A $1.2-million gift from the Canerector Foundation will support research at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment for Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS), a group of rare and often debilitating genetic conditions that affect collagen, the university’s magazine reported in its latest edition.
The donation will expand professor Laurent Bozec’s research, which uses atomic force microscopy to explore structural differences in collagen, particularly for the hypermobile subtype (HEDS) — the most common form of EDS and the only one without a known genetic marker.
Susan Hawkins, president of the Canerector Foundation, said the donation is deeply personal. Her daughter struggled with pain and misdiagnoses for years before learning she had HEDS and receiving specialized neurosurgeries in the United States.
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Bozec’s five-year research project, in collaboration with the GoodHope EDS Clinic at the University Health Network, aims to expand patient recruitment, incorporate animal models, and eventually receive skin biopsies from international sources.
“This is about giving hope,” Bozec said. “Understanding collagen structure could revolutionize how EDS is diagnosed and treated.”
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