Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences receives new investment for Innovation Wing

The Government of Canada is funding the development of new facilities to support innovative research in nuclear imaging and therapies using radioisotopes.  This research will benefit the well-being of humans and animals  while improving agricultural practices.
The Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation (Fedoruk Centre) is receiving close to $2.2 million to renovate and equip the Innovation Wing of the Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences (SCCS) at the University of Saskatchewan.

The renovated wing will bridge the gap between developing nuclear imaging drugs and proving their effectiveness in living specimens to advance human medicine, veterinary science and agriculture. It will enable more than 20 researchers to test better ways of diagnosing cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and heart disease,invent new detectors and targeted therapies; and apply nuclear imaging to advance agricultural sciences.

The investment will help the SCCS to become a focal point for a growing nuclear imaging cluster at the University of Saskatchewan, which includes the Canadian Light Source.

SCCS research success to date:

• Since the SCCS was established in 2016, it has provided medical isotopes for more than 5,000 nuclear-imaging scans of patients in Saskatchewan at Royal University Hospital, as well as in Alberta and Manitoba to diagnose and treat cancer.
• The SCCS is reliably manufacturing the radio-pharmaceutical “FDG”, enabling doctors to perform nuclear imaging that reveals the size and location of cancer tumours. This means doctors can plan treatments with confidence, and determine progress with certainty.
• The SCCS has provided three companies with access to specialized facilities and expertise to accelerate new nuclear medical technologies towards the marketplace.

By 2021, the SCCS Innovation Wing is expected to deliver social and economic impacts, including:

• at least 50 new high quality jobs;
• at least $500,000 of business expenditures in R&D;
• at least 60 patents or publications about nuclear imaging in life sciences; and
• entry to the marketplace of 10 new products, services or technologies. 

A cyclotron produces radioisotopes by bombarding a target material with a stream of accelerated sub-atomic particles. The radioisotope is then attached to a molecule to create an imaging agent or radiopharmaceutical. Radiation released by the radioisotope allows physicians and scientists to see biological processes inside humans, animals and plants, such as spotting cancer cells in a tumour.

Related Products

• Government of Canada invests in nuclear medicine innovation in Saskatchewan

Additional Links

• Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation
• Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences
• Western Economic Diversification Canada
• Government of Canada invests in Saskatchewan innovation, training and economic development initiatives