Health Research: Tapping into International Expertise

With six research institutes dedicated to biotechnology, plus a number of "partner" NRC research institutes in areas such as industrial materials and information technology, NRC plays a key role in Canadian health research. International collaborations help NRC ensure that Canada connects to international expertise in this field.

NRC is pursuing numerous international health-related research projects. A number of these projects stem from agreements between individual NRC institutes and counterparts in other countries, researcher – researcher agreements and participation in international consortia. Corporate-level collaboration agreements between NRC and research organizations in countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic add many more opportunities for international reach in the health sector.

At present there are nearly 20 different health-related research projects resulting from NRC's corporate Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs). These projects entail work across a number of NRC institutes. Accordingly, the research topics and anticipated outcomes are equally broad and have future applications in areas such as biomaterials (used for implants, tissue engineering, etc.), cancer treatment and diagnostics, infectious diseases and other fields.

The project titles below are examples of the international research activities currently unfolding in the health sector. The names of the participating NRC research institutes are listed next to the projects.

Britain, British Council

• Regulatory networks in the fungal pathogen Candida Albicans – NRC Biotechnology Research Institute

Czech Republic, Academy of Sciences

• An investigation of selected aspects of lyme disease glycobiology – NRC Institute for Biological Sciences

France, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

• Organic colloidal nanoparticles for pharmaceutical, biomedical and materials applications – NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences
• Development of general methods for high-level expression and crystallization of membrane proteins – NRC Biotechnology Research Institute

Germany, Helmholtz Association of National Research Centres

• Engineering and radiolabeling peptides and single domain antibodies for cancer diagnosis and treatment – NRC Institute for Biological Sciences

Singapore, Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

• Templated fabrication of large area nanostructured surfaces for magnetic, electronic and and biological applications – NRC Industrial Materials Institute

Spain, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

• Bioinformatics – NRC Institute for Information Technology, NRC Biotechnology Research Institute, NRC Institute for Biological Sciences

Taiwan, National Science Council

• Formation of functionally gradient nano grain sized biocompatible layer on Ti6AI4V medical implant – NRC Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Institute
  
  

Recommended Links:

• Global Reach – At Work on the World Stage
• Doing Business with NRC – NRC's Global Reach
  
  

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