CHUS Research Centre inaugurates new wing

Sherbrooke, QC – The new wing of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS)’s research centre celebrated its inauguration in late February. The expansion doubles the space dedicated to research at the institution.

The new wing houses preclinical-imaging research, a clustered work area for clinical-research staff, offices and laboratories for researchers in the diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular complications thrust as well as offices for the centre’s administrative offices and the CHUS human-research ethics committee.

Initiated in June 2010, the first phase of the research centre’s expansion project consisted in shifting the road running in front of the centre to accommodate the expansion and to provide for installing a second cyclotron. The centre’s expansion—representing nearly 7000 m²—began in summer 2012 and was completed at the end of 2013.

“The last phase of this project consists in redesigning existing areas mainly to add spaces dedicated to clinical research, which will be completed in summer 2014,” said Dr. William D. Fraser, scientific director of the CHUS’s research centre. “A total of 900 people, including 220 researchers, 500 students, and more than 180 professionals are working,” he added, “to ensure that research invariably translates into benefits for patients.”

Expenditure on the order of $31.7 million went into building the new wing and into the current redesigning of spaces dedicated to research. The funding came primarily from the Quebec’s provincial government, which provided $25.2 million. The remainder came from the CHUS foundation, which contributed $6 million through the Campagne Ensemble fund-raising campaign held in cooperation with the Université de Sherbrooke with support from the City of Sherbrooke as well as from the research centre, which put in $500,000.