Funding agreement ensures Fedoruk Centre at USask continues to support world-class nuclear research and training in Saskatchewan
At the opening of the new Innovation Wing of the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS) on Wednesday, May 22, Tina Beaudry-Mellor, Minister Responsible for Innovation Saskatchewan, announced $11.6 million in new funding over the next five years for the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation (Fedoruk Centre) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).
“Research supported by the Fedoruk Centre advances our province beyond uranium mining into key areas of nuclear innovation in medicine, materials research, power generation and environmental stewardship,” said Beaudry-Mellor. “Investments like these attract talented scientists who want to work at the cutting edge of nuclear science and technology in medicine, energy and the environment.”
The new five-year funding agreement for the Fedoruk Centre replaces one that expired at the end of March 2019. This brings the total provincial government funding for the Fedoruk Centre to $45.4 million since 2012.
“We are grateful for financial support from the provincial and federal governments,” said John Root, Fedoruk Centre executive director. “Their investments in innovation at the Fedoruk Centre, combined with income from other sectors, are helping to strengthen Saskatchewan’s place as a global leader in nuclear research, development, and training.”
The new SCCS’s Innovation Wing supports technology advancement of nuclear imaging and therapy in living specimens: plants, animals and humans. Innovations are improving medical diagnoses and treatments for cancer and other diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
The SCCS, which is owned by USask and managed by the Fedoruk Centre, also produces radiopharmaceuticals for regional hospitals. Since 2016, the SCCS has provided medical isotopes for nuclear imaging scans of more that 5,000 Saskatchewan patients at Royal University Hospital.
The SCCS is also home to the new BioPETx, a real-time nuclear imaging detector invented in Saskatchewan specifically for plant and soil research. The BioPETx is the first instrument of its kind in Canada.
Access to a cyclotron, synchrotron, and phytotron (climate-controlled greenhouse) on the USask campus, along with the BioPETx, will advance agricultural knowledge and technologies, strengthening global food security by improving crop yields and resilience.
More information about the Fedoruk Centre and the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences is available here: https://fedorukcentre.ca/index.php
