Organization: Network of Centres of Excellence

Innovation Conversations: Q&A with CDRD president and CEO Gordon C. McCauley

Vancouver-based Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) is an 11-year-old organization that helps “bridge” scientific discoveries and commercialization in the life sciences sector. RE$EARCH MONEY spoke to CDRD president and CEO Gordon C. McCauley about how it is helping companies scale up and its strategy for attracting capital in a sector that is growing exponentially but is perceived to be risky.

TRIUMF business arm looking into broader industry collaborations

Can science and business fruitfully cohabitate? It’s possible. And it’s happening in a Vancouver university campus where physicists can be found hard at work on their cyclotron particle accelerator in one room while industry people are in another room testing for radiation particles. These are common-day activities in TRIUMF, one of Canada’s large-scale research facilities, which is home to hundreds of researchers from academia, other research institutes and industry from across Canada and around the world.

MEOPAR to increase focus on partner needs as part of $28.5 million renewal

The MEOPAR Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) has been renewed for another five years, including additional funding to implement a research plan that directly responds to the needs of partners and end-users. The Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) received $28.5 million from the ‘classic’ NCE program that will leverage an equal amount in cash and in-kind from an array of academic, non-profit, industry and government partners who also have a stake in better understanding and mitigate marine risks and hazards.

AllerGen successfully completes mid-term review

AllerGen, the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network, has successfully passed its second mid-term review and will receive funding until 2019. Launched in 2005, the classic Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) will receive the maximum funding allowable under (now modified) NCE rules. In 2012, it was awarded $36.6 million ($5.2 million annually) for its second…

BioFuelNet awards $8.5 million for 10 projects

BioFuelNet Canada has awarded $8.5 million to support 10 projects as part of its second research phase targetting R&D into areas such as aviation biofuels and forestry-based biofuels. BioFuelNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence, will also support research into the barriers to advanced biofuels and the availability of suitable, inexpensive feedstock. The network has…

BioFuelNet awards $8.5 million for 10 projects

BioFuelNet Canada has awarded $8.5 million to support 10 projects as part of its second research phase targetting R&D into areas such as aviation biofuels and forestry-based biofuels. BioFuelNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence, will also support research into the barriers to advanced biofuels and the availability of suitable, inexpensive feedstock. The network has…

Carbon Management Canada signs MOU with UK counterpart

Carbon Management Canada (CMC), a Network of Centres of Excellence, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) to facilitate collaborative projects at the CMC’s field research station currently under development in conjunction with the Univ of Calgary. The MOU is intended to lower the cost of…

CMC seeking funding for UN decarbonization project

Carbon Management Canada (CMC), a sunsetting Network of Centres of Excellence, is seeking industrial and government funding to participate in the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, a multi-nation initiative of the United Nation‘s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. CMC has assembled teams of experts to contribute to future scenarios on energy use and how they could impact…

CCRM adds Sernova to industry-based consortium

The Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) — a Network of Centres of Excellence — has added a new member to its industry consortium, bringing the number of member companies to more than 20. Sernova Corp, London ON, will bring its expertise in cell therapy for the treatment of chronic diseases to CCRM. The…

PrionNet provides $2.9 million for 11 projects

Prion researchers engaged in 11 projects have received $2.9 million from PrioNet Canada, a Network of Centres of Excellence. The projects involve 55 investigators at nine universities across Canada. Each project has a two-fold aim: make significant advances in the understanding of prion and prion-like diseases and develop therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders…