Backgrounder
August 13, 2007
ONTARIO RESEARCH FUND – RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM
The McGuinty government is helping researchers obtain the tools they need to stay on the forefront of innovation, including lab space, equipment and computer software through the Research Infrastructure program of the Ontario Research Fund. This round of funding under the program will provide $1,760,298 to support 12 world-class projects in Hamilton.
McMaster University
Infrastructure for the Development and Characterization of Advanced Functionally Graded Materials
Driving new automotive developments
Lead researcher: Hatem Zurob
Total project cost: $179,823
Provincial funding: $71,929
Consumer demand and rising costs are powering a worldwide drive to make cars and trucks safer and more fuel-efficient. One of the hottest areas for automotive research is in developing stronger, more lightweight materials. At McMaster University, Dr. Hatem Zurob is using state-of-the-art equipment to develop the next generation of advanced materials that will provide manufacturers with sophisticated design and production options to meet those challenges. These new materials will help Ontario’s auto industry maintain its global leadership in productivity and competitiveness.
Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal System at Tissue and Cellular Levels
Innovative research probes the causes of back pain and osteoarthritis
Lead researcher: Mehran Kasra
Total project cost: $246,134
Provincial funding: $98,372
Back pain, bone fracture and osteoarthritis – some of the most common causes of impairment and disability in Ontario – involve both biological and mechanical factors. At McMaster University, Dr. Mehran Kasra has brought together a team of innovative engineering and medical researchers to focus on the biomechanical causes of back pain and osteoarthritis, both at the cellular and structural levels. The research results will lead to new treatments and preventive measures that will help reduce both the high health-care costs and the tremendous suffering caused by back pain, osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal disorders.
Infrastructure to Quantitatively Analyze and Prospectively Isolate Human Stem Cell Populations
Accelerating the development of treatments derived from stem cell research
Lead researcher: Mick Bhatia
Total project cost: $971,236
Provincial funding: $388,494
Recent stem cell discoveries have created unprecedented opportunities to translate biomedical research into new medical treatments and improvements in patient health. New equipment at the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute will enable scientists under the direction of Dr. Mick Bhatia to accelerate that process through their innovative research studies developed in collaboration with colleagues at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, the BC Cancer Agency and the national Stem Cell Network in Ottawa. Dr. Bhatia’s research program is focused on overcoming barriers to the discovery and development of effective therapies for cancer, spinal cord injuries and degenerative diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Building the Auditory Brain
Understanding how infants learn to hear
Lead researcher: Deda Gillespie
Total project cost: $211,945
Provincial funding: $80,000
Hearing is one of the key tools that infants use to make sense of the world. In some infants, however, disorders in the auditory brain network can lead to the development of dyslexia and learning disabilities. How and why this happens is the focus of cutting-edge research by a team of scientists led by Dr. Deda Gillespie at McMaster University. New equipment will enable the team to launch a technically and scientifically innovative research program that will investigate the development of auditory neural circuits and advance the boundaries of biomedical engineering and neuroscience.
New Cold Water Aquatic Facility to Study the Impacts of Invasive Species on Great Lakes Ecosystem Health
Protecting the safety of our water supply
Lead researcher: Sigal Balshine
Total project cost: $158,683
Provincial funding: $62,000
Lake Ontario, the source of drinking water for one in five Canadians, has been invaded by a new species of non-native fish – the Round Goby. Scientists are concerned about its potential harmful impact on the aquatic environment. To assess the long-term effects of invasive species on the complex Great Lakes aquatic environment, McMaster University is establishing a new, state-of-the-art research facility under the direction of Dr. Sigal Balshine. These studies will provide vital data that will help researchers develop strategies to improve the long-term health of the Great Lakes.
Molecular Basis for the Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease
Searching for better treatment approaches
Lead researcher: Joan Krepinsky
Total project cost: $333,007
Provincial funding: $133,203
Chronic kidney disease, often caused by diabetes or hypertension, can be treated through dialysis or a kidney transplant but effective preventative treatments have yet to be determined. McMaster University’s Dr. Joan Krepinsky is hoping to change that by studying how and why diabetes and hypertension produce the proteins that lead to fibrosis and kidney failure. Working with researchers at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, Dr. Krepinsky’s goal is to identify a pharmacological approach that could inhibit scar protein production. This discovery could lead to effective new drugs to treat kidney disease, reducing health care costs and creating new opportunities for Ontario’s pharmaceutical companies.
Time Domain Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging for Biomedical Applications
Building smart tools to fight cancer
Lead researcher: Qiyin Fang
Total project cost: $317,103
Provincial funding: $120,000
Early detection and diagnosis as well as innovative treatments are critical in the fight against cancer. Scientists at McMaster’s Biophotonics Research Laboratory, in collaboration with clinicians and industrial partners in Hamilton, Toronto and Waterloo, are developing the next generation of minimally invasive diagnostic and screening technologies. These new “smart” instruments will enable non-invasive, real time, in-vivo diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and high content screening of cancer drugs. The results: improved prognosis, reduced health-care costs and the production of innovative new biomedical technologies that can be exported to world markets.
