| Like expert chefs who contribute
their best dish to a buffet dinner, bringing together the individuals
and organizations that make up the Advanced Foods and Materials
Network could have created a mishmash of disparate skills that would
never gel. Instead, AFMNet is a smorgasbord of diverse expertise
and knowledge – a gourmet feast of ideas, input, and cooperation
that is advancing food and bio-materials research in Canada.
AFMNet is one of the newest Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE).
Its members include food and bio-materials researchers in all areas,
plus experts in law, ethics, risk assessment and management, business,
societal issues, nutrition, health, economics, and policy. It's
a unique combination of expertise.
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AFMNet Research Themes
AFMNet has three broad strategic themes: the structure,
dynamics, and function of foods and bio-materials; functional
foods and nutraceuticals; and economics, environment,
and societal issues (i.e. regulations and consumer attitudes
and perceptions). To qualify for Network funding, each
research project must address at least two of these
three themes. "The main criterion is that it can
only be research that can be done by a network,"
says Dr. Rickey Yada, AFMNet's Scientific Director.
"It can't just be more of the same of what you're
doing, because then why would you need the Network?"
The Network's 49 current research projects are
grouped within six key research areas: bio-surfaces,
bio-structures and bio-products, extraction and identification,
mechanism and efficacy, consumer and citizen acceptance,
and regulations and policy. However, because of their
multidisciplinary approach, many of these projects include
elements and expertise reflected in multiple themes.
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Dr. Rickey Yada at the University of Guelph is the Network's
scientific director and a driving force behind its creation. Over
the past decade, he has had several opportunities to participate
in multidisciplinary councils and panels on food and biotechnology
research that included different combinations of these disciplines.
These gatherings were eye-opening experiences for him. He saw, first-hand,
the incredible potential of this approach.
"The wisdom of bringing these people together was quite forward-thinking,"
he says. "Biotechnology is not just a science issue, there
are ethical and societal issues and an atmosphere of necessary caution
around food and bio-materials research. So it's really important
to have social sciences involved in a science issue right from the
beginning." The successful creation of AFMNet reflects the
strong commitment of its members to a multidisciplinary approach
and an appreciation for the direct and necessary link between food
research and society at large.
AFMNet's application to the NCE program was unique. "Our strategy
was that we had no preconceived strategy for specific projects.
We said that we were going to gather the best people we could, bring
them together face-to-face, and then decide on research areas we
thought were critical. These were areas where, as individuals, we
didn't have a lot of expertise, but collective expertise could help
us solve that problem."
Their approach was successful. "It showed us the beauty of
pulling people together – the best people you could –
to work on a single problem or a group of problems."
The people who collectively make up AFMNet are located in nearly
every region of the country. While adding to the diversity of knowledge
and areas of expertise, this can make communication and working
together unwieldy and problematic. As Dr. Yada says, "There's
nothing like being able to run across the hall to borrow a cup of
sugar." Since that wasn't possible, they had to put extra effort
into communication. And again they took a unique approach.
One of the key mandates of the NCE system is training the next
generation of researchers. "It's vital," says Dr. Allan
Paulson, AFMNet's Associate Scientific Director. "They're going
to be the educators and researchers of tomorrow. They'll start businesses
or create policy and regulations. We see their training as one of
our key deliverables."
With a focus on multidisciplinary research, it's important for
the trainees to see and experience all components of a project.
First-hand is the best way to gain that experience, and, as Dr. Paulson
points out, one of the best ways to improve communication within
a group is to have people move around.
"That's not so easy for the professors, the research scientists,
and the people in industry. But we have trainees, post-docs, graduates,
etc., who can. We have them move from lab to lab and not just within
the universities. They also go to government or industry labs. It
keeps everybody up on what's going on and it gives them a unique
multidisciplinary training that is going to be to their benefit."
When seeking network status, AFMNet turned to other networks for
advice and guidance to see what had worked well for them and what
hadn't. "The network of the networks works really well too,"
Dr. Yada explains. "When we went through this process,
we had wonderful words of wisdom from other NCEs. They were more
than willing to help us out."
While AFMNet is just getting started, Drs. Yada and Paulson
are firm believers in the effectiveness of the network model for
advancing research. "I think the Canadian scenario of research
networks allows us to do more comprehensive research," says
Dr. Yada. "It's amazing what the return on the dollar
is. Canadians do great science."
www.afmnet.ca
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