Innovation Saskatchewan is pleased to support the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation (Fedoruk Centre) in Saskatoon, by providing $800,000 in funding to renovate and equip the Innovation Wing of the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS). In total, the Government of Saskatchewan has provided $19.5 million to the SCCS since 2015.
The Fedoruk Centre operates the SCCS on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan, and supplies radiopharmaceuticals to the Royal University Hospital (RUH) for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer by nuclear imaging. The funding from Innovation Saskatchewan supports the renovation and equipping of vacant space at the SCCS Innovation Wing, to create specialized labs for researchers working on new drug treatments using medical isotopes.
The SCCS is an important scientific facility for researchers conducting work with nuclear imaging technologies in the treatment of cancers, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and infectious diseases. As well, the funding will support a new imaging lab - the first of its kind in Canada - for researchers studying plants and soil bacteria to improve crop productivity.
"The Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences and the Fedoruk Centre are vital to our health research cluster and have attracted world-class researchers to Saskatchewan," Minister Responsible for Innovation Saskatchewan Tina Beaudry-Mellor said. "The research being conducted in this facility is generating expertise in the health and agriculture sectors, advancing Saskatchewan into the global research market."
"The Fedoruk Centre operates the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences as a user facility where students and scientists from universities and industry can advance their programs of research in life sciences for applications in medicine, veterinarian health and agricultural technologies," Fedoruk Centre Executive Director Dr. John Root said.
The Fedoruk Centre's purpose is to place Saskatchewan among global leaders in nuclear research, development and training, and creating conditions for the province to advance into the value-added areas of nuclear innovation, medicine, materials research, power generation and environmental stewardship.
