It’s a significant honour as those appointed to become new members of the RSC College represent the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. They are recognized as having already demonstrated a high level of achievement within their respective fields. Membership lasts for seven years.
An expert in materials design and biomedical devices, Dr. Alarcón specializes in developing and characterizing bio-inspired hybrid nanomaterials and new technologies, including 3D bioprinting for regenerative therapies. He’s the director of the Bio-nanomaterials Chemistry and Engineering Laboratory at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology.
In recent years, he and his thriving team have accomplished a range of exciting projects that could eventually impact many lives. Most recently, his team has published cutting-edge research on peptide-based hydrogels that will close skin wounds, deliver therapeutics to damaged heart muscle, as well as reshape and heal injured corneas.
Dr. Alarcón says he’s thrilled to be elected to the RSC College and is excited for the opportunities it will provide him to help broaden understanding of what it means to a medical scientist with disabilities. He is on the autism spectrum.
“When I received the news, I told my wife – with a big smile – that I would be producing a series of videos about scientists with disabilities. This is part of what I will work on as a new scholar at RSC,” he says.
It’s work that he’s long been passionate about for a slew of reasons – not the least because he has a beloved son with both Down’s Syndrome and autism.
Dr. Alarcón has been working to make a positive difference in fostering more diversity to academic medical science and biomedical development in various ways.
Here’s just a few examples: He’s a co-director of the INterdisciplinary Training in BIOmedical TECHnologies (INTBIOTECH), an initiative of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) that offers equitable opportunities to support students and researchers. He’s involved in the CIHR External Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Systemic Ableism. And he started BEaTS Research Radio, a science podcast which connects early-career scientists and investigators and emphasizes diversity in all its forms.
He's also spearheading the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Social Justice Committee of the new Brain Heart Interconnectome, a transformative $109M grant that the University of Ottawa was awarded last year to explore the underlying intricacies and links of brain-heart conditions.
Born in the Chilean capital of Santiago, Dr. Alarcón received his BSc in Chemistry at Universidad de Santiago de Chile. He earned his MSc and PhD at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Dr. Alarcón next moved to Ottawa with his wife and undertook post-doctoral training at the University of Ottawa funded by a Chilean scholarship for promising researchers. He began his independent research career in 2014-15, when he was recruited to uOttawa/UOHI.
How has being based within Ottawa’s research ecosystem helped him realize his professional goals?
“The University of Ottawa Heart Institute and the Faculty of Medicine have played a vital role in supporting my team and career development,” he says. “Despite not being a clinician, my experience at UOHI has underscored the fact that scientific innovations, devoid of compassion and caring, yield little impact.”