Seneca Centre for Innovation in Life Sciences (SCILS)

Seneca生命科学创新中心(SCiLS)将服务于大多伦多地区(GTA)中小型企业(SME)尚未得到满足的需求。SCiLS将使产业界和学术界建立伙伴关系，进一步开发、增强和验证诊断和化妆品领域的生命科学技术和产品。作为GTA生命科学创新生态系统的组成部分，SCiLS将通过与区域创新中心、孵化器和商业网络的合作伙伴关系，将产业界与Seneca的教职员工和学生联系起来，在应用研究项目上进行合作。SCiLS行业合作伙伴将受益于Seneca在以下领域的资源和专业知识：产品配方；化验开发和验证；方法开发和流程优化；产品稳定性增强和测试；以及质量控制和监管事务。 通过加拿大大学-社区创新计划-创新促进赠款的自然科学和工程研究理事会的资助，SCiLS将提高Seneca生物科学和应用化学学院的应用研究能力。具体地说，长期资金将使Seneca能够雇佣更多的教员进行应用研究，并为此配备更多的设备。这一能力的提高将使Seneca能够继续为区域生命科学中小企业的竞争力和生产力作出贡献。此外，SCILS将为学生提供更多体验式学习机会，以发展高要求的技能、知识和经验，并在毕业后无缝过渡到生命科学劳动力。最终，通过对生命科学人才的关注和对研发的投资，SCiLS将在安大略省生命科学部门的增长中发挥重要作用，使早期诊断和化妆品公司实现商业化并扩大其业务规模。

The Seneca Centre for Innovation in Life Sciences (SCILS) will serve an unmet need among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). SCILS will enable industry-academic partnerships to further develop, enhance and validate life sciences technologies and products in the areas of diagnostics and cosmetics. As an integral component of the life sciences innovation ecosystem in the GTA, through partnerships with regional innovation centres, incubators and business networks, SCILS will connect industry with Seneca faculty and students to collaborate on applied research projects. SCILS industry partners will benefit from Seneca's resources and expertise in the following areas: product formulation; assay development and validation; method development and process optimization; product stability enhancement and testing; and quality control and regulatory affairs. As a result of funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's College-Community Innovation Program - Innovation Enhancement Grant, SCILS will grow the capacity for applied research in Seneca's School of Biological Sciences and Applied Chemistry. Specifically, long-term funding will allow Seneca to hire more faculty to conduct applied research and dedicate more equipment for this purpose. This increased capacity will enable Seneca to continue contributing to the competitiveness and productivity of regional life sciences SMEs. Further, SCILS will provide more experiential learning opportunities for students to develop high-demand skills, knowledge and experience, and transition seamlessly into the life sciences workforce upon graduation. Ultimately, through its focus on life sciences talent and investment in research and development, SCILS will play a significant role in the growth of the life sciences sector in Ontario, enabling early-stage diagnostics and cosmetics companies to reach commercialization and scale their businesses.