New federal funding supports UCalgary’s commitment to economic diversification and innovation: Western Economic Diversification Canada provides $7.2 million for four projects

The innovation ecosystem being cultivated by the University of Calgary received a substantial boost with a significant funding announcement from the federal government for four key projects that help take cutting-edge research and turn it into commercial ventures.

Western Economic Diversification Canada announced a total of $7.2 million targeted at UCalgary initiatives designed to foster innovation and help diversify Calgary’s economy.

“This funding will provide crucial resources, and it demonstrates a firm commitment to driving innovation at the University of Calgary, as we continue advancing real-world solutions in our community and around the world,” says Dr. Ed McCauley, president of the University of Calgary. “We’re excited that Western Economic Diversification Canada sees the capacity of our researchers and values their contributions to society.”

The funding announcement includes $3.1 million for the Life Sciences Innovation Hub, $1.1 million for the W21C Digital Health Innovation Hub, $2 million for Alberta Precision Exchange (APEX), and $1 million for the Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies. Read the announcement and the backgrounder. 

University of Calgary to lead pan-Canadian microbiome research core

Driving discovery with world-class facilities and expertise

The microbiome has an impact on every organ in the body. It is associated with every chronic disease that affects humans. For the past few years, research has focused on cataloguing what microbes are present on and in our bodies, and connecting those microbes to specific diseases. The next step is to find out how those microbes function and interact during times of health and disease. With that knowledge, scientists hope to harness the power of the microbiome to develop preventive and therapeutic approaches to promote human health. 

A number of University of Calgary researchers will be part of a Pan-Canadian "brain trust" of microbiome experts including, top row from left: Paul Kubes, Joe Harrison, Braedon McDonald, Ian Lewis, and Markus Geuking. Bottom row, from left: Kathy McCoy, Marie Claire Arrieta, Shaunna Huston, and Laura Sycuro. Photos by Don Molyneaux, for the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases

What's in your bloodstream? Calgary researchers want to find out

You can't miss the vehicles zipping around Calgary and parts of Southern Alberta with the green Calgary Laboratory Services logo on the side. Kind of a taxi for blood samples with the passenger's trip being a time sensitive one with the possible life saving purpose of testing the blood sample for infections or pathogens.

No matter how fast the sample makes it to the lab from any of the 1 million people who end up using the service every year, testing takes time but with new research funding in hand, Ian Lewis and Deidre Church hope to change that. They received GAPP funding through Genome Alberta last year and are using it to take a prototype machine to a final version that can cut the time it takes to identify bloodstream pathogens from up to 4 days to as little as 4 hours. With new funding announced this week (January 25th) the 2 researchers are taking on the broader challenge of treating infections while not adding to the problem of antimicrobial resistance. Here's what Genome Alberta's President and CEO David Bailey had to say in his remarks at the official funding announcement at the University of Calgary.

Lewis Research Group Hosts Minister Kent Hehr to discuss the emerging problem of antimicrobial resistance

Calgary team leads international effort to reduce death and disability from infections

Precision Infection Management approach will save thousands of lives

The University of Calgary and Calgary Laboratory Services (CLS) are leading an $11-million program to develop a new strategy to combat infections.

Precision Infection Management (PIM) will allow doctors to rapidly identify serious infections and stop them before they develop into life-threatening conditions, says Ian Lewis, an Alberta Innovates Translational Health Chair-Metabolomics at the university’s Faculty of Science.

Eight opportunistic pathogens cause more than 85 per cent of bloodstream infections. The University of Calgary and Calgary Laboratory Services have teamed up to find a new way to rapidly identify serious infections and stop them before they develop into life-threatening conditions. Faculty of Science photo