Michael J. Fox addresses the media and introduces his Parkinson's disease foundation at the MaRS Centre in Toronto Ont. on September 24, 2009. Each time University of Windsor graduate student Katie Facecchia sees actor Michael J. Fox on television, talking about his life-and-death battle with Parkinson's disease, she "can't help but think — just hang on, there'll be something soon."

Introducing his powerful Parkinson's disease foundation into his native Canada today, actor Michael J. Fox pledged that the research-based charity would help boost all groups working in the field.

Michael J. Fox introduced his Parkinson's disease foundation at the MaRS Centre in Toronto today.

Fox's group has poured $150 million (U.S.) into international stem cell research and cutting edge neuroscience since it was formed in 2000.

In Toronto in 2006, Bly attended the “Global Connect Conference” hosted by obscure non-profits CONNECT and MaRS, where his “Science”Blogs won the award of “Best Science to Speak.” The affiliations of the other panelists were quite telling.

At the corner of College St. and University Ave. sits a growing monument to this kind of original thinking. MaRS – short for Medical and Related Sciences – is all about a building becoming much more than the sum of its users and programming. Already, MaRS has become a global leader in biotech research; it has certainly become a city builder, creating jobs and spawning companies; and, of course, it does all this by being a creative cauldron – just like the film festival.

What is this creative economy? It is an economic system that relies most on ideas to serve as its major capital, instead of services or physical capital. Take Google for example. In an economy based on ideas, the potentialfor breakaway successes like Google is far greater.

According to Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class: And How it’s Transforming Work, Leisure,Community and Everyday Life, members of the creative class are very different from those who are employed in the manufacturing, service or agriculture industries. They contribute to our economy primarily by producing the new forms and ideas exploited by our various industries and decision-makers.   What Florida terms the “super creative core” of this new class includes “scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and novelists, artists, entertainers, actors, designersand architects, as well as the ‘thought leadership’ of modern society: non-fiction writers, editors, cultural figures, think-tank researchers, analysts and other opinion-makers.”

What sets a creative city apart from a non-creative city? Florida proposes that it is the “three Ts of economic development”: technology, talent and tolerance.

From Venice to MaRs party in celebration of Italian filmmakers (guests include Tilda Swinton), MaRs Discovery District, 8:30 p.m.

Medicine 2.0 kicks off today (Thursday September 17th, 2009) at the MaRS Centre in Toronto.

Consumer empowerment, patient-physician relationship, and sociotechnical issues1:30-3:00pm MaRS CR2, Medicine 2.0 Congress, Toronto (Sept17, 2009)

"Good Intentions and Bad Investments: EHealth and the Reality of Market Forces"

"Good Intentions and Bad Investments: EHealth and the Reality of Market Forces"Presenters: Trevor D Van Mierio (Evolution Health- formerly V-CC Systems; Toronto/San Francisco, Canada), Rachel Fournir (Evolution Health, Toronto/ San Francisco, Canada), Breanne John (Evolution Health, Toronto, Canada)This presentation took more of a generic approach and discussed the state of eHealth in general without focusing on a specific product.

Film Italia and the Italian Trade Commission's annual TIFF party took on a  chameleon theme set at the MaRS Discovery Centre.

The lower-key festival event, held at the MaRS Discovery District, attracted more than 400 people and took on a chameleon theme and slogan: "Try on the colours of Italian cinema."

“We try every year to shock people and to be a novelty,” said Italian trade commissioner Paolo Ponti of the party, which he planned in collaboration with Graham. Ponti said MaRS was chosen as a venue this year because of its melding of old and new and its representation of innovation. (The centre is known for leadership in science and business research.)