Innovation Anthology #750:

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About 8000 Canadians die each year from hospital acquired infections.  

The microbes that cause these infections are difficult to treat  because they’ve become resistant to antibiotics.

Dr. Ian Lewis holds the Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Translational Health Chair in Metabolomics at the University of Calgary.

His research is focused on finding a new way to beat those microbes. And that’s with metabolomics.

DR IAN LEWIS: Metabolomics is a radically new way of approaching  the study of metabolism.  Metabolism is something that’s very fundamental to being a living organism.  What we eat has a direct impact on how well we live, how fit we are.  And traditionally people have investigated metabolism by looking at one or two reactions at a time. So the fundamental difference with metabolomics is that we look at the entire metabolic network and that can involve thousands of reactions and tens of thousands of molecules.  So this gives us a way of investigating metabolism on sort of a global scale.

Dr. Lewis says his research will focus on uncovering a method to identify the most dangerous pathogens, and this will lay the groundwork for a new generation of antibiotics founded on metabolics.  

Thanks today to Alberta Innovates Health Solutions.

FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER

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Sponsor

Alberta Innovates Health Solutions

Alberta Innovates (formerly Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions)

As the newly formed Alberta Innovates corporation, we still fund top quality, internationally competitive health research and innovation activities to improve the health and wellbeing of Albertans. We provide leadership for Alberta’s health research and innovation enterprise by directing, coordinating, reviewing, funding and supporting research and innovation.

Working with our many partners  in the health system, we ensure that research achieves innovation in care, policy and practice, and that the needs of patients and clinicians influence research.

Our background

Alberta Innovates consolidation was launched November 1, 2016.

Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions

Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions was established as part of the Alberta Innovates system by an Act of Legislation of the Government of Alberta. It is a agency  of the Government of Alberta. We receive a yearly allocation from the Ministry of Health and report through the ministry to the people of Alberta.

Our Mandate and Roles document reflects our role and responsibilities and outlines the government statues and regulations with which we comply.

Alberta’s Health Research and Innovation Strategy (AHRIS) sets out Alberta’s health research agenda for the coming decade to ensure our considerable investments in research align with our priority—to improve the health of Albertans.

 

 

Program Date: 2016-01-19