![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Biomolecular-imager-2-RS.jpg\")
<\/a>General Electric Sales Specialist Brad Cooney shows third-year Brock Biomedical Sciences student Danielle Sobers scans now possible through the University\u2019s new Typhoon 5 Biomolecular Imager.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIt is by far the best imaging system commercially available. If you want something better, you\u2019d probably have to build it yourself from scratch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
GE put a demo model in Brock\u2019s lab and allowed researchers to work with it for about two months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put it through the paces,\u201d Coorssen said, and its abilities proved quite impressive.<\/p>\n
He began discussions last fall with GE, which was interested in having the Typhoon 5 at the University based on previous research completed by Coorssen\u2019s group. \u201cWe got to the point where we had negotiated a price, but it was still awfully high for us at Brock,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Coorssen started reaching out to fellow researchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe essentially began the equivalent of a telethon,\u201d he said. And people were quick to respond.<\/p>\n
The initiative was first able to get off the ground thanks to Biological Sciences Professor Vincenzo De Luca contributing $55,000 in leftover grant money from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the then-Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science, after the organization agreed to the new use.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then pitched in money, as did a couple of my colleagues in the department, and it basically took off,\u201d Coorssen said.<\/p>\n
As word began to spread, people from other departments and even other Faculties began expressing interest in supporting the cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few of our colleagues even committed the average amount \u2014 about $2,000 \u2014 knowing they will never use the equipment, but wanting to help because of the importance of collegiality,\u201d Coorssen said. \u201cThis is what we\u2019re known for here at Brock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contributions totalling 80 per cent of the cost rolled in from faculty in Applied Health Sciences, Mathematics and Science and Social Sciences, and from the deans of Applied Health Sciences, Math and Science and Graduate Studies. Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon\u2019s office pitched in the remaining 20 per cent.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch is virtually always a collaborative and co-operative activity,\u201d said Kenyon, \u201cbut this case is special.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows a group of peers working together to enable something that none could have accomplished on their own, and it highlights the sense of shared purpose that animates the research community at Brock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite working all over the world, Coorssen says he\u2019s never experienced an initiative like this at any other institution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sends a crucial message that not only do researchers recognize that we\u2019re doing very important work here, but they also understand that we have to work together to get things done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are willing to put forward hard fought for grant money in order to promote research, opportunities for graduate students and opportunities to improve chances of getting better grants in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s that kind of integrated thinking that has to pervade everything we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new imaging system allows for data to be collected \u201cwith very high sensitivity\u201d and \u201callows us to do true molecular-level quantification,\u201d Coorssen said. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to study a molecular mechanism or identify a new critical biomarker (a diagnostic marker for disease, infection or environmental exposure), you must be able to quantify things at a molecular level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The equipment has been up and running in the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex lab for about a week and has already been used to help guide student researchers in new directions with their work, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could end up touching all sorts of research areas at Brock.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Brock community recently showed what can be accomplished by coming together for a cause, pooling funds from several Faculties to purchase a new high-end piece of research equipment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":59278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,39,7484,40,7,3319,4052,188,55,37,41,1,4,5,38],"tags":[8097,159,3220,4055,8096,3325,5624],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59292,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59277\/revisions\/59292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}