Government Allocates $15 Million for Pathogen Monitoring and Healthcare Supply Chain Research in Anticipation of Future Pandemics
A $15 Million Cross-Border Research Initiative Launched to Monitor Pathogen Movement Across Canada and the U.S. in Anticipation of Future Pandemics.
Funded by the federal government, the project will span four years, covering equipment and research expenses.
Dubbed the Integrated Network for the Surveillance of Pathogens: Increasing Resilience and Capacity in Canada’s Pandemic Response (INSPIRE), the initiative unites 43 researchers from seven universities and various public and private entities. The interdisciplinary team comprises biochemists, microbiologists, engineers, computer scientists, and supply chain public policy experts.
INSPIRE will collaborate with academic institutions in Michigan, Ohio, and New York, pivotal regions for supply chains supporting Canadian industries.
Anne Snowdon, a professor of business at the University of Windsor (UWindsor) and a co-investigator in the project, emphasizes that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed Canada’s and many other nations’ lack of preparedness in effectively leveraging interconnected data within healthcare systems.
Snowdon asserts that the project enhances Canada’s readiness to handle pandemics, facilitating future integration of wastewater surveillance and cross-border transit with public health systems, as well as with manufacturers and distributors of healthcare products.
“If they don’t have the products they need to deliver patient care, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. It’s really connecting all the critical features of a health care system that are needed to effectively manage any kind of disruption.”
Mike McKay, another researcher involved in the project, specializes in environmental microbiology. He is a founding member of the Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Initiative, which conducted COVID-19 testing to establish an early warning system for outbreaks.
“We need to shore up the ability of the private sector in Canada to meet demands of the health sector in case of another pandemic,” he said.
“We must learn from experience to develop proactive strategies to prevent the devastating impact of infectious diseases on the biomanufacturing and health sectors, and improve efficiencies moving assets across borders.”
The University of Windsor has eight researchers participating in the study, receiving a significant portion of the federal funding for the project.
Kenneth Ng, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university, will concentrate on genetic sequencing of pathogens of interest, including emerging ones.
