Edmonton Is a Hub for Scientific Research and Medical Advancements
From biotechnology to nanotechnology, clean energy, information technology and health sciences, Edmonton works on it. Edmonton studies, analyzes, decodes and invents some of the most sophisticated scientific works in those fields.
The Academics
Considered to be a centre for research, Edmonton is cultivating some of the most ingenious breakthroughs at some of the world’s most innovative companies and centres of research in Canada. The labour of research is not only vibrant, but is actively supported in such an academic society.
The University of Alberta consists of a network of masterminds. The most forward-thinking academics have brought the institution to a caliber all its own. Attracting some of the best professors in Canada, the U of A is one of the top-funded research universities nationwide, and has a track record to warrant the funding.
Research Park
Edmonton Research Park is a premier facility, and is globally recognized for what research park manager Neil Kaarsemaker says “fosters economic diversification of the Edmonton region through the development, attraction and retention of targeted technology-based companies.”
The facility consumes 150,000 square feet and features an innovative community that encompasses 50 research firms, all with access to applied research resources of Alberta Innovates Technology Futures, a platform that provides technical services and funding support to those researchers.
“We seek to create a dynamic and growing innovation community within Edmonton Research Park that supports the efforts of our partners in the Edmonton Capital region,” explains Kaarsemaker. “That supports invention and product commercialization.”
In Medicine
People from all over western Canada, and the country for that matter, come to Edmonton for specialized treatments with Alberta Health Services.
According to a 2008 study conducted by the City of Edmonton, the capital city is considered “one of the largest, highest rated health regions in Canada and is known around the world for ground-breaking innovations and advances in medicine.”
The Alberta Diabetes Centre is the largest free-standing building dedicated to the disease, a facility that works toward prevention, better treatment and an eventual cure. Home to more than 200 researchers and members of the Edmonton Protocol Team, the 23,400-square-foot building is also host to 35 labs.
In May 2000, The Edmonton team made successful islet cell transplantations on patients with type-1 diabetes, essentially freeing patients from the need for daily injections of insulin.
The University of Alberta Hospital is considered “one of Canada’s leading clinical, research and teaching hospitals.” Specializing in cardiac sciences (the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute), neurosciences, organ and tissue transplant, and a state-of-the-art burn unit, and is also home to the Stollery Children’s Hospital, the full-service pediatric unit is considered a “hospital within a hospital.” Between the same walls, the Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine is also making headway, through vast research and reconstructive technologies to the human body, this clinical institute is recognized worldwide.
