The Manitoba government is providing $16.8 million to the University of Manitoba (UM) to build two new biological research facilities, foster innovation, and create quality jobs and hands-on training opportunities for students, Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable, Business, Mining, Trade and Job Creation Minister Jamie Moses, and Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz announced on January 23.
"Manitoba has the talent and ambition to lead in biotechnology, but until now we haven't had the secure, specialized facilities needed to unlock that potential," said Cable. "These new facilities change that. They open the door to discoveries that were once out of reach and give our researchers the tools they need to push scientific boundaries right here at home. This investment means world-class research can happen in Manitoba, not somewhere else. It sends a clear message that Manitoba is ready to lead, to innovate and to shape the future of global health."
The funding supports two new biological research facilities at UM:
- the Prairie Biologics Accelerator at the Fort Garry campus will be a biosecurity facility supporting biomanufacturing and vaccine development, enabling scientists and engineers to enhance vaccine production capacity; and
- the One Health Emerging Respiratory Disease Centre at the Bannatyne campus will house a highly secure laboratory with specialized testing capabilities not currently available in Manitoba. The facility will support bioprocess development, diagnostics research and hands-on training for testing vaccines against high-risk pathogens.
"The PRAIRIE Biologics Accelerator will attract and retain great minds to our province and country, and it cements Manitoba's position as a global leader in health research," said Michael Benarroch, president and vice-chancellor, UM. "We will be able to deliver life-saving solutions to the problems we may not even know about yet. It's exciting to be a part of a university community capable of bold ideas, supported by federal and provincial partners who help make them a reality."
Both facilities, supported by the Manitoba government and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, will contribute to the new PRAIRIE Hub on Pandemic Preparedness, a joint effort between the Universities of Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Calgary to bring together expertise from across Western Canada. The PRAIRIE Hub on Pandemic Preparedness aims to accelerate research and discovery of vaccines and diagnostics.
