Bioengineering seeks to apply the engineer’s expertise and problem-solving approach to the very building blocks of life – biomolecules (such as DNA, RNA, and proteins), cells, and tissues – to improve individual and collective health.
Its impact on global health is significant: synthetic biology, for instance, is critical in the development of new vaccines (most recently COVID-19-related), new drugs (including cancer treatments), and the drug-testing process more broadly. In these and many other ways, bioengineering has a vital role to play in the future of global healthcare.
This is the context that motivated a recent gift from Joanne Rémillard-Furino and her family to McGill’s Faculty of Engineering to establish the Salvatore Furino Chair in Biomolecular, Cellular and Tissue Engineering. The gift pays tribute to her late husband, Sal Furino, BEng’72, who passed away in June 2017 from pancreatic cancer.
The creation of the Chair will allow the Faculty of Engineering to expand research and teaching in biomolecular, cellular, and tissue engineering, serving as a catalyst to advance knowledge and enable innovation for vaccines and drugs, as well as to develop cancer prevention, treatment, and cures. Building capacity in this cutting-edge area is essential to enhancing disease prevention and detection, and not just fixing sickness after it occurs, says Jim Nicell, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.
“Engineers have a key role to play in advancing healthcare tools and practices. The Salvatore Furino Chair in Biomolecular, Cellular and Tissue Engineering is a major step forward in the Faculty of Engineering’s ambition to improve human health through the treatment and diagnosis of cancers and preventable illnesses,” he adds.
The multidisciplinary nature of bioengineering allows for a unique perspective on problem-solving that can open new paths to discovering innovative and practical solutions within engineering, healthcare, and more.
“Our bioengineers see biology and biological structures, such as biomolecules, cells and tissues, as mostly functioning well, but at times in need of repair through solutions such as mechanical or electrical devices, biochemical reactors or computers,” explains Professor Dan Nicolau, Chair of the Department of Bioengineering.
Legacy for engineering health solutions
Joanne Rémillard-Furino says the gift of an Endowed Chair in her husband’s name is meant to honour his giving spirit and practical nature. “Sal was a generous man who always tried to find a solution to a problem. It was his personality and his career,” says Joanne, his spouse of 41 years.
“Because of Sal’s life work as an engineer and his education at McGill, I’m in a position to do something impactful. We hope our support of bioengineering research at McGill will one day help to find a cure for some of the cancers, and especially pancreatic cancer, one of the most difficult to treat.”
As it turns out, the transformative discovery and accelerated development of a life-saving mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 – spearheaded by a McGill engineering graduate – helped to inspire Joanne’s gift. “One of the founders of Moderna, Dr. Noubar Afeyan, was a chemical engineering graduate from McGill. Last year, I listened to a conversation on Zoom in which he described his journey and how [Moderna] developed the vaccine. It [is] a great contribution to the world. I decided that a bioengineering Chair at McGill would be a meaningful way to help out,” she says.
Sal Furino, who emigrated to Montreal from Italy at the age of six, viewed his engineering education at McGill as a precious gift that opened doors to a successful career and a better life. As a civil engineering student, Sal had ambition and drive, fuelled by gratitude for the sacrifices his parents made for their children. “Sal was the youngest of four, and the first one in his extended family to attend university. He was a bright guy, who was very mathematically oriented, and engineering interested him. He wanted to make his family proud and their sacrifices worthwhile,” says Joanne.
Sal and Joanne met after he graduated and had been recruited by H.J. O’Connell Ltd., a Montreal-based construction firm that served the mining and energy industries in remote regions. He persevered, fulfilling his ambitions and dreams through a highly successful, 40-year career. Sal helped expand the firm into a large and profitable business, and had a strong desire to give back.
Before retiring, he established the Furino-Rémillard Scholarship and Furino-Rémillard SURE Award in Sustainable Engineering. “Sal was proud of being a high-achieving student and grateful for the outstanding education he’d received. He was motivated to help the university and engineering students. They had a special place in his heart,” says Joanne, who also saw these gifts as his tribute to her. “I was touched and grateful that he put my name on the awards as well as his.”
Support for bioengineering research and health applications
Joanne would like the gift in her husband’s name to contribute to a brighter, healthier future for others.
“Sal’s life was cut short at 67. My family and I want to do something to spare others from that grief, sadness, and loss. We have every confidence in McGill and believe that by encouraging and supporting bioengineering research, this can help in developing new imaging techniques and tools for better diagnosis, and new treatments for cancer and other illnesses,” she says.