Decades of research excellence celebrated
Robarts Research Institute is enjoying two anniversaries in 2016, celebrating 30 years since its founding and 20 years since the establishment of the Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping (CFMM).
More than 600 people continue to advance Robarts’ research mission investigating some of the most debilitating diseases of our time, from heart disease and stroke to diabetes, Alzheimer’s and many forms of cancer. Founded in 1986, under the leadership of Dr. Henry Barnett, Robarts continues to grow, remaining one of the country’s leaders in translational research and the commercialization of new technologies.
Ten years after Robarts opened, MRI was just starting to make its mark in the field of imaging. And the first MRI system was delivered to Robarts, marking the opening of the CFMM. The MRI was a 4 Tesla (4T), and at the time it had the highest magnetic field in Canada.
Currently inside the $35- million CFMM are Canada’s only large-bore 9.4T MRI for studying animal models of disease; Canada’s first and only 7T human MRI; and the world’s first customerdelivered Siemens Prisma 3T MRI. That represents an increase in the strength of the scanners by almost 100-fold since the Centre opened its doors more than two decades ago.
