The Short Report - September 28, 2022: UBC's FORWARD research initiative, boosting biomanufacturing, Brassard's Breakthrough Prize, and more.

RESEARCH FUNDING

The University of British Columbia has launched a $3 billion fundraising and alumni engagement campaign to drive discoveries in three areas over the coming decades: advancing healthy lives, creating solutions for the planet, and shaping thriving societies. A key feature of the campaign is a $100-million student affordability initiative, while other major projects include a campaign to benefit the Next-Generation Battery Research and Training Centre in Kelowna, as well as plans to promote biomedical innovation. UBC

More than 251 research projects have received $64 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund. The funding will support research infrastructure projects at 40 universities across the country, in areas such as genetics, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, climate change, and health and well-being. A full list of awards, including institutional and provincial breakdowns, is available here.

Northern College's Timmins campus officially opened its new mining-focused innovation hub and learning centre, a $2 million development supported by industry partners Agnico Eagle Mines (Toronto), IAMGOLD (Toronto), Orica (Brownsburg-Chatham, Quebec), Levert (Sudbury), ACCES (Rouyn-Noranda, QC), and public contributors including the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Ontario's Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Timmins Daily Press

COLLABORATION & INNOVATION

Burlington, ON-based investor Portland Holdings and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on finding long-term solutions for the decarbonization of global economies and the development of radiopharmaceuticals to combat cancer. CNL will contribute scientific and technological knowledge and capabilities while Portland will provide business expertise and funding support. CNL

The Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary has launched a nine-month scaleup pilot program to support eight Alberta companies that want to grow five times their revenue, capital, or team within two to three years of program completion. This focus is on cleantech companies in energy and agriculture, and includes Calgary-based CleanO2 Carbon Capture Technologies and Provision Analytics, as well as Edmonton's Wyvern and G2V. UCalgary

The newly renovated Human-Animal Interaction Lab at the University of British Columbia is inviting pet dogs and their owners to engage in canine cognition research. The goal is to improve animal shelter practices and companion animal welfare in shelters and homes with pets, so researchers will explore differences in dog cognition in terms of breed and individual differences in dogs. The centre received federal and provincial funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the BC Knowledge Development Fund. UBC

University of Waterloo has launched the Sustainable Futures initiative, a collaboration between the Waterloo Climate Institute, the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, and the Water Institute, to "accelerate holistic approaches to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on the interconnections between energy, climate, and water." The Initiative aligns with the Futures Framework of Waterloo at 100, a visioning exercise to achieve the university's aspirations by its 100th anniversary in 2057. UWaterloo

Nova Scotia's Maritime Launch Services and Edinburgh, UK-based space company Skyrora have signed a Letter of Intent to launch Skyrora's space vehicle from Spaceport Nova Scotia, MLS's newly-greenlit launch complex. Skyrora would supply launch vehicles for MLS's satellite clients and be able to host their own satellite clients under a lease agreement. MLS

RELATED: Watch for a feature article about MLS and Skyrora in next week's edition of ITW.

BIOMANUFACTURING

An inaugural biomanufacturing training program for students developed in 2019 by Mitacs and BioCanRx, for The Ottawa Hospital's Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre, is expanding to create a pipeline of highly qualified personnel. The Canadian Partnership for Research in Immunotherapy Manufacturing Excellence (CanPRIME) 2.0 will consolidate the inaugural program as a standardized curriculum to be implemented at training sites in Victoria, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Ottawa. The program will deliver essential skills and competencies through an 8-month paid internship in partnership with colleges, universities, research facilities, industry, and funders. Mitacs

RELATED: Canadian manufacturing of CAR-T cells a game-changer for cancer patients and researchers

Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, through Canada’s Global Innovation Clusters Initiative, is contributing $10.5 million towards a project valued at nearly $35-million, which focuses on up-skilling Canada's cell and gene therapy manufacturing capacity. The project is being led by the Canadian Advanced Therapies Training Institute (CATTI; Montreal) and OmniaBio (Hamilton), and includes partners ExCellThera (Montreal), MorphoCell Technologies (Montreal), and Aspect Biosystems (Vancouver). NGEN

BioTalent Canada has unveiled a national talent strategy to address current and forecasted labour shortages in the industry. The strategy will supply labour market information and job-ready human resources to meet demand, which is estimated to be an additional 65,000 new workers by 2029. Bio Talent Canada

