Advertisement 1

Loyalist, Northeastern strike a joint venture

Article content

A partnership between Loyalist College and Northeastern University’s Toronto campus has lit the fuse for innovation in application-based cannabis research.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Friday, Loyalist President and CEO Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan and Aliza Lakhani, Regional Dean and CEO at Northeastern, signed a memorandum of understanding designed to benefit biosciences and cannabis applied science students, and advanced applied cannabis research at both institutions.

“This means a great deal for Loyalist,”said Vaughan. “What this does is it leverages our combined expertise in the areas of biotechnology and cannabis research, and one of the real advantages is it will allow us to apply for research projects for students, joint research projects between the institutions and collaborative program development.

Article content

“The hub of biotechnology research in the U.S. is in Boston, and I would like to think the hub for biotechnology research in Canada is now going to be in this region. It’s a natural partnership, it’s an amazing opportunity and comes together because of some exceptional faculty members who combine their expertise for the benefit of this region and their students,” Vaughan added.

Article content
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Also on hand for the announcement were Dr. Kari Kramp, biosciences professor at Loyalist’s Centre for Natural Products & Medical Cannabis, Dr. Jared Auclair, director of biotechnology at Northeastern’s Boston campus, Dr. Evan Clarke, associate director, academic and student affairs, Northeastern, and Bay of Quinte MPP and Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Todd Smith.

Vaughan and Lakhani acknowledged David Piccini, MPP for Northumberland-Peterborough South and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Colleges and Universities, for his “significant role in working with Loyalist College and Northeastern University to bring this partnership to fruition.”

Smith said, “There are a lot of really exciting things that are about to happen on the cannabis front and it’s great to know that Loyalist College is going to be at the forefront and centre of these opportunities, not just for our region, but for our province and country, and I think for the world. The research that can happen in this sector with Loyalist partnering with Northeastern University, out of Boston and Toronto, breaks down those barriers and makes sure we’re sharing the research that we’re doing across the border, and I think that puts Loyalist, puts Belleville, puts our whole province, in a great, great place as we look forward to how this is going to develop over the next number of weeks, months and years. There a number of companies that have chosen the Quinte region to locate and know the exceptional partnership agreement that Loyalist has been able to achieve in the past will be at the centre of that.”

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

Lakhani said the magic of this partnership is putting Dr. Kramp and Dr. Auclair together.

“I was blown away by the energy that Dr. Kari Kramp brings, and the choice she’s made to deliberately stay here when she could probably work anywhere in the world. We continue to be impressed by her passion, her innovative spirit, and particularly the work she’s doing to build human capacity and also energizing this region,”Lakhani said.

“That’s where the magic and the innovation really happened when we put these two together, and we learned yesterday they share a birthday, so they are truly kindred spirits,” Lakhani said. “So Jared and Kari thank you both for your commitment and for your passion for live-long learning and forging meaningful value.

Advertisement 5
Story continues below
Article content

“We are creating opportunities for students to collaborate on projects around cannabis, which is an area where our respective institutions have complimentary strands and I think there remains a lot of important work to be done here. We’re very excited to see these collaborations bear fruit, we’re confident the partnership will enhance the quality of the student experience at both our institutions,” Lakhani said. “At the end of the day we have the right people at the table and we’re just very excited about what’s next.”

Vaughan said, “This partnership is a wonderful example of how Loyalist collaborates and partners to innovate. Loyalist and Northeastern both bring significant expertise to this collaboration, with Loyalist’s 15 plus years of experience and Super Critical CO2 Extraction Lab, and optimization, isolation, formulation and product development through our Applied Research Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis. Northeastern has significant expertise in bioanalytical characterization with the Barnett Institute and Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Laboratory.

Advertisement 6
Story continues below
Article content

“Our bioscience and cannabis applied science students will benefit from exceptional experiential learning opportunities and applied cannabis research working under the supervision of faculty members from both institutions. “With the growth of cannabis and hemp sectors continuing at unprecedented rates this has created unparraled opportunities to work with industry to support innovation. The Loyalist College and Northeastern University partnership will enable science-based investigations and to sustain the development of high quality, safe and effective cannabis products. We’re delighted to partner with Northeastern and look forward to seeing the results of the applied cannabis research in the very near future. It’s exceptional, it’s extraordinary and ultimately it’s the students who are going to benefit from this opportunity,” Vaughan said.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest National Stories
    News Near Belleville
      This Week in Flyers