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"Our 40-per-cent success rate in this extremely competitive national funding competition is double the national average," said U of S Vice-President Research Steven Franklin. "The leadership of our researchers, supported by their colleagues across the country, demonstrates we can compete with the best in the country."

The new research infrastructure will address top-priority challenges and opportunities in agriculture, bioproducts, medicine, and the environment, with implications in Western Canada and around the world.

CFI will provide up to 40 per cent of the total $54.7 million in funding for the projects, with the balance to be made up from the U of S and other partners. The funding is part of more than $422 million in investments to support 86 projects at 35 institutions across Canada.

"CFI's support of cutting-edge research infrastructure has transformed Canada's research landscape and increased the country's international competitiveness," said CFI President and CEO Dr. Eliot Phillipson. "Investments like these have allowed the University of Saskatchewan to become a destination of choice for some of the world's top research talent."

"The superior research capacity being developed at the University of Saskatchewan is helping our community to excel in a competitive R&D environment, contributing to Saskatchewan's environment, our economy and our international competitiveness," said Carol Skelton, Minister of Revenue and Western Economic Diversification and MP for Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar.

The four U of S projects include:

* BioXAS: Life Science Beamline for X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy: Led by U of S Canada Research Chair Graham George, this $20.6-million suite of two beamlines at the Canadian Light Source will be used to study biological and health-related functions of metals in diseases such as Alzheimer's, as environmental toxins, in metal-containing drugs, and as essential constituents of living systems.

* National Agricultural Industrial Hygiene Laboratory: Led by U of S researcher Jim Dosman at the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, this $14.5-million initiative will provide tools to study the health effects in workers and others exposed to the risks of modern agricultural production and related rural activities.

* Feed Technology Research Facility: Led by U of S researcher Bernard Laarveld, this $12.6-million initiative will explore challenges related to the burgeoning bioproducts industry, such as how to make high-value animal feed products from low-value crops and by-products created by biofuel plants.

* Aquatic Toxicology Research Facility: Under the leadership of U of S environmental toxicologist Karsten Liber, this $7-million unique-in-Canada initiative will provide the tools to detect, monitor, and evaluate toxic pollution in our lakes, rivers, and other aquatic ecosystems. This will provide crucial information for policy, regulation, and environmental remediation.

* The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. Its mandate is to strengthen capacity among Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. More information is available at www.innovation.ca. A backgrounder on these latest U of S projects is available at http://www.usask.ca/research.

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For more information, contact:

Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research

Angus McKinnon
Coordinator, Media Relations
Canada Foundation for Innovation
(613) 996-3160
www.innovation.ca

Backgrounder

Canada Foundation for Innovation Grants to the University of Saskatchewan
November 27, 2006

U of S Success

With four of 10 projects funded, the U of S boasts a 40-per-cent success rate compared to 18 per cent nationally. The university was awarded 56 per cent of the funds it asked for - again, double the national average of 23 per cent. All four projects were funded through the CFI New Initiatives Fund, and collectively make up 12 per cent of the total - one of the highest success rates in the country.

The Projects:

* BioXAS: Life Science Beamline for X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy at the Canadian Light Source
Total project cost: $20,596,896 (CFI component: $8,238,760)
Project Leader: Graham George
Canada Research Chair in X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and Professor, Department of Geological Sciences
Contact: 966-5722, g.george@usask.ca
This suite of two beamlines will investigate the molecular form and microscopic location of metals in biological systems with unprecedented sensitivity. One hundred researchers from 19 Canadian universities and other institutions will use BioXAS in their biomedical, environmental and agricultural research.
Biomedical examples include the role of metals in brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, how to cure the deadly effects of toxic elements such as mercury, and improved drugs to treat cancer.
Environmental research focuses on how metal contaminants affect organisms and ultimately humans. BioXAS complements existing CLS life science facilities and strengthens the CLS as a global leader in life science synchrotron research.

* National Agricultural Industrial Hygiene Laboratory
Total project cost: $14,555,978 (CFI component: $5,822,362)
Project Leader: James Dosman
Director, Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture (CCHSA) at the U of S
Contact: 966-8302, james.dosman@usask.ca
Agriculture is notorious for some of the most hazardous working conditions in Canada. The National Agricultural Industrial Hygiene Laboratory, to be built as part of the new U of S Academic Health Sciences complex, will be used to study the health and safety of the approximately one million workers and others exposed to the risks of modern agricultural production and related rural activities. The lab will complement facilities at three other universities working with the CCHSA, and include new telecommunications links for this national network. The lab will be organized around four main research themes: food and water quality, rural health issues, working conditions, and air quality (i.e. inhalation exposures).

*
Feed Technology Research Facility
Total project cost: $12,614,275 (CFI component: $5,045,710)
Project Leader: Bernard Laarveld
Professor, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Contact: 966-4972, b.laarveld@usask.ca
The U of S boasts a large, internationally-recognized research cluster in animal nutrition and feed science, crop breeding, and animal health. It has extensive, high-quality infrastructure and an excellent track record in technology transfer and commercialization. The Feed Technology Research Facility will add crucial pilot plant R&D capacity to allow research into equipment design, process optimization, energy efficiency, animal nutrition and feed development, and other key areas. The pilot plant will be a crucial link in the emerging bioproducts industry, where low-value by-products from activities such as ethanol production may be turned into high-value animal feed products. This initiative enjoys broad support. For example, key funding from both Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food (SAF) and Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Saskatchewan (ACAAS) supported initial engineering design work, economic impact assessment and organizational development to bolster the successful proposal to CFI.

* Aquatic Toxicology Research Facility
Total project cost: $7,015,000 (CFI component: $2,806,000)
Project Leader: Karsten Liber
Director, Toxicology Centre
Contact: 966-7444, karsten.liber@usask.ca
The Aquatic Toxicology Research Facility at the U of S Toxicology Centre will allow researchers to study the effects of water quality and pollutants on aquatic species - from fish and amphibians to plants and microorganisms - under a wide variety of water quality and experimental conditions. The only facility of its type in Canada and one of only a few in the world, the facility will provide the tools to study the effects of man-made pollutants on sensitive northern ecosystems. The knowledge gained will help put Canada at the forefront of international water quality research, guiding regulators and industry in areas as diverse as economic development in the north and "green chemistry" to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to toxic chemicals used in industry.

Canada Foundation for Innovation Major Program Funding
Funding for these projects is part a major $422,343,180 investment announced November 27, 2006 by the CFI to support 86 projects at 35 institutions across the country.
This investment marks the inauguration of two new CFI funds:
- $141,449,405 was awarded under the Leading Edge Fund (LEF), designed to enable institutions to build on and enhance already successful and productive initiatives supported by past CFI investment.
- Another $183,429,964 million was awarded under the New Initiatives Fund (NIF), designed to enhance Canada's capacity in promising new areas of research and technology development.
- Finally, $97,463,811was awarded under the already existing Infrastructure Operating Fund, which assists institutions with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with the new infrastructure.

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