Spotlight on Québec
Sherbrooke: A Dynamic City Cradled in Nature
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ocated in the South-East of the Province of Québec, Sherbrooke is Québec’s sixth largest city and the regional capital of the Eastern Townships. The city is blessed by its proximity to Montréal, Québec City, Boston and New York, and its unique atmosphere is enriched by the presence of people from many cultural heritages. It is also a city where nature abounds and spectacular scenery accents its natural beauty. Nestled in the heart of the Appalachian Mountain chain, the region’s irregular landscape consists of beautiful hills and valleys with two major rivers converging in the downtown area, bestowing unique charm and character to the city known as the Cité des rivières (City of Rivers). Sherbrooke also has two lakes; one of which, the lac des Nations, is nestled in the very center of the city and is surrounded by a promenade and paths used by hundreds of citizens throughout the year who enjoy walking, cycling or skating in the city’s beautiful surroundings. At the heart of the Life Sciences regional cluster, Sherbrooke is ideally located for research and business because of the critical mass of its research centres, technology platforms and complementary businesses. The concentration of key players enables the realization of a complete research project, from fundamental or applied research, to product marketing, including pre-clinical and clinical research: a unique characteristic and advantage not to be dismissed! The proximity to the U.S. border (30 minutes from Vermont) makes it an ideal gateway to the American market. The Estrie region was recognized in July 2010 for their SAGEInnovation cluster (Health/Life Sciences/Autonomy and gerontotechnologies) within the ACCORD (regional development) program. Sherbrooke Science Park sets a good example by bringing together a large number of research, education and industry leaders. Found within the park are the Health Campus of Université de Sherbrooke and its Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS – The Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre), the Centre de recherche du CHUS (CHUS Research Centre), the Centre d’imagerie moléculaire de Sherbrooke (CIMS – Molecular Imaging Centre), the multinational company Charles River and the Pavillon de recherche appliquée sur le cancer (PRAC – Applied Cancer Research Building). The research expertise present in the Science Park is diverse and covers areas like cancer, diabetes, imaging and research on aging. Research on aging is a particular strength of Sherbrooke. The high level of development of this specialty in Sherbrooke stems from two factors: the existing close collaboration between industry and the University Pole, as well as the expertise of organizations whose purpose is to market the results of research work. Among the major strengths that Sherbrooke can rely on in this area, there are: the University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke (CSSS-IUGS), the Research Centre on Aging (CDRV) and the Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT).
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Biotechnology Focus / August/September 2015
The Cyclotron TR24 at the Sherbrooke Molecular Imaging Center of the CHUS. The first in the world, ready to produce medical radioactive isotopes for research and diagnostic.
Moreover, Sherbrooke’s Research Centre on Aging (CDRV) is one of the largest expertise centres of its kind. Hosted by the University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke (CSSS-IUGS), CDRV relies on interdisciplinarity, bringing together researchers from five faculties and more than 15 Université de Sherbrooke departments. In addition, several research chairs are devoted to this specialty in order to prevent delay or palliate the loss of autonomy of aging persons.
Some promising start-ups Sherbrooke also has a lively development climate in many Life Sciences sub-sectors. The presence of the Accélérateur de création d’entreprises technologiques (ACET – Accelerator for the creation of technological businesses) at the Université de Sherbrooke fosters the emergence of a growing number of new businesses offering a variety of products and services. The city also has a brand new incubator downtown. This facility offers space and services to companies in different fields, setting the table for a very lively entrepreneurial community. Here are a few of these businesses at the leading edge of their respective sectors.
Imeka (www.imeka.ca) Founded in 2011, IMEKA specializes in software development for visualisation and analysis of medical images. These solutions are aiming at accelerating market access to pharmaceutical compounds by quantifying data in medical images in the clinical trials process. IMEKA develops revolutionary software that changes the industry of
