{"id":2966,"date":"2019-04-24T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.porticomagazine.ca\/?p=2966"},"modified":"2020-10-28T14:40:11","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T18:40:11","slug":"skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are lab studies \u2013 and then there\u2019s personal experience. As a research scientist and co-founder at Veriphy Skincare<\/a> in Guelph, University of Guelph graduate Carley Miki spends her days testing the fledgling company\u2019s beauty products. \u201cA lot of science goes into skin care,\u201d says Miki, who graduated in 2012 in the inaugural cohort of the University\u2019s nanoscience program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, some of her best informal testing happens when she looks in the mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Veriphy\u2019s
Veriphy\u2019s line of skin care products contains nanoparticles discovered in the lab of U of G physicist John Dutcher. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Miki has used the company\u2019s product triad \u2013 moisturizer, facial serum and eye cream \u2013 every day since Veriphy was launched last summer. The result? \u201cI\u2019ve noticed a big difference through this winter. Normally my skin is so dry and this winter it\u2019s keeping healthy through all this crazy weather we\u2019ve been getting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call it professional and personal validation for a product line whose active ingredient was discovered by physics professor John Dutcher, Miki\u2019s former lab supervisor during her studies at U of G. That ingredient \u2013 produced under the trade name PhytoSpherix \u2013 consists of glycogen nanoparticles that retain water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutcher, holder of a Canada Research Chair in Soft Matter and Biological Physics, found those particles in sweet corn in 2008. A year later, he launched Mirexus Biotechnologies to explore applications in cosmetics, food supplements and drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That same year, Miki arrived from Kingsville, Ont., to begin her undergrad in the University\u2019s brand-new nanoscience program directed by Dutcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, she hadn\u2019t envisioned working with cosmetics. Miki just wanted to pursue her interest in STEM disciplines, perhaps influenced by her dad, who had studied physics before becoming a math teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was attracted by what she describes as U of G\u2019s cutting-edge nanoscience program that meshed aspects of engineering, chemistry and physics. \u201cI like working with them all,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you start blending fields, you get some interesting science out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the third summer of her undergrad, she worked in Dutcher\u2019s MacNaughton Building lab on flow properties of his nano-based materials. \u201cThat solidified for me that I enjoyed working in the lab,\u201d says Miki, who saw results from that initial work published in a physics journal last year.
After completing her master\u2019s degree in physics at McMaster University in 2014, she returned to Guelph. By then, Dutcher was working on taking PhytoSpherix to market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mirexus and Veriphy are now housed in a 12,000-square-foot facility opened in 2018 in Guelph\u2019s Hanlon Creek Business Park. Besides skin care applications, Mirexus aims to develop markets for its nanoparticles in nutraceuticals and drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with Veriphy\u2019s product formulator and co-op students from U of G and other schools, Miki has studied anti-aging and moisture retention properties of PhytoSpherix. The company plans to add a new cleanser and mask to its product line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well, Miki works on potential biomedical applications for phytoglycogen under Glysantis, a Mirexus subsidiary. Alter the formulation of PhytoSpherix, she says, and it affects the skin in different ways. She\u2019s looking at use of the product for immune-based skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis and contact dermatitis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still work closely with John Dutcher\u2019s group on fundamental properties of phytoglycogen,\u201d says Veriphy president Alison Crumblehulme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not the company\u2019s only ongoing tie with the University. In 2018, the inaugural Veriphy Skincare Scholarship for Women in STEM was awarded to first-year science student Grace Coleman. The new annual award is intended to encourage young women to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at U of G.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worth $1,000, the funding came at a good time for Coleman, who arrived last fall from her hometown Halifax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am solely responsible for paying for my own education,\u201d she says. \u201cThe Veriphy scholarship is part of the much-appreciated funding I need to get to the Class of 2022 finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Dutcher, the award is \u201cthe whole full circle. It\u2019s nice that activity that started in the lab can actually help to enhance the education of up-and-coming students. A new scholarship is always a good thing, and to have it come from technology discovered at the University of Guelph is really quite special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past February, Veriphy\u2019s eye cream was chosen as tops in 2018 by Toronto-based Fashion magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduate Carley Miki tests nanotech skincare products on her own skin, with impressive results. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[478,477],"yoast_head":"\nSkin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Graduate Carley Miki tests nanotech skincare products on her own skin, with impressive results.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-24T18:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-28T18:40:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/carley-miki.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Portico Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/carley-miki.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/carley-miki.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"Carley Miki is a research scientist at Veriphy Skincare in Guelph.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/\",\"name\":\"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up -\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-24T18:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-28T18:40:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/ad735acac2eccbc0069f79d23598f533\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/main-page\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/ad735acac2eccbc0069f79d23598f533\",\"name\":\"Portico Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46b428721fd31a9d9bde7e15d8054af3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46b428721fd31a9d9bde7e15d8054af3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Portico Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/author\/staff\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up -","og_description":"Graduate Carley Miki tests nanotech skincare products on her own skin, with impressive results.","og_url":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/","article_published_time":"2019-04-24T18:07:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-28T18:40:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/carley-miki.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Portico Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/","name":"","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/carley-miki.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/carley-miki.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"Carley Miki is a research scientist at Veriphy Skincare in Guelph."},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/","name":"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up -","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2019-04-24T18:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-28T18:40:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/ad735acac2eccbc0069f79d23598f533"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2019\/04\/skin-deep-nanoscience-moves-from-research-lab-to-start-up-cosmetics-company\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"","item":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/main-page\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Skin Deep: Nanoscience moves from research lab to start-up"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/ad735acac2eccbc0069f79d23598f533","name":"Portico Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46b428721fd31a9d9bde7e15d8054af3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46b428721fd31a9d9bde7e15d8054af3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Portico Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/author\/staff\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2966"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3223,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2966\/revisions\/3223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}