About RMNI

Regenerative medicine encompasses a wide range of health research fields that share the goals of stimulating the renewal of bodily tissues and organs or the restoration of function through natural and bioengineered means. Regenerative medicine also focusses on strategies that promote health and prevent disease. The overarching goal is to develop innovative treatments to improve quality of life.

Nanomedicine is the application of nanotechnology to health research. Many materials have unique properties at the nanometre scale - one-billionth of a metre, or one-80,000th of a human hair. These properties have given rise to nanotechnology - which encompasses the technologies used in the design and manufacture of extremely small materials and devices built at the molecular level of matter, as well as the resulting materials and products themselves. These tiny materials can be used to diagnose and treat diseases or repair damaged tissues.

To realize the full potential of regenerative medicine and nanomedicine, CIHR and its partners in RMNI have developed a strategy of partnership, multidisciplinarity and commitment to responsible use of technology. We're not just funding promising researchers; we're building an integrated research environment in which they can succeed.

RMNI's partnerships are breaking down barriers between research institutions, funding agencies, government departments, industries and countries. For example, in May 2006 CIHR embarked on an international partnership with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, an American non-profit organization that is the world's largest charitable funder of research into type 1 diabetes. This partnership, worth approximately $2 million over five years, combines Canadian and American research capacity to develop strategies for regenerating or repairing insulin-producing cells in the body.

RMNI is also uniting researchers across many fields and helping ensure that the technology emerging from today's research is in Canadians' best interests.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) was proud to participate in the opening of the National Research Council (NRC) Olympus Centre for CARS Spectroscopy on November 17, 2009. The basis of the collaboration between NRC and Olympus was the development of a new CARS Multimodal Microscope module created by researchers supported through CIHR's Regenerative Medicine and Nanomedicine Initiative (RMNI) Team Grant Program (John Pezacki and Albert Stolow).
Michelle Gagnon, Director of Knowledge Synthesis and Exchange at CIHR, spoke about how collaborations with industry can advance the commercialization of pioneering technology developed by researchers supported through granting agencies like CIHR. The CARS User Facility will provide Canadian researchers with access to state-of-the-art expertise and equipment.

(From left to right) Dr. Yiwei (Kevin) Jia, Dr. Roman Szumski, Dr. John Pezacki, Michelle Gagnon, Dr. David Courtman, Dr. Osamu Joji, Dr. Michael Sowa, Dr. Dan Wayner, Dr. Ji-Xin Cheng
- Photo from National Research Council Canada

While the promise of regenerative medicine and nanomedicine belongs to tomorrow, CIHR and its partners are building towards it today. And we're already beginning to see progress. 

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