TEC Centre Labs, a $2.3 million, 8,000 square foot wet lab and collaboration space is now open. The facility, which is part of TEC Edmonton, is an accelerator for health technology companies and entrepreneurs, and houses the UAlberta Health Accelerator (focuses on research at the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry) and the Merck Invention Accelerator (focuses on advancing emerging health technologies).
“With a world-class laboratory and access to targeted programming, TEC Centre Labs is the place for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive,” says Chris Lumb, CEO, TEC Edmonton. “Its connection to UAlberta and industry through Edmonton’s innovation corridor will be a great asset for researchers.”
Richard Fedorak, dean of U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry said in Folio, “As our scientists and learners make discoveries that have value in the healthcare system, we have to move those out of the laboratories and into human use. Rather than taking researchers who have made a fabulous discovery, celebrating them and sending them back to their lab, we want to move their intellectual property and their spin-out companies into an area where they can blossom and grow. The UAlberta Health Accelerator within TEC Centre Labs is the landscape for that opportunity.
“Each year, our faculty invests $300 million in research and discovery. The health accelerator marks that investment going full circle. So not only do the people of Alberta and Canada invest in our research, but we are giving back by taking that research, publishing on it and then moving it into the health-care system. It’s advancing an academic healthcare centre into an academic healthcare system that pulls and pushes ideas and innovations forward.”
Thirteen U of A spinoffs will occupy UAlberta Health Accelerator during the facility’s first intake.
The Merck Invention Accelerator aims to advance emerging technology with the ultimate goal of saving lives globally. Merck and TEC Edmonton will provide personalized input to the health sciences, early stage pharmaceutical, and health technology companies utilizing the space. The Merck Invention Accelerator is accepting applications for the first-year cohort. Interested applicants can learn more at tecedmonton.com/merckinventionaccelerator-2.
Deborah James, executive director of innovation for the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, noted in Folio, “I think our researchers and trainees are going to love being downtown in this vibrant collision space to connect with other like-minded people. It’s a piece to a bigger picture of instilling a culture of innovation within the faculty.”
In addition to outstanding laboratory space and opportunities to collaborate with industry professionals, users of TEC Centre Labs will be able to share ideas, network, and gain invaluable insights from each other.
TEC Centre Labs is supported by the Government of Canada’s investment through Western Economic Diversification Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, the University of Alberta, the Government of Alberta, Edmonton Economic Development and the University Hospital Foundation.
During its 2017/2018 year, TEC Edmonton has raised $60 million, created 306 jobs in 50 organizations, generated $109 million in client revenue, boasts a 97 percent one-year survival rate for its spin-off companies and has launched 104 unique products and services. To learn more about TEC Edmonton and TEC Centre Labs, visit www.tecedmonton.com and www.tecedmonton.com/tec-centre-labs.
