Zoe Hilton and Milica Radisic (Radisic by Sylvie Lie/Shoot Studio)
Milica Radisic and Zoe Hilton receive Governor General's Innovation Awards
Published: May 15, 2025
Milica Radisic, a senior scientist in the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, and professor in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, and Zoe Hilton, senior research scientist at the Waypoint Research Institute and professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, have been recognized with 2025 Governor General's Innovation Awards.
The annual awards recognize exceptional Canadian individuals, teams and organizations for their innovation and contributions in helping to shape our future and positively impact our quality of life.
Radisic was recognized for her development of heart-on-a-chip technology, which is revolutionizing drug testing by modeling human heart disease with patient-specific stem cells.
“Milica Radisic’s heart-on-a-chip technology has been a game-changer in the field of tissue engineering, enabling major advances in the development and testing of pharmaceuticals, and creating new ways to model conditions such as heart disease,” says Christopher Yip, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of the faculty, I congratulate her on this prestigious and well-deserved honour.”
Hilton was honoured as team lead for the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) project, which has developed the world's first data-driven tool for assessing the risk of intimate partner violence.
"The ODARA was born from an academic-researcher partnership formed to respond to the urgent need to turn research into real-world tools that can save lives," Hilton said. "This recognition is a tribute not only to the science behind the ODARA, but also to the professionals who use it every day to protect those at risk and to create safer communities."
