The University of Saskatchewan will receive $3.8 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to help research related to agriculture, health and synchrotron science.
Karen Chad, vice-president of research at the university, said the funding will allow the university to buy equipment to help in research aimed at improving cold-hardiness in winter wheat and enhancing natural disease resistance in plants.
A portion of the money will also be used to develop a compact light source that complements synchrotron research at the university.
“These major CFI investments will provide the tools that (are needed) … to help increase food production, protect human health, and advance key areas of inquiry in energy and materials science and information technology,” Chad said.
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The CFI is a federal program that helps eligible institutions acquire advanced research equipment.
The program — aimed at improving Canada’s research capacity — covers up to 40 percent of approved equipment and infrastructure costs, with the remainder coming from other sources such as provincial governments and universities.
The $3.8 million investment announced March 8 will be split between three projects involving leading Saskatchewan researchers.
U of S chemistry professor Soledade Pedras will lead a 10 member team involved in several projects:
- Improving cold-hardy winter wheat varieties for the Canadian prairies.
- Producing designer molecules that enhance disease resistance in plants and reduce the need for commercial pesticides.
- Exploring the relationship be-tween bacteria and disease and the development of antibiotic resistance.
Research involving antibiotic resistance could contribute to new strategies that reduce drug resistance among bacteria and improve human health.
Pedras’s research team includes renowned wheat expert Ravi Chibbar, U of S oilseeds expert Martin Reaney and other scientists from the university.
The CFI will contribute $1.6 million to the project to help pay for equipment valued at $4 million. The new equipment will be located at the Saskatchewan Structural Sciences Centre. The two other CFI-funded projects are related to synchrotron technology.
About $1.6 million will be used to offset the cost of installing two advanced X-ray microscopes at the Canadian Light Source at the U of S.
Another $543,000 will be used to enhance an Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) facility.
The ALLS facility is located at Varennes, Que., but research conducted at the facility includes scientists from the U of S, the Canadian Light Source, the University of Alberta and the Universite du Quebec.
