FedDev Ontario: Large-Scale Collaboration in Research and Innovation
Region: Toronto
[Opening graphic sequence]
[Text on screen – Large-Scale Collaboration in Research and Innovation]
[Dr. Michael Julius - Vice-President, Research, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto]
Sunnybrook Research Institute is the research engine of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. We're dedicated to understanding the root cause of disease—with that understanding, development of new medicines and remarkable new advances in imaging-guided delivery of this therapeutics, which is going to fundamentally change the way we're treating our patients.
FedDev Ontario's investment of $6.9 million through the Technology Development Program is unprecedented, has established a wonderful platform for multiple collaborative interactions with private sector partners, and we are collaborating with Western University toward getting innovative medical technologies to the marketplace faster.
We're using existing technology and instrumentation, creating new instrumentation that enable complex interventions without breaking skin. We are literally inventing tomorrow's health care today.
[Switch to Dr. Gregory Czarnota - Senior Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto]
As part of our research here at Sunnybrook, we're developing a new technique known as optoacoustics, which is a hybrid between ultrasound and optical imaging methods.
Having medical manufacturers involved through all the stages—right from discovery to delivery—is crucial. It actually ensures that the context of what's developed in the laboratory, or in the research environment, reaches the people of Ontario and the people of Canada.
[Switch to Dr. Michael Julius]
Not all of the partners in this large-scale collaborative program are multinationals. A number of our partners are start-ups who were enabled by another FedDev Ontario program—the Applied Research and Commercialization program—that they successfully completed and made them ready to join this larger-scale initiative.
[Switch to Dr. Gregory Czarnota]
We're all feeling the pressures of rising health care costs. Investing in this research is really important. I think it will turn southern Ontario into a global leader of cost-saving solutions.
The type of funding that we've received from FedDev Ontario provides a practical stimulus for the innovative discoveries that we are making here at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
The collaborative component provides economic opportunities for southern Ontario, it creates jobs for Canadians, and most importantly it provides the best technology and the best health care for our patients when they need it the most.
[Text on screen – www.FedDevOntario.gc.ca Follow us @FedDevOntario]
[FedDev Ontario identifier and Canada wordmark]