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When the LSC opened its doors back in 2008, recalls Professor of Physiology , Theme Lead for Cell Information Systems, it suddenly became very easy to attract the best molecular and cell biologists from all over the world.

Access to the cutting-edge equipment housed within the Complex and a highly collaborative environment comprising open-concept labs and shared workspaces have been key to the LSC鈥檚 continued success in bringing in promising young researchers. This was accomplished by close collaboration with the Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Professor and former Chair of the Department of Physiology, Professor , both members of the Cell Information Systems Theme. The recent hires include Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics , Assistant Professors of Physiology Reza Sharif-Naeini and , as well as Associate Professor of Physiology . 鈥淭hese recruitments would not have been possible without this Complex,鈥� says Professor Shrier. 鈥淚t brought people together.鈥� 鈥淪cience is a collaborative discipline,鈥� adds Professor Orlowski. 鈥淩egardless of where your lab is, you鈥檙e collaborating with people all over the world. But nothing facilitates collaborative interactions more than being in close proximity with the people you work with.鈥�

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Both Professors Shrier and Orlowski were with the LSC from the beginning and acknowledge the huge impact the facilities have had on their own research. Professor Shrier鈥檚 work on sudden cardiac death has been transformed by a partnership with Professor of Physiology and cystic fibrosis researcher Gergely Lukacs. 鈥淲e were able to translate approaches he鈥檚 used for cystic fibrosis research and offer an expertise that I wouldn鈥檛 have had otherwise,鈥� he says. Professor Lukacs is also a member of the Cystic FibrosisTranslational Research Centre (CFTRc) headed by Professor , another member of the Cell Information Systems Theme. The LSC played an important role in the creation of the CFTRc. 鈥淚n addition, Professor Orlowski鈥檚 neuronal studies with Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Anne McKinney happened only because we鈥檙e next door neighbors.鈥� Professor Orlowski agrees: 鈥淢oving to this building has really opened a whole new area for my lab and also broadened the scope of the other collaborators I鈥檝e been working with.鈥�

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The Cell Information Systems group has, in its 10 years at the LSC, made a number of important advances in cell biology research. Professor Orlowski鈥檚 lab has identified a new form of nonsyndromic intellectual disability characterized by moderate to severe cognitive dysfunction.

Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics 鈥榮 lab has pinpointed a critical role of a family of 鈥渉elper鈥� proteins that modify neurotransmitter receptors called AMPA receptors, adding to our understanding of human behaviour and brain disease. New findings from Professor Lukacs鈥� lab suggest that a cocktail of molecules can improve epithelial function in cystic fibrosis, and could lead to new therapies for up to 50% of patients.

None of this would have been possible without shared infrastructure resources, including the collection of cutting-edge imaging and microscopy equipment housed within the Advanced BioImaging Facility (ABIF) of the LSC. The management, maintenance and training related to this equipment, all overseen by Associate Professor of Physiology and Director of the ABIF, , really sets the LSC apart, says Professor Shrier. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 underscore the issue of professionalism strongly enough: Professor Brown and her team provide leadership in this area, not just for us but across the entire Life Sciences Complex,鈥� he says. 鈥淣obody can use any of the instrumentation without being trained. Without the expertise, it鈥檚 like having a Ferrari but nobody knows how to drive it.鈥� The ABIF has run more than 80 workshops and courses and trained thousands of researchers since the LSC opened including the international Montreal Light Microscopy Course. The Brown laboratory develops novel live cell imaging techniques and has applied them to understand why cancer cells respond to growth factors and move much faster while normal cells do not.

The LSC is also pioneering the development of its own customized lab instrumentation. For example, in his neuroscience lab, Professor Krishnaswamy programs his own virtual environments and microscope systems and uses a 3-D printer to produce them. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e sharing it with everybody. In fact, Professor Krishnaswamy wants to run a boot camp on the weekend to show people how to use these tools,鈥� says Professor Shrier.

It鈥檚 a give and take process, notes Pierre Rochon, a PhD candidate working in Professor Krishnaswamy鈥檚 lab who uses these tools to study the visual system of mice to understand the circuit patterns that lay the foundation for the developing brain. When he joined Professor Krishnaswamy鈥檚 lab about a year ago, the infrastructure was still being set up. 鈥淢eanwhile, Professor Reza Sharif-Naeini had a surgery room that was established and we got involved with him while we got our surgery room up and going,鈥� says Mr. Rochon. 鈥淲e were able to ask around when we were developing our protocols and installing all the infrastructure, so we could be at the place we are. So in this building the fact that everybody is in such close proximity really helped in that regard.鈥�

To read more about the Cell Information Systems theme and some of its research breakthroughs of the past 10 years, click here.

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