Dalhousie University | Health & Biosciences

Key facilities

Through its Centralized Operations of Research Equipment and Supports (CORES) program, Dalhousie Medical School has strategically developed a range of core, multi-user research facilities that provide all of its researchers with access to state-of-the-art instrumentation and the technical expertise to help them use it. CORES currently consists of seven multi-user facilities including:

the Cellular & Molecular Digital Imaging Facility (CMDI)
Electron Microscopy (EM) Core Facility
Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry Core Facility
Zebrafish Core Facility
Enhanced Gene Analysis and Discovery (EGAD) Facility
Maritime Brain Tissue Bank (MBTB); and
BIOmedical Translational Imaging Centre (BIOTIC).

Major collaborations

Infection, Immunity, Inflammation and Vaccinology (I3V) is a research cluster of investigators looking for new approaches to preventing and treating chronic inflammatory diseases. Researchers are also exploring the use of microbes to understand and harness the power of the human immune system to fight cancer and generate new agents to fight disease.
UpLift is an initiative to promote physical activity, healthy eating and wellbeing among students across Nova Scotia, from primary to grade nine, by optimizing school community environments and supporting the development of leadership and mentoring skills among youth to create sustainable change in health.
Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) is a national network that brings together Canada’s world-renowned pediatric pain knowledge producers, front-line knowledge user organizations, national and international partners, and patients and caregivers to improve children’s pain management.

Researchers

Dr. Debbie Martin, CRC Tier 2 in Indigenous Peoples’ Health and Well-Being. Dr. Martin’s research is aimed at preventing chronic diseases, which are disproportionately higher among Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Working directly with communities, she identifies and addresses key community and societal level determinants, that are often linked to lifestyle factors that ultimately cause chronic diseases.
Dr. Christopher MacMaster, Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology; and Scientific Director of the Institute of Genetics, CIHR. Dr. MacMaster is a leader in genetics, biochemistry, and cell biology, with broad research interests ranging from basic biochemistry and cell biology, to genomics to determine causal genes for human genetic diseases and drugs for their treatment, to ethical and policy considerations as the field of human genomics becomes increasingly applied to clinical diagnosis and care
Dr. Christine Chambers, CRC Tier 1 in Children’s Pain & Killam Professor in Pediatrics and Psychology & Neuroscience. Dr. Chambers’ research focuses on the role of developmental, psychological, and social influences on children’s pain, the role of families in pediatric pain, patient engagement, and partnerships for knowledge mobilization.
Dr. Catherine Mah, CRC Tier 2 in Promoting Healthy Populations. Dr. Mah directs a multidisciplinary program of research in the environmental and policy determinants of healthier consumption, with a focus on health-promoting innovations in the food system. Her work integrates population health intervention research, policy science, and community action.

Special programs and work integrated learning initiatives

Dalhousie’s strategic research direction is grounded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, and features signature research clusters, one of which is Healthy People, Healthy Communities, Healthy Populations. (SDGs 1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 17).
Nova Scotia Integrated Health Research and Innovation Strategy (IHRIS): a pan-provincial academic health research network supporting health research and innovation priorities of Nova Scotia and its member organizations. For the first time, the Nova Scotia government, health authorities, post-secondary institutions (led by Dalhousie), industry and the public are bringing their collective research and expertise to the table to help address key health issues, and bridge gaps.
Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship (AIM) Network: Comprised of eight Atlantic universities and led by Dr. Debbie Martin, the AIM Network works to build capacity for Indigenous health research within the Atlantic region by expanding and augmenting research capacity, skills, and career trajectories of Indigenous early career researchers and trainees at all post-secondary levels and ensuring research is driven by, for and with indigenous communities.

Partners

Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation
New Brunswick Health Research Foundation
Horizon Health Network (New Brunswick)
Nova Scotia Health Authority
IWK Health Centre
Health PEI
Provincial and Federal Governments