Clinical research in chronic diseases affected by diet and the digestive tract (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers)
The 3D CFI-ORF Clinical Research Facilities located at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto are part of the larger multidisciplinary research infrastructure of the 3D initiative, which spans the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
The Diet, Digestive tract, & Disease (3D) CFI-ORF Clinical Research Facilities are also associated with the Diet, Digestive tract, & Disease (3D) CFI-ORF Basic Science Research Facility.
The 3D CFI Clinical Research Imaging Centre specializes in imaging various organs without the use of ionizing radiation (radioactivity) in a large bore MRI machine. The machine limits claustrophobia and allows people of bigger body size to be scanned comfortably. It’s therefore ideal for human research and repeated outcome assessments in intervention studies. The Clinical Research Facilities are designed specifically for human studies and are uniquely supported by physics, imaging, and post-processing expertise, by both on-site (St. Michael’s Hospital physicist) and off-site (Sunnybrook Mirror Imaging Site) experts. In 2016, a dedicated clinical research centre will also be available to support studies carried out on the MRI machine.
Cardiac imaging, vascular imaging (Magnetic Resonance Angiography), neuro imaging (diffusion tensor imaging, functional MRI), MSK imaging (MRI cartilage imaging), abdominal imaging- liver (MRI elastography),
endorectal imaging, on-site physicist consultation, Magnetic Resonance Spectoscopy
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Healthcare and social services
- Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
- Manufacturing and processing
- Policy and governance
Specialized labs and equipment
| Specialized lab | Equipment | Function |
|---|---|---|
| The 3D CFI-ORF MRI Research facility | Siemens Skyra 3.0T 70cm magnet
| State-of-the-art wide-bore (70cm) clinical research magnet with onsite physicist consultation |
| The 3D CFI-ORF Clinical Research Centre | Clinical examination rooms, overnight metabolic study space, seminar rooms, metabolic kitchen and phlebotomy space | Clinical research centre linked to the research magnet for local ease of investigations and patient recruitment (currently under construction, expected to be operational in 2016) |
| The 3D CFI-ORF Sunnybrook Mirror Imaging Site | Mirror imaging platform and post-processing centre | Sunnybrook mirror imaging site with physics and imaging expertise and post-processing training |
Private and public sector research partners
- Loblaw Companies Ltd
- Unilever Canada