Today's News

CAMTEC BioMedical Core facility user, Anna Masarsky, uses the newly installed Biosafety Level 2 Cabinet to preform research of potential pathogenic bacteria inside a sterile environment. Micropipettes (foreground) allow users to transfer very small amounts of liquids accurately. Credit: CAMTEC.

Funding addresses a unique gap in the life sciences ecosystem by providing specialized equipment that will help life sciences companies in B.C. scale up

Victoria, BC, July 29, 2021--(T-Net)--The Canadian Government has announced $536,729 in federal support for the University of Victoria to create the Centre for Advanced Materials & Related Technology (CAMTEC) BioMedical Core.

This funding will help establish a Class II biosafety facility, or wet lab, that will be shared by a broad range of clients. The specialized equipment in this facility will position CAMTEC to support a variety of initiatives, including oncology and precision health, apparel manufacturing, and water treatment programs.

The new CAMTEC BioMedical Core will support increased access to critical infrastructure and training for industry partners that lack access to specialized equipment. This transformation is essential in ensuring companies can access the resources they need in order to grow.

The University of Victoria's Centre for Advanced Materials and Related Technology (CAMTEC) provides access to biosciences infrastructure to scientists in both private and public sectors in a shared, industry-focused research environment. The centre currently works with 15 companies and over 100 users from across Western Canada, in addition to their academic members on campus.

Among the influx of new equipment is a digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) system—used to study communicative diseases like COVID-19—that has high-precision analysis and greater reliability. This equipment will be the only one of its kind on Vancouver Island and one of the most accessible in Western Canada, closing a unique gap in BC's life sciences ecosystem and enabling companies to compete on a global scale.

Wulff, second from right. Credit: University of British Columbia (Okanagan) handout.

UVic students involved in CAMTEC research collaborations are getting hands-on experience as well as networking opportunities. The venture could, and perhaps should, create opportunities for the new alumni to stay, says Jeremy Wulff, director of the CAMTEC BioMedical Core and professor of chemistry.

Wulff says his academic labs produce new graduates all the time, and he believes we need to find ways to retain talent.

"We make newly minted bachelor's scientists, master's scientists, newly minted PhDs," explains Wulff, "Traditionally, those new graduates have to leave to find work. Almost all PhD graduates from my lab, for example, have found work in pharmaceutical industry in the United States. That's great for them. They have successful careers and get to make big impact in human health. But I think it's not that great for Canada, not that great for BC or Vancouver Island."

"As a publically funded university, we have a role to stimulate job creation locally so we create jobs for our graduates so some of them can stay here and do great science, but also do great innovation in local market," adds Wulff.

Read the Government of Canada news release

Learn more about CAMTEC