Infrastructure to assess the impact of environmental microbiota on development of the immune system in health and disease
Studying how microbes could keep us healthy
Lead researcher: Kathy McCoy
Total project cost: $691,164
Provincial funding: $276,466
Epidemiologists have found considerable evidence that our exposure to microbes early in life can reduce our susceptibility to allergies or autoimmune diseases as adults. Such findings have given rise to a field known as gnotobiotics, which examines how microbes interact with the immune system, as well as probiotics, the development of beneficial microbes to treat or manage diseases. Kathy McCoy, an assistant professor in McMaster University’s Faculty of Medicine, is outfitting a laboratory to study the specific biochemical mechanisms that cause microbes to elicit an immune response. This work will give Ontario a more prominent share of the growing scientific attention that is being paid to the role of microbes in understanding how to deal with such challenging health problems as inflammatory bowel disease or diabetes.
Free-space Optical Communications Algorithms Laboratory
Using lasers to go wireless
Lead researcher: Steve Hranilovic
Total project cost: $259,216
Provincial funding: $100,000
A cost-effective, portable laser connection now makes it possible to provide high speed data communications between computers over a distance of several kilometres, eliminating some of the technical and regulatory problems associated with conventional wireless networks. Some Ontario firms are already establishing their leadership in this new technique, called free-space optics (FSO), which is finding markets in places such as downtown offices that want to set up easy connections between nearby buildings. McMaster University engineer Steve Hranilovic is looking at ways of further enhancing the capabilities of FSO. He will be working with a commercial vendor of such equipment on an experimental link established between two parts of the campus, studying new design elements in a realistic setting.
A New Environmental Toxology Laboratory and Zebrafish Facility to Study the Impacts of Contaminants on Vertabrate Aquatic Species.
Informing public policy on water quality
Lead researcher: Joanna Wilson
Total project cost: $277,976
Provincial funding: $100,000
Among the most fundamental needs met by our communities is the handling of water supplies, both for human consumption and the treatment of waste. This important function requires accurate, up-to-date information about the nature of contaminants that could present a threat to health, and the quality of the local environment. McMaster University biologist Joanna Wilson will be contributing to our understanding of such threats, through a new facility that uses zebrafish to study the impact of common pollutants like pharmaceuticals in underwater habitats. She and her team will follow these fish through their entire life cycle, exploring aspects of how synthetic chemicals can affect their health, reproduction, and development.
Visual Design and Analysis Laboratory
Seeing complex software in a new way
Lead researcher: Thomas Maibaum
Total project cost: $257,539
Provincial funding: $100,000
Increasingly powerful computer programs have become an integral part of our lives, controlling everything from personal entertainment systems to the most critical components of automobiles and medical equipment. As this software becomes more sophisticated, it also becomes more complicated, making it much more difficult to find and fix problems within a growing mass of digital code. McMaster University software engineer Tom Maibaum, who holds the Canada Research Chair in the Foundations of Software Engineering, is creating a laboratory dedicated to confronting this challenge. The Visual Design and Analysis Laboratory (VIDALAB) will feature a high-resolution, wall-sized screen to display and manipulate images of the extremely large number of software components. This unprecedented capability will enhance our ability to understand how these software components operate and interact with one another, making it possible to improve the design and reliability of these critical underpinnings of our technological society.
Infrastructure for Investigating Cell Signaling Targets of GSK-3 In Vitro and In Vivo
Exploring the significance of a key protein
Lead researcher: Bradley Doble
Total project cost: $574,587
Provincial funding: $229,834
Your good health depends in part on a specific protein with the name glycogen synthase kinase3 (GSK-3), which controls such fundamental activities as the shape, function, and survival of cells in the body. However, too much activity from this valuable protein can be harmful, setting the stage for problems such as diabetes, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s Disease. McMaster University cell biologist Bradley Doble is investigating how GSK-3 is normally regulated within the body, and whether its function could be altered as a way of treating these challenging diseases. He and his team are establishing a laboratory to pursue such questions through the remarkable properties of embryonic stem cells, which provide an effective means of assessing the biochemical mechanisms governing this protein. The findings could create the foundation for a new generation of drugs to safeguard and improve the health of Canadians.
Ontario Research Fund
The McGuinty government is investing $527 million over five years through the Ontario Research Fund. The fund is a key part of the government’s plan to promote scientific excellence by supporting research that can be developed into innovative goods and services that will boost Ontario’s economy. The fund also helps researchers move new ideas from Ontario’s labs to the global marketplace.
The fund provides one window for research funding. Proposals for funding are evaluated through a competitive, peer-review process.
The province matches funding commitments made by the Canada Foundation for Innovation through the Research Infrastructure program. Project funding is shared among the Canada Foundation for Innovation (up to 40 per cent), the province (up to 40 per cent), and the research institutions and industry partners (at least 20 per cent).
For more information about the Ontario Research Fund, please visit www.ontario.ca/innovation.
