A cure for cancer. It’s long been a holy grail for researchers like Dr. Jeanette Boudreau. But the associate professor with ąúĂń˛ĘƱ’s departments of Microbiology & Immunology and Pathology may be on the verge of better treatments using one of the most powerful weapons we have in this ongoing fight: the human immune system.
Dr. Boudreau is looking at the potential of using white blood cells, known as natural killers, as immunotherapies for cancer. Her research into these cells, which have proven effective in treating leukemia, shows promise. But Dr. Boudreau is facing a significant challenge. There are no biomanufacturing facilities in Atlantic Canada that can help her take this innovative idea from the lab to patients’ bedsides.
“It’s not just the ability to transform living organisms like white blood cells into vaccines and therapies that is missing here,” Dr. Boudreau explains. “It’s the ability to do what we call preclinical testing—figuring out dosing and toxicity—so these therapies are ready for prime time. Without a facility in place that can do all that, you either have to convince somebody else to pick up your discovery and run with it or you shelve it.”
Further reading:Â Channeling the power of natural killer cells to beat cancer
Thanks to ąúĂń˛ĘƱ’s Faculty of Medicine, that facility could soon be a reality. Supported by the fundraising efforts of the Bringing Worlds Together campaign, the Faculty is collaborating with Nova Scotia Health, the IWK Health Centre, the Canadian Center for Vaccinology (CCfV), and Life Sciences Nova Scotia to bring the facility, to be called GMP BioLabs East, to life. This innovative new undertaking will offer researchers like Dr. Boudreau access to biomanufacturing infrastructure, processes, and personnel that will help them turn scientific discoveries into life-changing medicines.
“We have great discovery research taking place at ąúĂń˛ĘƱ and across Atlantic Canada,” says Dr. David R. Anderson (MD'83), dean of the Faculty of Medicine. “What we have not had is a pipeline—a good manufacturing practice facility—for our researchers to translate their discoveries into drugs that can then be used in clinical trials. GMP BioLabs East fills that gap by creating an ecosystem for medical innovation in our region.”
Researchers in the Faculty of Medicine, such as the CCfV teams led by Drs. Scott Halperin and Joanne Langley (MD'84, PGM'85), first envisioned the biomanufacturing facility in 2021. In 2022, their vision came into greater focus when the Government of Canada announced $2 billion to support such infrastructure across the country. The scarcity of this infrastructure contributed to the challenges Canada faced both in commercializing and securing vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Dal researchers have been building the partnerships necessary to bring this facility to life.
“The pandemic taught us that by prioritizing collaboration, industry partnerships, specialized facilities, and skilled personnel, we could shorten the 15- year innovation pi