A major new orthopedic research centre in Calgary will be a significant pillar in a provincial government strategy to make Alberta a world leader in life sciences research, say provincial officials.
The $100-million centre, announced by Alberta innovation and science minister Lorne Taylor at the recent SMART2000 conference in Calgary, is a highlight of a new provincial health-research strategy to be released in the next few weeks.
“The strategy calls for the creation of two health-research innovation centres, one in Edmonton specializing in cardiology, and one centred in Calgary, specializing in orthopedics research,” said Taylor. “I believe with these centres of research excellence, we will again attract the best researchers in the world. And we will be creating an environment that will lead to great health discoveries.”
Attracting top-flight researchers to Calgary can also lead to clinical advancements “so that new discoveries will be available first in Alberta,” he added.
Dr. Cy Frank, regional chief of orthopedic surgery for the Calgary Regional Health Authority, said years of planning have already been invested into the centre.
“We aim to make it world class,” Frank said. “We have a possibility of making this the best research centre for bone and joint and arthritis research in the world.”
Current orthopedic research in Calgary includes everything from bench research on gene therapy to applied clinical studies on outcomes of joint replacement.
“We’re really excited about the potential of doing this,” Frank added. “It makes a lot of sense to attract researchers and integrate research with the health-care system . . . so that we’re doing cutting-edge research and being able to apply the latest developments to treating people in Alberta,” said Frank.
Government officials will meet with representatives from both the U of C and the U of A later this month to discuss funding issues.
While a construction start date has not been determined for the new centres, a spokesman for Taylor said they are “key priorities” in the soon-to-be-unveiled provincial life sciences strategy. The departments of Learning and Infrastructure will also be involved in the November talks.
Calgary orthopedic surgeon Dr. Lowell van Zuiden said doctors and researchers studying all aspects of musculo-skeletal health will welcome the new centre. “It’s almost like a technology transfer — you now have this clinical base on which to use for basic science research.”
“There has been discussion about a free-standing base place for the provision of clinical care, clinical research and basic science research,” he added. “But given the state of the art of technology, with the Internet, the mind boggles just thinking about it. The opportunities are there to create all kinds of this new technology to bring disparate things underneath the umbrella.”
Musculo-skeletal problems represent a significant percentage of lifestyle and health-related issues, van Zuiden said, adding there is an increasing demand for both research and preventative programs. The new centre would help bring the research and treatment areas closer together, he predicted.
“It’s a new direction for both health care and the academic areas. It intimately links them under an administrative organization.”
The health-research strategy comes two years after the Alberta Science Research Authority (ASRA) launched the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy for Alberta, a collaboration between business, education and the government to grow ICT research and businesses in Alberta while boosting the number of jobs in the sector.
ASRA is the senior science and research body of the Alberta government and is made up of an independent board of members of the business and research communities in the province.
Besides the two new research centres, the life sciences strategy will include issues in the agriculture and forestry sectors. On April 1, the province will also establish the Alberta Forestry Research Institute to expand the science behind the forestry industry, Taylor said.
