvanced Functional Materials · Front cover
- 2025Miniaturized devices for on-the-spot generation of small-diameter vascular graftsAdvanced Materials Technologies · Front cover
- 2024Multipurpose on-the-spot gelling peptide-based engineered materials for skin, cornea, and heart repairAdvanced Functional Materials · Front cover
- 2022Nanoengineered spray-on cardiac patch as a therapeutic for treating myocardial infarctionACS Nano · Inside cover
- 2019Injectable human recombinant collagen matrices limit adverse remodeling and improve cardiac function after myocardial infarctionNature Communications
Interested in joining the lab or collaborating?
We welcome graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and clinical partners.