September 2004
Robarts opens state-of-the-art imaging labs
London’s Robarts Research Institute officially opened its new Clinical Imaging Research Laboratories earlier this month, the result of an ambitious partnership to advance research findings through clinical studies.
The new labs, unique in Canada, will be a hub for multidisciplinary imaging research in respiratory, cardiovascular and orthopedic medicine where research volunteers can take part in studies using state-of-the-art imaging technologies, including high-and low-field MRI scanners, 3D-ultrasound and computed radiography.
Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade Joseph Cordiano joined the official opening on September 22 - including tours of the labs and demonstrations of equipment – along with senior executives from private sector partners, Merck Frosst Canada and GE Healthcare.
The Institute is among the several institutions in the London region to connect to the ORION network.
“The Human Genome Project and the huge advances in information technology capacity have resulted in enormous new opportunities for discoveries to improve human health. The partnerships between Robarts and Merck and Robarts and GE Healthcare are meant to bring our discoveries more effectively to the clinic and to the patient,” said Dr. Mark Poznansky, Robarts President and Scientific Director.
The labs were created to facilitate the critical interactions between clinician scientists, engineers, physicists, and biologists -- key to advancing our understanding of noninvasive biomarkers of disease and health as well as to test new diagnostics and treatments for a host of illnesses including heart disease, cancer, bone disorders, asthma and lung disease.
Located in 10,000 sq. ft. of Robarts’ new building expansion, the new labs are the result of a combined investment of more than $15 million from partners Merck Frosst Canada, Merck Research Laboratories and GE Healthcare, London philanthropists Mr. and Mrs. Beryl and Richard Ivey and orthopedic surgeons Dr. Cecil Rorabeck and Dr. Robert Bourne.
Housed within the new facility are, the Merck Frosst Centre for Respiratory Imaging Research, the Beryl and Richard Ivey Centre for Cardiovascular Imaging, and the Orthopedics and Musculoskeletal Imaging Program.
The Merck Frosst investment, amounting to nearly $5 million, supports a new respiratory imaging research program that has laid the foundation for the recruitment of Robarts Scientist Dr. Giles Santyr, Director of the Merck Frosst Centre for Respiratory Imaging, who is also Professor of Medical Biophysics and Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at The University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Santyr is developing the use of hyperpolarized gas for low-field MRI to allow better exploration of the airways of the lungs in disorders such as asthma and allergies.
The Institute expects the new facility will build on Robarts’ track record in medical imaging. Robarts is already home to Canada’s first high-field MRI research lab (since 1996), one of only three now in Canada and only about 15 worldwide. The Institute has also pioneered important advances in 3D-CT, micro-CT and ultrasound technology related to heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Learn more at www.robarts.ca.
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