Organization: University of Alberta

The Short Report – May 27, 2020: DMZ and Ryerson Futures merge; Canadian psychedelic research gets boost; CFI launches $25-million competition; progress on a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine; and more

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council has awarded $76 million for 128 new applied research projects at colleges, cégeps and polytechnics. Funded through the tri-agency College and Community Innovation Program and the College-Industry Innovation Fund from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the investments will connect colleges with local companies, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, to collaborate on projects that further…

The Short Report, May 6, 2020: AbCellera receives $175.6M for COVID-19 therapies; Canada contributes $850 million to global pandemic response; new “super angel” fund launches; and more

Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologics will receive up to $175.6 million from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund to fast-track antibody therapies against COVID-19. The funding will also go to build a first-of-its-kind antibody manufacturing facility over the next four years to help Canada respond to future pandemics. AbCellera has partnered with global biopharmaceutical company Eli Lilly to…

The Short Report, April 15, 2020: Regulators move fast to approve AI-powered x-rays for COVID-19; American lawmakers look askance at Huawei PPE donations; and more

The Fonds de recherche du Québec – santé (FRQS), the Quebec government’s health sciences research arm, will provide $2 million to help create the Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale (CRBS) at McGill University. The centre aims to advance understanding of the fundamental biological mechanisms of disease, which could help address medical challenges like targeting treatments to specific…

Survey: Canadian universities are increasingly cutting fossil fuels from their investment portfolios

A growing number of Canadian universities, including some of the country’s largest, are significantly reducing the industrial carbon in their investment portfolios, a R$ survey shows. Less than a handful of universities are divesting specifically from fossil fuel holdings, but many schools also are using a “responsible investing” approach which considers environmental, social and governance factors.

Feds take initial step to counter 40-year decline in Canadian wildfire research

New federal funding aimed at increasing Canada’s resilience to wildfire comes after a steep, 40-year decline in wildfire science and research. With hundreds of forest communities at risk from wildfire, the funding is encouraging but will need to be increased and sustained to make a difference, forest experts say.