Honey and Barry Sherman Archives | Research & Innovation

Canadian Jewish News covers Sherman Health Science Research Centre opening

fmaquito — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

It used to be a hockey arena. Now it houses the latest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, wrote the :

Last week, 91��ɫ the Sherman Health Science Research Centre, a facility for research in brain and vision, biomechanics, virtual reality and robotics. Planning for the facility, which was completed in December 2009, started in 2007.

The $11.5-million centre, which was converted from an old hockey arena, was named after Honey Sherman, a 91��ɫ Foundation board member, and her husband, Barry Sherman, president and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Apotex Inc., who donated $5 million to the project. “Everybody who gives donations has to pick and choose as to where the need is greatest,” Barry Sherman said.

“It’s 91��ɫ, an important Canadian university for teaching and research…We tend to concentrate our gifts towards health care. It’s good for the scientists, the public and the eventual patients who will benefit. It’s a gift to the City of Toronto.”

Sherman sees the facility’s potential for interdisciplinary research as an asset to the University. “It’s very impressive, and it makes a lot of sense. [These fields] are interrelated. To make significant progress in any area you need people of various [fields],” he said, adding that he was particularly impressed with the neuroimaging lab.

“To try to understand the workings of the brain, you need that equipment,” he said. “It’ll be very useful in developing that understanding when it comes to brain impairment and issues like dementia.”

Stan Shapson, 91��ɫ’s vice-president, research & innovation, said the facility will provide an ideal work environment for both staff and graduate students. “We didn’t have these kinds of facilities for them yet, so they were doing great work, but you’re doing work in a lab that’s in the basement of a building. There’s potential for interference when you’re collecting data. It slows down your work and you’re always adjusting equipment,” Shapson said. “Now you have state-of-the-art labs…[The students and researchers] will be able to do better quality work more quickly.”

Some of this research includes studying loss of vision in the elderly, developing a robot-guided wheelchair and building robots that can function underwater.

Shapson hopes the facility will help the University forge connections with local hospitals. “I think we had four presidents of regional hospitals at [the official opening]. That’s wonderful. They’re looking at this facility as something that could help them,” he said.

With the new facilities and 91��ɫ’s existing , which is internationally renowned, Shapson sees the potential to attract new researchers and students, as well as to apply existing research to the health care sector. “I think [this centre] is going to drive new ideas, innovations and treatments. At the end of the day, the hope is to deliver better health outcomes to Canadians,” he said.

The Sherman Centre includes space for 13 laboratories and accommodates over 150 researchers, graduate students, research associates and staff.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Shermans’ investment made 91��ɫ's state-of-the-art Health Science Research Centre possible

fmaquito — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The opening last week of a new state-of-the-art health research centre was made possible by a $5-million investment by 91��ɫ Foundation board member Honey Sherman and her husband Dr. Barry Sherman, president and CEO of Apotex Inc., :

The project brings scientists who study the brain and vision, virtual reality and robots together under one roof – that of a former hockey arena. The former 91��ɫ Ice Arena, built in 1968 and known by many as the Ice Palace, was transformed into a sophisticated centre for interdisciplinary collaboration.

“We are extremely thankful to Honey and Barry Sherman for their generosity,” said Mamdouh Shoukri, 91��ɫ president & vice-chancellor. “This unique new facility will strengthen our University’s research capacity and enhance collaboration between researchers in the health, science and engineering fields.”

The centre’s highlight is a neuro-imaging laboratory with the latest functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, which is critically important for research at 91��ɫ and future partnerships.

“We are particularly delighted we can support research in the health sciences because this is an increasingly important area for research innovation,” Dr. Sherman said. “This facility and the work that will be undertaken will help strengthen Ontario’s global position in research and innovation.”

Summaries of the building's laboratories and research projects are available on the Sherman Health Science Research Centre page. The building on September 14 and houses 13 laboratories for researchers from the Centre for Vision Research and the Faculty of Health's School of Kinesiology.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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91��ɫ opens Sherman Health Science Research Centre, specializing in neuroscience, kinesiology and psychology research

fmaquito — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Originally the site of some of 91��ɫ’s most memorable hockey moments and reputed to have the best arena ice in the province, the former 91��ɫ Ice Arena, known as the Ice Palace, is now home to a new kind of dream team.

The Keele campus building's transformation from a hockey rink into an innovative new health science research centre was made possible by a $5-million leadership gift from 91��ɫ Foundation board member Honey Sherman and her husband Dr. Barry Sherman, the chairman and CEO of Apotex Inc., the largest pharmaceutical company in Canada.

