Canadian Science Centre opens its doors

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/04/2018 (2900 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg is home to one of the most notable Canadian health centres, located right in the heart of West Alexander.

Some people may not know but the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, located at 1015 Arlington St. is the first facility in the world to combine laboratories for human and animal disease research at the highest level of bio-containment and that it is the only Containment Level 4 laboratory in Canada.

To spread more awareness about what the CSCHAH is and does, its community liaison committee is holding a free public presentation titled “Innovation at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health” on Thurs., April 26 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Since its inception in June 1999, CSCHAH researchers have studied established, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases of both humans and animals.

Being a CL4 lab means that it can house pathogens that are highly dangerous and contagious, such as Ebola and the 1918 flu virus, that have to be kept in contained areas.

Although many people think the lab is an excellent addition to the city, some have been skeptical due to not understanding what is done in the lab and its safety procedures.

So the CSCHAH community liaison committee decided it was time to host another public presentation since the last one happened in 2012.

Daniel Sitar, emeritus professor in the faculty of health sciences at the University of Manitoba, is a member of the committee.

He explained it is part of their mandate to stay in regular communication with area residents and interested Winnipeggers.

“The population is mobile these days and changes,” Sitar said.

“I think there’s an increasingly important role to this committee to ensure that the public has confidence in this centre, and that this centre does its due diligence in communicating with the public and helping them become advocates for it.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease are both located within the CSCHAH.

That these two national laboratories share a facility is admired throughout the international community for the ease of interaction between the labs and their scientists.

Both labs provide diagnostic services and in-depth laboratory analysis often unavailable elsewhere in the country. Their studies improve diagnostics, develop treatments and vaccines and increase the understanding of infectious diseases.

CSCHAH’s most recent claim to fame is the development of an Ebola vaccine and treatment, which happened right here in Winnipeg., in response to the West African Ebola crisis of 2014-15.

As the centre’s research work is being done and discoveries made, the community liaison committee receives briefings on the operations of the CSCHAH and is free to question personnel on any aspect of their activities. Thus, if approached by the community they can provide the most accurate information.

“It reinforces a comfort level that, in fact, nothing terrible is going to happen here. This centre has an extremely excellent reputation for maintaining the integrity of the entire unit and all the people who work here,” Sitar said.

“The centre benefits the economy. It benefits the health sciences because there are people here with expertise who can contribute to unusual problems and in medicine, and in pharmacy, and in veterinarian medicine to the farming community.”

The community liaison committee is independent of CSCHAH other than holding its meetings at the facility. Some CSCHAH staff sit on the committee but don’t have voting rights. The government is represented on the committee, education is represented, and community members are represented.

“We are unpaid, we are independent, and we are going into this because we think we have something to give to the community and it’s our opportunity to try and interface the general public with the specialist community that forms the centre,” Sitar added.

In addition to offering general information, the public presentation aims to show young people how they can work at CSCHAH. So far there are 500 employees currently working at the centre.
Free parking will available on April 26, and light refreshments will be served.

If you’d like to learn more about CSCHAH, call 204-947-3364 to speak to a community liaison committee member.