Attention News Editors:

Sunnybrook makes history with milestone $74.6 million research award

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    Canada Foundation for Innovation invests in first-of-its-kind in Canada,
    Centre for Research in Image-Guided Therapeutics
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    TORONTO, Aug. 20 /CNW/ - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre congratulates
the federal government and Canada Foundation for Innovation for their
continued support of excellence and innovation in health sciences research and
is pleased to receive today a $74.6 million award, the largest grant in the
hospital's history, from the Canada Foundation for Innovation's (CFI) Research
Hospital Fund.
    This funding will establish the first-of-its-kind in Canada, Centre for
Research in Image-Guided Therapeutics which will develop and test
state-of-the-art medical imaging technologies and therapeutics including new
vaccines, drugs, biological agents and imaging devices and translate them into
clinical practice primarily in the areas of cancer, cardiac, musculoskeletal,
and neurosciences.
    "I would like to thank the federal government and CFI for this
prestigious award. I am personally proud of our researchers, through whose
work Sunnybrook Research Institute has tripled in size over the last five
years to become one of the largest research institutes in Canada," says Dr.
Barry McLellan, president and chief executive officer, Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre. "This grant will allow our research teams to take giant
strides in improving the health of our patients, and achieving our vision of
inventing the future of health care."
    "This is surely one of our most gratifying moments," said Dr. Michael
Julius, vice-president, research, Sunnybrook. "We are thrilled with the CFI's
recognition of the transformative potential of this research. Their investment
is a tribute to our scientists and their teams, and the quality of the work we
do here."
    The Centre for Image-Guided Therapeutics will add more than 100,000
square feet of research space at Sunnybrook including two new floors on the
main M-Wing, and will bring together 55 scientists and clinician-scientists
from across the hospital along with more than 180 highly skilled research
trainees. Unique facilities within the Centre will include:

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    -   Canada's first biomedical device development lab where for the first
        time in one facility researchers will be able to conceive, engineer
        and produce complex medical devices such as imaging detectors and
        therapy delivery devices for clinical trials.

    -   The MRI-guided focused ultrasound surgery facility will be a world-
        first and will propel Sunnybrook Research Institute's position as a
        leader to develop, assess and clinically translate MRI-guided focused
        ultrasound surgery devices. Clinical and basic researchers will work
        with industrial partners to develop and test focused ultrasound
        devices to treat uterine fibroids and cancer.

    -   The minimally invasive electrophysiology and vascular procedures
        facility will build on the expertise of Sunnybrook's Imaging Research
        Centre for Cardiac Intervention and will further research in areas
        including regenerative cell therapies to repair the heart after a
        heart attack, and the use of MRI-guided electrophysiology to treat
        arrhythmias.

    -   The neurointervention facility will use image-guided technology to
        develop and improve treatments for stroke and dementia and to enhance
        recovery after stroke, and will facilitate the building of the
        world's first focused ultrasound device to incorporate both low-
        intensity and high-intensity frequencies to further explore focused
        ultrasound's usefulness in the delivery of drugs to the brain.
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    "With this award, we can build a centre that will be the only one of its
kind in the country and perhaps the world," says Dr. Kullervo Hynynen,
director, discipline of imaging, Sunnybrook Research Institute and Centre
project lead. "The Centre will help us continue innovative research in medical
imaging with an emphasis on developing new therapeutics for which Sunnybrook
is known globally and will also attract collaborators, industry partners and
young trainees."

For further information: Media contact: Natalie Chung-Sayers,
Communications Advisor, Sunnybrook, ph: (416) 480-4040