Sabrina Leslie awarded CFI Innovation Fund Grant
A version of this article was shared by Michael Smith Labs, published here on March 13, 2024.
We are excited to share that Dr. Sabrina Leslie is among ten UBC researchers who have been awarded grants through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund.
The CFI Innovation Fund invests in infrastructure that supports Canadian research projects which have social, health, environmental and economic benefits. The funding awarded to Leslie, alongside her team and trainees, will allow her to acquire new equipment including mass spectrometers, analytical equipment and higher-resolution imaging technology.
Leslie’s CFI project is focused on advancing single-particle and single-cell imaging to offer a more complete understanding of how molecules and cells interact. Her lab is particularly interested in how genomic medicines behave at the smallest scale, and how this opens doors to innovating new medicines. An example of this, from work that Leslie’s lab had begun even before the pandemic, includes lipid nanoparticles used in the delivery of mRNA in COVID-19 vaccines.
In addition to supporting these significant developments, Leslie’s research will contribute to public understanding of how these nanomedicines work through high-resolution imaging, which is why the project has been named Multi-scale Seeing-Is-Believing.
“There’s an opportunity to communicate to the public using quantitative imaging data about the ‘journey’ of a single lipid particle as it enters and interacts with cells,” says Leslie.
With this funding, the Leslie lab will collaborate to contribute to the fundamental science understanding and treatment of viral infection at the cellular level, thus contributing to stronger detection, response and prevention methods for potential future pandemics.
Congratulations, Sabrina!
Learn More:
Read the 2024 CFI Innovation Fund announcement
Read the announcement on the ten UBC-led projects awarded through CFI Innovation Fund
More about the Leslie lab
More about Sabrina Leslie’s single-cell imaging research