Western University building one-of-a-kind facility to test how infectious diseases spread

Western University in London, Ont., is breaking ground on a new centre that researchers say will transform the way the world studies infectious diseases and how it responds to the next pandemic.

The facility, now under construction, will bring together real-world testing environments, advanced containment systems and manufacturing space for new therapeutics, all under one roof. The $44-million project is expected to be up and running by early 2027.

"This is something really exciting for the scientific community to finally have," said Rick Gibson, director of operations for Western's Imaging Pathogens for Knowledge Translation (ImPaKT) facility. "It's a dream come true."

LISTEN | Work has begun on Western's new world-class pathogen research centre:

One of the centre's most ambitious features will be a first-of-its-kind "microbial transmission facility," essentially a massive, empty room designed to contain airborne viruses safely.

Up until now, most experiments have been limited to the size of a four-foot-wide biological safety cabinet. That meant researchers couldn't study transmission in larger, real-world spaces like cars, classrooms or airplane cabins.

During the pandemic, Gibson said companies came forward with urgent requests, including whether transmission could be tested inside a vehicle or even an airline cabin. The new space will make that possible.

"The beauty of this room is that we can control things like temperature, humidity and air flow patterns," said Dr. Eric Arts, a Schulich Medicine & Dentistry professor and Canada Research Chair in HIV Pathogenesis and Viral Control.

"We can put dummies in airplane seats and watch how droplets travel from one to the other. And more importantly, we can test strategies to prevent that transmission."

A sophisticated high-speed imaging system will allow scientists to track microscopic droplets in real time, something Arts said has never been done before in a high-containment environment.

Beyond studying transmission, the new centre will also house a facility capable of producing vaccines, antiviral treatments, and other biotherapeutics for Phase 1 clinical trials.

"That doesn't exist very much in Canada," Arts said. "This will allow researchers across the country to produce their drugs, for cancer, for infectious diseases, and test them right here in London rather than waiting for other countries to do it first."

He added that the timing is especially critical, as Canada works to maintain leadership in vaccine and therapeutic development at a time when public health and science are under pressure elsewhere.

The centre is designed to serve not just Western researchers, but institutions and companies across Canada. Gibson said it will help answer basic but critical questions that remain unsettled even after COVID-19.

"How is a virus actually transmitted? Is it airborne? Is it surface-based? These are things we've always modelled, but never had definitive answers for. Now we can."

The project is expected to attract collaborations from across the research and biotech community. Arts said the team is already seeking partners to join once the doors open.

"It's going to be busy," he said. "But that's exactly what we want, for this to become a hub where scientists, innovators and companies work together on the next generation of treatments and prevention strategies."