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Business Development Bank of Canada is launching a $500-million venture fund to increase opportunities for women entrepreneurs to succeed globally. The platform consists of a $300-million direct investment fund for promising female-led technology companies, $100 million to directed funds focused on women entrepreneurship, and $100 million to set up a lab for creating new equity investment models. BDC

A new grant program developed by the University of Calgary’s Office of Sustainability has received $1.6 million from Environment and Climate Change Canada to strengthen its capacity for advancing climate action across southern Alberta. The Mobilizing Alberta Climate Action Grant program is making up to $50,000 available to project teams, which must include a University of Calgary faculty member, community partner, and one or more students to implement climate-based initiatives. UCalgary

REPORTS & STRATEGIES

The 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, by innovation policy advisory and research firm Startup Genome, reveals Toronto-Waterloo has been one of the biggest movers in the financial technology sector since 2020, moving up six places to seventh in the world. The biggest movers include Zurich (+9), Seattle (+8), Toronto-Waterloo (+6), and Bangalore-Karnataka (+6). The report notes that Toronto-Waterloo's improved funding factor score is due in part to Wealthsimple’s $600-million, May 2021 private equity round, the highest fintech deal in the ecosystem in 2021. Toronto-Waterloo also ranks in the top five performing ecosystems in the report's assessment of Performance and Legacy factors, and in the top 10 ecosystems in Funding and Experience. Startup Genome

Pre-seed startup network The Founder Institute is inviting input after compiling a first draft directory of accelerators, incubators, investors, and business press for entrepreneurs as a potential resource for applicants to its Impact and Sustainability Founder Institute program. Canadian organizations currently in the directory include Canada Forum for Impact Investment and Development, the Climate Ventures Accelerator, and Toronto's Centre for Social Innovation. Founder Institute

Modelling from Clean Energy Canada and the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing shows Canada has the potential to build a domestic EV battery supply chain that could generate up to 250,000 jobs by 2030 and inject $48 billion to the Canadian economy annually if the federal government adopts a more effective strategy to double down on key stages such as EV assembly, battery cell manufacturing, and clean battery materials production. Trillium Network

THE GRAPEVINE

Industry consortium BioTalent Canada has announced its board of directors for 2022-2023. Reg Joseph, CEO of healthcare solutions NGO Health Cities, is the returning chair, while Calgary-based consultant Bob Golding will sit as vice chair; High Liner Foods' VP finance Kimberly Stephens will sit as vice president, and president and CEO of BioTalent Canada Rob Henderson will serve as corporate secretary and ex-officio of the board. Other board members include PEI BioAlliance's manager of HR strategy Vivian Beer, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies' director of talent management Alexandra Black, and Jessica Bowes, assistant vice-president research (innovation and knowledge mobilization) at the University of Guelph. BioTalent

University of Guelph engineering professor Dr. Graham Taylor has been named research director at the Vector Institute (Toronto), the not-for-profit dedicated to the research and advancement of artificial intelligence. Taylor, who has served as the institute's research director on an interim basis, is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning, and was one of the first faculty members appointed to the institute. UGuelph

Sally Ng has been appointed CEO of The Wallace McCain Institute, effective Oct.11. Ng was the chief operating officer of Tribe Network, a social enterprise that helps Black, Indigenous and People of Colour advance opportunities within high-growth and emerging industries. She was also the founder of The Triple Effect, an innovation consultancy focused on corporate innovation, entrepreneurial community development programs, and technology coaching. Ng also previously served as the founding executive director of New Brunswick-based entrepreneurship hub Planet Hatch. Wallace McCain Institute

University of Montreal computer scientist and operational research professor Dr. Gilles Brassard is a co-winner of the US$3-million Breakthrough Prize Foundation award in the fundamental physics category. Brassard shares the award with his collaborator, IBM researcher Dr. Charles Bennett, for their work in quantum physics. Oxford University physicist Dr. David Deutsch and Massachusetts Institute of Technology applied mathematics professor Dr. Peter Shor are also co-winners for separate contributions to the field of quantum information. U de Montreal

Canada's Forest Trust (CFT) has announced the first four members of its science, innovation, and policy board. The board will be chaired by Peter van Dijk, chief sustainable finance and policy officer at CFT, and includes Joanna Eyquem, managing director of climate-resilient infrastructure at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo; Dr. Blair Feltmate, head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo; Steve Hounsell, chair of the Ontario Biodiversity Council; and Dr. Warren Mabee, associate dean and director of the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University. CFT