Three University of Regina (U of R) research projects are benefitting from nearly $460,000 in funding from Innovation Saskatchewan.
The provincial agency announced the funding on Wednesday through its Innovation and Science Fund (ISF). The projects receiving support focus on water security, environmental sustainability, and antimicrobial resistance. Innovation Saskatchewanâs investment matches funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation John R. Evans Leaders Fund, effectively doubling the resources available to researchers.
âInnovation Saskatchewanâs investment in research leaders at the University of Regina positions our province at the forefront in innovation.”
One of the three projects funded is research into advanced antibacterial technology being led by Dr. Omar El-Halfawy. The $205,779 investment will support specialized lab tools, such as high-throughput imaging and advanced bacterial genomics, to accelerate drug discovery. Those tools will allow researchers to study bacteria in conditions mimicking real-life infections to uncover bacterial resistances that can be missed by standard tests.
Fellow U of R professor Dr. Kerri Finlay is also receiving $170,176 to track how human activity and climate change affect prairie lakes and wetlands. That money will be used for new field and lab equipment that will enable high-precision monitoring of water in more than 100 lakes in southern Saskatchewan.
The remaining $83,140 will support a project researching waste management systems, led by Dr. Kelvin Tsun Wai Ng. That funding will support enhanced computer power, near-infrared spectrometry, and new field tools to study how plastic waste is mapped and analyzed in prairie conditions, advancing waste-management solutions to reduce landfill pressure.
RELATED: What a new innovation minister means for Saskatchewanâs tech sector
âInnovation Saskatchewanâs investment in research leaders at the University of Regina positions our province at the forefront in innovation, enabling bold research that addresses urgent challenges,â U of R research VP Dr. Chris Yost said in a news release.
The announcement of this batch of funding comes on the heels of Innovation Saskatchewanâs expansion of its ISF program, which almost doubled the programâs annual funding to $5.2 million.
BetaKitâs Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Tandem X Visuals.