TORONTO — The Government of Ontario has provided a $9.9 million investment to support research infrastructure updates to the Toronto High Containment Facility (THCF) at the University of Toronto, which houses the largest containment level 3 lab in Ontario.
The facility is specially equipped to allow researchers to study high-risk pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, HIV, tuberculosis and mpox.
The renewal of the 20-year-old facility, the only containment facility of its kind in the Greater Toronto Area, will provide increased capacity to use state-of-the-art approaches supporting academic research projects as well as collaborative industry-led efforts to develop new vaccines and therapeutics for Canadians, indicates the U of T website.
The new investment will also allow the facility to meet the growing demand from industry and public sector partners while maintaining ongoing research projects and an agile responsiveness to future outbreaks.
The THCF renewal will also be undertaken in collaboration with U of T’s hospital partners: The Hospital for Sick Children, Sinai Health, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Unity Health Toronto and University Health Network. Construction of the facility has begun but the university is seeking additional funding to complete the project.
The revitalized THCF will also have the capacity to train more than 100 new highly qualified professionals over a five-year period with industry-relevant skills.
In addition to a larger physical space, the updated facility will include a high containment insectary to enable research on mosquito-borne viruses like Chikungunya, dengue, Zika and yellow fever. With its modular design and enhanced safety features, the new facility will also be better positioned to respond to emerging pathogens like highly pathogenic avian influenza, adds the release.
Recent Comments