Nanomaterials and nanorobotics the focus of new research partnership

Ottawa, ON – April 22, 1004 – The federal government has created a new organization called the NRC/CIHR Science and Technology Convergence for Health Innovation Partnership that will collaborate on three new health research projects worth $3.1 million in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, over the next three years. The projects will support Canadian researchers in exploring leading edge developments in the fields of nanomaterials and nanorobotics as applied to health and regenerative medicine, in biophotonics as applied in health, and in diagnostic imaging.

“The NRC/CIHR initiative demonstrates the Government’s commitment to enhancing the health care available to Canadians, improving our nation’s innovation performance, and advancing the commercialization of health research,” says Lucienne Robillard, minister of industry.

The partnership will support three research projects over three years:

– Francois Auger, Universit Laval and Teodor Veres of the NRC-Industrial Materials Institute (NRC-IMI) in Boucherville, QC, will conduct research relating to the convergence between biology and soft nanofabrication;

– Cecil Rorabeck, University of Western Ontario and Ben Luan of the NRC-Integrated Manufacturing Technologies (NRC-IMTI) in London, ON, will focus on new materials for hip prosthesis; and,

– Xi Yang, University of Manitoba and Valerian Kupriyanov of the NRC-Institute for Biodiagnostics (NRC-IBD) in Winnipeg, MN, will work with near-infrared, thermal and magnetic resonance imaging technology to study non-invasive detection of two major cardiac diseases ischemia and infarction.