Recently the research infrastructure of the Department of Biomedical Sciences underwent extensive renovations to create, in addition to several existing individual laboratories dedicated to functional morphology, toxicology and ruminant physiology, the Institute for Animal-Human Links in Health Science Research. The total budget for this project was $27.5 million, consisting of contributions from Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Innovation Trust, and the University of Guelph. This Institute comprises two main multi-user laboratory complexes: Reproductive Health and Biotechnology (RHB), and Enhanced Health Assessment/Application of Molecular Markers (EHAL).
These renovations generated state of the art multi-disciplinary laboratories, consolidated on two floors of the OVC building. Common equipment and facilities include: purified reagent grade water systems (MilliQ and RO), autoclave suites, histological preparation and production facilities, research cold rooms, devoted RNA isolation facilities, facilities for solution and media preparation, tissue culture suites suitable for handling and storage of animal and human cell lines, in vitro fertilization and embryo culture suites and dedicated micromanipulation workstations. Equipment includes: several PCR machines, including gradient PCR, electrophoresis equipment for agarose and protein gels, spectrophotometers and visible plate/ELISA reader, refrigerators, and freezers (standard and ultracold) Real-Time RT-PCR machines, digital photo-documentation equipment for agarose and similar gels (three, including one suitable for in vivo bioluminescence), inverted phase contrast and compound light/fluorescent microscopes equipped with digital cameras (six), confocal microscopes (one standard scanning laser confocal microscope; one spinning disc confocal microscope, suitable for FRET/FLIM analysis), Typhoon™ fluorescent scanner, spot picker and auto-digester (for 2-D protein gels), microarray scanner, fluorescent plate reader suitable for luciferase assays, facilities for bacterial culture, and numerous centrifuges.
As well, the department has devoted technical support for glassware wash-up, media prep, histotechnique and microscopy, proteomics, IT and computing support, and secretarial support.
Research
There are several major areas of research in the Department which generally cross individual disciplines. Only a cursory summary of the areas of interest are show below. Please review the individual Faculty listings for more details of the areas of particular expertise and interest. Please note that a particular member of the Faculty may be identified in more that one area depending on the nature of their overall research program.
Major Areas of Research:
Reproductive Biology and Development
Research in this area includes on the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in steroidogenesis, and the normal and abonormal development of embryos, various aspects of reproductive biology (including the endocrinology) of domestic, laboratory and exotic species, the development of reproductive biotechnologies, such as cloning, in vitro fertilization, micromanipulation of embryos, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos and sex determination in animals.
Faculty Advisors:
- Hahnel
- King
- LaMarre
- Leatherland
- MacLusky
- Pyle
- Raeside
- Summerlee
- Yamashiro
Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease
These fields are represented by wide-ranging research activities which are focused on understanding disease processes at the molecular level, including studies of cancer biology, hepatic diseases, cardiovascular disease, and ion channel diseases.
Faculty Advisors:
- Coomber
- Hanna
- Johnson
- Kirby
- LaMarre
- Martino
- Moorehead
- Petrik
- Pyle
Biomedical Pharmacology and Toxicology
The primary research themes in these fields deal with clinical aspects of pharmacology and toxicology, in particular studies with domesticated and laboratory animals. Drugs used therapeutically, or chemicals encountered as environmental contaminants are studied using a range of in vitro and in vivo models systems.
Faculty Advisors:
- Boermans
- Conlon
- Johnson
- Kalisch
- Kirby
- Martino
Neuroscience
Departmental research in the neurosciences includes the characterization of pattern formation during normal brain development, the identification and characterization of novel mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, gene expression patterns and signaling pathways activated in aging and Alzheimer's Disease, the characterization of mutant ion channels in disease and the role of sex hormones in brain function.
Faculty Advisors:
- Kalisch
- Hanna
- MacLusky
