$103M research infrastructure funding for 35 Ontario projects

Toronto, ON – A total of $103.1 million was awarded this week to 35 research projects across Ontario. The funding is through the province’s research infrastructure program, and provides support for lab space, equipment and computer software.

The funding leverages matching investments from 188 partners in industry and other fields.

“The province’s investment will go a long way to support research and attract international talent,” said John Dick, Princess Margaret Hospital and Toronto General Research Institutes senior scientist and research award recipient. “Top-level scientists are in great demand and can work anywhere in the world so it often comes down to finding an environment that substantially supports and encourages their work. Most importantly, they want a strong community of other scientists thereby creating a hotbed of activity where the latest advances, some that have not even been envisioned, can happen.”

“For Ontario to be prosperous tomorrow, we need to invest in the skills, knowledge and creativity of our people today,” said George Smitherman, the province’s deputy premier, in making the announcement. “By supporting new research, Ontarians will benefit from better health-care services, new technologies, a cleaner environment and more opportunities for success.”

Following are the projects that received funding, including the location; institution; lead researcher; project; and provincial funding:

– GTA; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Dr Sylvain Houle; Enhancing the University of Toronto Imaging Research Network; $2,200,000

– GTA; Ryerson University; Dr Michael Kolios; Advanced Biomedical Ultrasound Imaging and Spectroscopy Laboratory; $392,225

– GTA; Ryerson University; Dr Tony Hernandez; Research Infrastructure for Spatial Analysis and Business Geomatics; $424,843

– GTA; Ryerson University; Dr Ling Guan; Centre for Interactive Multimedia Information Mining; $650,000

– GTA; The Hospital for Sick Children; Dr Martin Post; Centre for the Study of Complex Childhood Diseases; $8,228,769

– GTA; The Hospital for Sick Children; Dr Carter Snead III; Centre for the Investigation of Neuroplasticity in Developmental Disorders; $2,960,117

– GTA; University Health Network; Dr Igor Jurisica; Comprehensive Systems Biology Approach to Profiling and Modeling of Cancer; $4,001,041

– GTA; University Health Network; Dr John Dick; Cancer Stem Cell Centre; $4,293,069

– GTA; University Health Network; Dr Richard Weisel; The Regenerative Medicine Project; $7,200,000

– GTA; University Health Network; Dr Pamela Catton; The Electronic Living Laboratory for International Cancer Survivorship Research; $1,200,000

– GTA; University Health Network; Dr Katherine Siminovitch; Disease Genomics: Reduction to Practice; $4,800,000

– GTA; University of Toronto; Dr Charles Mims; An Integrated Centre for Surface and Interfacial Analysis of Advanced Materials; $1,361,065

– GTA; University of Toronto; Dr David Guttman; Centre for Plant Phenogenomics; $2,002,758

– GTA; University of Toronto; Dr Lewis Kay; 800-MHz NMR Spectrometer Enhancement; $531,179

– GTA; University of Toronto; Dr John Polanyi; Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy of Molecular Wires and Corrals; $308,147

– GTA; University of Toronto; Dr Jeffrey Packer; Large-scale Impact and High-Velocity Loading and Sensing Facility for Critical Infrastructure; $3,228,782

– GTA; University of Toronto; Dr Andreas Mandelis; Facility for Advanced Bioacoustophotonics and Biomolecular Microfluidic Photoacoustics; $661,599

– GTA; York University; Dr Laurence Packer; Canadian University Biodiversity Consortium (Ontario component); $306,753

– Guelph; University of Guelph; Dr Jacek Lipkowski; Enhancement of Infrastructure for Bio-electrochemical and Soft Materials Research; $2,797,041

– Guelph; University of Guelph; Dr Paul Garrett; An Innovative Neutron Detector Array for Nuclear Physics Experiments; $665,914

– Guelph; University of Guelph; Dr Stefan Kycia; The Brockhouse X-Ray Diffraction and Scattering Sector at the Canadian Light Source; $5,200,046

– Hamilton; McMaster University; Dr Jamal Deen; Micro- and Nano-systems Laboratory; $4,256,725

– Hamilton; McMaster University; Dr Andrew MacPherson; Systems Biology Centre of Host-intestinal Bacterial Relationships in Health and Disease; $1,614,154

– Hamilton; McMaster University; Dr Stphane Bouchard; Canadian Cyberpsychology and Anxiety Virtual Lab (Ontario component); $67,413

– Hamilton; McMaster University; Dr Gerard Wright; Centre for Microbial Chemical Biology; $7,824,028

– Kingston; Queen’s University; Dr Douglas Munoz; Development of New Assessment Tools for Evaluation of Brain Function and Dysfunction; $7,010,282

– Kingston; Queen’s University; Dr William Pickett; Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture: National Agricultural Industrial Hygiene Laboratory (Ontario component); $33,010

– London; St. Joseph’s Health Care; Dr Frank Prato; Biomedical Multimodality Hybrid Imaging; $9,991,000

– London; The University of Western Ontario; Dr Scott MacDougall-Shackleton; Advanced Facilities for Avian Research Infrastructure for Studies of Avian Physiology, Neurobiology and Behaviour; $3,690,573

– London; The University of Western Ontario; Dr Richard Secco; Regional Facility for Research on Materials at Extreme Pressure and Temperature Conditions; $519,823

– London; The University of Western Ontario; Dr Prudence Allen; National Centre for Audiology; $667,154

– Ottawa; University of Ottawa; Dr Rob Beanlands; Cardiovascular PET Molecular Imaging Program; $3,265,852

– Ottawa; University of Ottawa; Dr Robert Roberts; Development of a Canadian Cardiovascular Genetics Centre; $4,713,346

– Waterloo; University of Waterloo; Dr Michel Fich; Submillimeter Instruments for Astronomy; $1,055,106

– Waterloo; University of Waterloo; Dr Safieddin Safavi-Naeini; Centre for Intelligent Antenna and Radio Systems; $5,016,637