Groundbreaking for AMRIC research facility

After three years of planning Health Sciences North's Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada (AMRIC) held the groundbreaking ceremony for its research facility on Walford Road Friday.

The building, which was formerly home to St. Theresa's School, will be converted into a 14,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art research centre.

“This is a great milestone for medical research in Northern Ontario,” said Dr. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, AMRIC's CEO and scientific director. “This cutting-edge research facility will allow us to attract talent to Sudbury.”

Diaz-Mitoma said the facility will be able to accommodate around 50 staff, and added he hopes to attract four or five principal investigators, who would each arrive with teams of five to 10 researchers.

He said AMRIC is already searching for a new cancer research chair to move into the new facility.

AMRIC's current research facility, which occupies 12,000 square feet in the North East Cancer Centre, is bursting at the seams, said Dr. Denis Roy, Health Sciences North's president and CEO.

“It gives us enough space to accommodate what we have already,” he said about the new facility. “It allows us to make life livable for the researchers and the students.”

The transformation of the Walford Road property is made possible by $4.99 million in funding from FedNor, $4.99 million from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation , $1 million from the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, and $750 thousand from the City of Greater Sudbury.

Created in 2011, AMRIC investigates and develops promising new treatments for health conditions of particular concern in northeastern Ontario and northern Canada, including cancer, infectious disease, chronic diseases, and seniors health.

AMRIC was also formed to help Sudbury attract and retain national leaders in health care research, and develop health care research as a key economic driver in Greater Sudbury.

Researchers at AMRIC work in close cooperation with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Laurentian University, Cambrian College, and College Boréal.

Since its inception, AMRIC has doubled its complement of research and support staff and attracted more than $15 million in research funding. AMRIC has created two subsidiaries, Ramsey Lake Pharmaceuticals and Lilly Creek Vaccines, to explore the potential commercialization of promising new research discoveries.

AMRIC has also established research chairs in healthy aging and personalized medicine.

Diaz-Mitoma said it could take 12 to 18 months before the former school is renovated to accommodate the new research facility, and it has obtained the necessary certifications to operate a research lab.