ONTARIO - Networks of Centres of Excellence Ontario’s excelling research

By Amber Lepage-Monette

Stem cells often conjure up conflicting images of political confrontation, or potential life-saving medical alternatives. But perhaps what they should conjure is an image of Ontario.

Over 40 years ago, two Ontario Cancer Institute (Toronto, ON) researchers, Dr. Ernest McCulloch and James Till, PhD discovered what are now known as stem cells.

Today, as one of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), the Stem Cell Network (SCN) (Ottawa, ON) is carrying on McCulloch and Till’s proud tradition by advancing stem cell research throughout Canada.

A Part of the Whole
In total, there are 21 centres in the NCE, a program that was established by the federal government in 1997.

Overseen and supported by several of the granting agencies, the NCE program brings together university researchers with industry, government and non-profit organizations in an effort to see economic and social benefits from their work.

SCN executive director Drew Lyall sums it up well.

“The idea of all the networks is to bring together people from multiple disciplines and multiple institutions to tackle problems, which would be difficult to tackle working by themselves,” he says.

The NCEs are categorized into four areas: advanced technologies, engineering and manufacturing, natural resources and environment, and health, human development and biotechnology.

There are 10 NCEs in the health, human development and biotechnology category alone, six of which are located in Ontario: the Advanced Foods and Materials Network (AFMNet) (Guelph, ON); the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network (AllerGen) (Hamilton, ON); the Canadian Arthritis Network (CAN) (Toronto, ON); the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (London, ON); the Canadian Stroke Network (CSN) (Ottawa, ON); and the SCN.

AFMNet works to advance food and biomaterial research by bringing together engineers, lawyers, and natural and social scientists, among others. Its projects fall under six research themes: biosurfaces; bio-structures and bioproducts; extraction identification; mechanism and efficacy; consumer and citizen acceptance; and regulations and policy.

AllerGen is one of the newest networks, having been established just last year. AllerGen seeks to develop both new products and services for allergy and asthma care, and biomolecular research-based tools and platforms.

Developed through consultations held among those in the arthritis community that were supported by the Arthritis Society (Toronto, ON), CAN funds research in genetics, inflammation, diagnostics and therapeutics, among others. CAN also provides preclinical resources, and clinical and health research services.

Though on the surface, reading may not seem to fall into the biomedical sector, the work conducted by the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network has some definitive roots in health research. The network breaks its research into five themes, the first of which is biological factors. Projects that fall into this theme include the use of MRI and neuroimaging to better understand dyslexia and neurological development in children.

Along with funding research projects, including investigating the use of stem cells to develop treatments for stroke, the CSN is currently running a project called SCORE (the Stroke Canada Optimization of Rehabilitation by Evidence) to provide a cohesive view on what techniques are best suited to stroke rehabilitation.

“What we hope to see is that the evidence-based approaches will provide a much better outcome for patients than the usual standard of care,” says acting executive director Kevin Willis, PhD.

SCN research is focused around three output areas: public policy, stem cell therapies and outcomes, which focuses on the tools and reagents researchers need for their work.

The SCN is also involved in a program called Engage, which provides scientific data to high-school students for use in stem cell debates.

“The purpose of the module wasn’t to influence students to one perspective or another, but to get them the information which would allow them to debate the issues amongst themselves and to reach an informed decision on their own part,” Lyall says.

Initially introduced at three Toronto-area high schools, the program has now expanded across Canada.

“Engage is really a very strong example of . . . something which has started very small in Ontario, (and) has really leveraged into a national approach to dealing with questions which have strong, either ethical implications, or where there has been a strong public debate,” he says.

Based in Ontario, and branching out across the country, these NCEs not only further regional medical research and expertise, but strengthen Canada’s national research community.

For more information about Ontario’s Networks of Centres of Excellence, please visit the following Web sites:

Advanced Foods and Materials Network
www.afmnet.ca”>www.afmnet.ca

Allergies, Genes and Environment Network
www.allergen-nce.ca”>www.allergen-nce.ca

Canadian Arthritis Network
www.arthritisnetwork.ca”>www.arthritisnetwork.ca

Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network
www.cllrnet.ca”>www.cllrnet.ca

Canadian Stroke Network
www.canadianstrokenetwork.ca”>www.canadianstrokenetwork.ca

Stem Cell Network
www.stemcellnetwork.ca”>www.stemcellnetwork.ca