Funding Innovation, Funding the Future
“It’s fabulous!” Hearing the joyful reaction of Dr. Richard Cruess to the recent announcement that the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) had received $100 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), it’s hard not to be drawn into the excitement. “This is beyond my wildest dreams,” he continues. As Professor of Surgery at McGill University’s Centre for Medical Education, Member of the Board of the McGill University Health Centre Foundation, Member of the Board of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and former Dean of the McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Cruess has spent over 40 years helping to develop the MUHC that we know today, and has had ample time for such dreams. “This scale of support sends a clear message that what we’re trying to do at the MUHC is right,” he says. “It legitimates everything we’re working towards. People can see that the research going on here will have a positive impact on the health of Canadians for years to come.”
The anticipation felt by Cruess is shared by his associates at both the MUHC and McGill University. And with good reason: this grant is history in the making, representing the largest sum the CFI has ever awarded to a single institution. With another $100 million to be provided by the provincial government and $50 million contributed by donors to the Best Care for Life campaign, a total of $250 million will have been earmarked for the new Centres for Innovative Medicine and Translational Biology at the Glen Campus, set to be one of the most advanced biomedical research facilities in Canada. “This award represents a strategic boost to the research capacity of McGill University and the MUHC,” says Dr. Elliot Phillipson, President and CEO of CFI. “This project, selected through a rigorous peer-reviewed assessment process, will help ensure that researchers and graduate students at the MUHC have access to a world-class research facility and training environment.”
Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos, Director of the Research Institute and Associate Executive Director of Research at the MUHC, led the CFI application. It involved assembling a team of scientists and clinician-scholars to present a unified vision of outstanding medical research. “The proposal was about the people, not the buildings,” Papadopoulos says proudly. Looking towards the future, he envisions an environment in which researchers focus on what he terms the “continuum of discovery” through the lens of the “continuum of life.” He explains: “If I go to the doctor today complaining of a specific pain, I’ll undergo a series of tests that will provide a snapshot of me today. But what if my ailment has more to do with what happened to me five years ago? The Centres for Innovative Medicine and Translational Biology will allow us to build up databases and bio banks that will give us an overall picture of our patients throughout the continuum of life, from cradle to grave.” “ It’s incredibly exciting to think of all the discoveries that will emerge from a modern facility that’s designed to encourage the interdisciplinary collaborations that are the basis for scientific innovation.”
-Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos
As Papadopoulos’ view of the future of medicine indicates, this landmark project will change the way we think about biomedical research. In the last few decades, advances in genetics, information technology and biochemistry have allowed scientists to understand the basic mechanisms behind many deadly diseases in greater depth than ever before. By embracing Papadopoulos’ continuums of discovery and life, researchers at the Research Institute are rethinking how they work together, how they involve individual patients at every stage of the research process, and how they move new discoveries from the laboratory to the bedside and beyond.
At the new facilities, scientists will have access to the latest technologies, adult and pediatric researchers will work side-by-side and basic scientists and clinicians from a wide range of disciplines will share ideas and collaborate on projects in new and productive ways. Their research will be built around several key themes, conceptually arranged like the Olympic rings as overlapping areas. These themes include: the evaluation and optimization of health management; innovation through medical informatics; prenatal and childhood origin of disease; infectious diseases and immunity; translational research into respiratory diseases; integrated studies on cancer metastasis; and drug discovery and experimental therapeutics.“ Thanks to the CFI, our plan to bring togetherour investigators on the Glen and Mountaincampuses in order to bridge biomedical researchand clinical medicine is assured.”
-Dr. Arthur T. porter
By way of explaining what this means in terms of patient care, Papadopoulos gives an example of how the theme of infection and immunity will operate at the Centres for Innovative Medicine and Translational Biology: “When it comes to infectious diseases, one of our greatest challenges is the internationalization of risk through travel, immigration and environmental changes. To name just three, think of SARS, HIV/AIDS and West Nile Virus. To deal with ancient scourges such as tuberculosis and malaria as well as the new diseases we’re seeing as a result of globalization, we need to put in place large databanks that will give us access to samples of microorganisms we may come up against. At the Centres for Innovative Medicine and Translational Biology, we will complete the creation of Canada’s first Vaccine Challenge Unit with the collaboration of Dalhousie University. It will allow us to evaluate new vaccines in a new way, yielding tangible results almost immediately. It’s completely revolutionary. This unit will look beyond transforming the life of a single patient towards saving the lives of millions.”
For Dr. Arthur T. Porter, Executive Director and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre, the CFI grant represents a national acknowledgement of the high caliber of research that has long characterized the Research Institute. “Thanks to the CFI,” he notes, “our plan to bring together our investigators on the Glen and Mountain campuses in order to bridge biomedical research and clinical medicine is assured. The MUHC’s capacity for meaningful innovation has been enhanced dramatically.” Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University, also welcomed the announcement by the CFI, observing that “McGill has been at the forefront of medical discovery for almost 200 years. This important award supports our commitment to remain at the forefront of medical discovery for future generations of physicians, scientists and patients.”
It is not just individuals and institutions will benefit from the CFI’s grant, Montreal, Quebec and Canada stand to gain significantly as well. The new Centres for Innovative Medicine and Translational Biology of the MUHC will be a hub of biomedical research that will attract many of the best scientific minds in the world. Their ability to create and capitalize on innovations will not only have economic benefits that all Montrealers can share, it will generate spin-offs that will enrich Quebec as a whole. While the grant is a tremendous boon for the McGill University Health Centre, it is also a call to action for the private sector. As Papadopoulos observes, “donating to the Research Institute through the Best Care for Life campaign makes us all part of the same dream. It means we will all play a role in the development of new treatments that will be good for us, our children and our grandchildren for a long time to come.”
For Dr. Cruess, the CFI grant gives the MUHC’s Redevelopment Project new momentum. “Right now,” he says with audible pride, “the Research Institute is a phenomenally productive organization on multiple sites. Moving to new facilities on the Glen Campus will bring researchers closer together and closer to clinical activities. I think that we already have a wonderful reputation worldwide and this will only make us stronger.”
Photos by Owen Egan.
