Biomedical research has always been one of the School’s strengths; the Centre for Ocular Research and Education’s (CORE) long-term success combining discovery science and industrial partnerships to create innovative contact lens technologies is just one example.
Now we’re leveraging collaboration between researchers here at the School, across the University of Waterloo and internationally to bring our biomedical science program to the next level via several projects currently underway.
New space for biomedical research
Researchers from CORE and across the School are pooling their lab space to create an expanded and updated facility that will be used for both discovery science and contract biomedical research. Projects currently underway include the development of drug delivery materials, exploring inflammatory pathways and protein interactions on the ocular surface, and lenticular biomechanics and retinal degeneration and regeneration.
“It’s a significant step towards a space that’s centred on research rather than on individuals,” says Dr. Ben Thompson, the School’s Associate Director, Research. “This project will allow us to make more efficient use of our space and increase opportunities for collaboration.”
Dr. William Ngo, Head of Biosciences at CORE, notes that access to the shared instruments within the biomedical facility will reduce equipment redundancy and give some researchers access to instruments that might not be available in their own labs.
In addition, he says, “a state-of-the art biomedical facility will help promote the School’s research; it’s something to show sponsors and industry partners and elevates our image.”
Dr. Thompson notes that while researchers have been willing to share space in the past, this is a more formalized approach to the communal use of resources.
“And it’s especially important now as the School becomes more internationalized and our research activity is on an upward trajectory,” he says.
A multidisciplinary approach to eye-brain research
Another benefit to the new facility is that it’s created vacant space that will be used for an imaging centre that will be part of the proposed Waterloo Eye Institute.
The Institute’s ocular imaging research program will focus on the concept of the eye as a window to the brain. Researchers will explore eye-brain connections that will help us better understand neurodegenerative diseases and potentially help restore lost vision for patients suffering from conditions like macular degeneration.
To finance these facilities, School faculty in partnership with colleagues in other disciplines at the University of Waterloo, have applied for funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). CFI provides each Canadian university with an envelope of funding and researchers must undergo an extremely competitive internal round to win a share of that money, which will then allow them to apply for further funding.
In September, the University awarded the imaging centre project $200,000 and the School is now eligible to apply for a little over $3 million in provincial and federal grants. Dr. Thompson believes that the projects’ strong research themes, incorporating a range of fields from vision science to physics to chemistry, was a key factor in securing the internal round of funding.
Expanding international partnerships
Just as the School’s network of on-campus partners is growing, so are our relationships with international partners. Last year, the School won funding from Switzerland’s Velux Siftung Foundation. This will allow researchers from Waterloo and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, working in both basic and clinical science, to develop new treatments for macular degeneration and new methods of low vision rehabilitation.
An announcement is expected soon on an even larger collaborative effort between the two universities. While details have yet to be released, Thompson hints that the School will play a key role.
“This is a Faculty-driven initiative focused on optometry and vision science research,” Dr. Thompson says. “Of the 19 principal investigators on the application from Waterloo, 11 are from our School.”
“If approved, this project will demonstrate just what we can achieve at the School when we pool our ideas.”
