What is the Centre?

Vision of the Centre
The Centre will be internationally recognized for its probiotic research and pursuit of excellent basic, discovery, developmental and translational research leading to tangible benefits for humans.

About the Centre
The Canadian Research & Development Centre for Probiotics is located at Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario. Lawson is the research institute of London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London. The Centre was Established in 2001 by a grant from the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund.

The Centre was created as a means to bring together experts in Canada who
specialize in probiotics and applications thereof.

Three scientists were recruited to the London site (McCormick, Jass, Kim) and over 40 students and fellows trained. Thus, London is a focal point for much of the Centre's activities.

The size of the country and the expertise that exists in various sites (Edmonton,
Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Hamilton, Oshawa, Moncton
etc) makes it impossible for one location to encompass all the R&D in Canada. Nevertheless, the Centre will function through collaboration, promotion of the collective Canadian efforts, and where appropriate as a site for clinical trials, specific studies or student training.

The long-term goal is for the Centre to have helped strengthen the foundation for probiotic research and development in Canada, so that collectively we become
recognized as leaders in the area.

“And if it be true, as has been asserted so often, that man can live by faith alone, the faith must be in the power of science.”
- Excerpt from 'The Nature of Man: Studies in optimistic philosophy.'
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (Elie Metchnikoff)
May 16, 1845, Ukraine – July 16, 1916, Paris