“We are extremely thankful to Honey and Barry Sherman for their generosity,” said Mamdouh Shoukri, president & vice-chancellor of 91��ɫ. “This unique new facility will strengthen our university’s research capacity, and enhance collaboration between researchers in the health, science and engineering fields.”

Conceived as a hub of vision and neuroscience excellence, the new Sherman Health Science Research Centre, which officially opened last night, brings together researchers in 91��ɫ's top-ranked with those in kinesiology and psychology.

Above: The new Sherman Health Science Research Centre at 91��ɫ

"The Sherman family gift is strategically important. It provides state-of-the-art infrastructure to keep our vision science and health science researchers at the top of their game," says Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation (VPRI) at 91��ɫ. "We will break new ground at 91��ɫ as we increase the intensity of research being carried out in the new facilities, recruit top faculty and graduate students, and undertake research that will lead to new discoveries that impact areas such as health diagnoses and treatments, and safety in space travel."

To change the hockey arena, which was built in 1968, into a highly sophisticated research centre, staff in 91��ɫ’s Campus Services & Business Operations incorporated green building design and construction elements and worked closely with researchers and professional staff in the Office of the VPRI, , , and the Toronto-based NXL Architects.

The building was gutted and the external shell retained. Salvaged materials from the internal demolition were reused throughout the structure to add design interest.

Right: The interior of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre

Anchoring the new facility is a functional magnetic resonance imager (fMRI), notes , director of CVR. "The new fMRI provides researchers with a critical infrastructure for neuroscience for neuroscience research. It provides the opportunity to see, in real time and in-depth, how the brain functions when undertaking various tasks in both normal and clinical recovery states. The addition of the new fMRI to the facility positions the University as a centre for health sciences as our research partners will also be able to access the facilities while collaborating with 91��ɫ researchers."

Housed in the former arena's locker-rooms, the fMRI resides in a specially reconstructed and reinforced facility. The equipment's powerful magnet requires that the room be shielded to protect individuals with pacemakers and other sensitive electronic equipment. The floors in the fMRI room are reinforced with rebar and specialized construction techniques to ensure that vibration and noise are kept to a minimum. Change rooms were reconfigured to be fully wheelchair accessible.

The centre's first floor houses research rooms containing specialized laboratories and equipment used by CVR researchers. As well, researchers from the School of Kinesiology & Health Science can now work in expanded movement analysis laboratories that feature raised floors with moveable steel reinforced plates and rigging. Robotic cameras move around test subjects in the space allowing researchers to obtain an unprecedented view of how the body moves.

Green features and repurposed material

The concrete ice pad was removed, broken up and used around the perimeter of the building to create a man-made alvar to assist with drainage and storm water management, and to add landscape interest. The alvar is used for testing robots designed in the on the first floor, and as part of the recreational patio.

Hardwood from the arena’s ceiling was refinished and used in the internal staircases leading from the first floor to a newly created second floor suite of offices and research laboratories. The arena's dark, cavernous space was converted into a light and airy place for researchers through the addition of large windows and skylights. The windows illuminate the building’s indoor street of offices and allow natural light to flood into the second floor. This in turn reduces the need for 24/7 artificial lighting and the sunlight helps heat the space during the winter months. Additional energy-efficient light fixtures were added to the area to light it for evening use.

Left: The spiral stairs lead to a catwalk to facilitate the movement of important research equipment

Radiant heating incorporated into the low maintenance, polished concrete flooring offers an energy-efficient way to maintain the building’s internal temperature in the winter and cools the space during the summer months.

Other sustainable features include the use of internal paints that are low in volatile organic compounds, which limits off-gassing of fumes and preserves the building’s internal air quality. Carpet tiles, manufactured using processes that require very little water, make use of recycled materials and, in the case of damage or spills, only the affected tiles are removed, which again preserves the internal air quality.

"The Sherman building is a great example of when vision and programming fuse to create a unique working environment," says Patrick Saavedra, manager of planning & architectural design. "In this case the adaptive reuse of the facility is an exemplary way to be sustainable by not constructing a new building while at the same time re-energizing and giving new life to an older building; not to mention our carbon foot print got smaller as a result".

A collaborative effort, the extraordinary design and function of the Sherman Health Science Research Centre is the result of extensive consultations with the scientists and researchers in vision research, kinesiology and psychology.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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