Polystyrene, commonly used as food and beverage containers, including expandable polystyrene foam (EPS), are not materials that are easy to recycle. This is about to change. A researcher and chemist at Queen’s University, Dr. Phillip Jessop, has discovered a green, organic solvent system that can be used to recycle plastic in a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way. Read more.

Canadians love loyalty programs but they don’t necessarily enjoy hunting for their loyalty cards at the cash register. So why not develop a loyalty program that doesn’t involve cards at all? Many Canadians carry mobile phones—what if you could find a way to use wireless technology to automatically credit loyalty points or stamps to your account? Read more.

What if your vehicle had the ability to detect driving errors and to intervene to avoid an accident? This is a scenario that an AUTO21 researcher and his team hope to someday make commonplace. Read more.

An international partnership between a non-profit organization based in Quebec and a health cluster in France is taking shape in the health and therapeutic innovation sector. The Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) is collaborating with Alsace BioValley in order to develop new tools to facilitate the discovery of safer and more effective drugs. Read more.

The Accelerator for Commercialization Excellence (ACE) is a unique partnership between the Centre for Commercialization of Research (CCR), the University of Waterloo (UW), and the Accelerator Centre. This joint venture provides one-stop access to technology transfer, business development and incubation services for researchers and start-up companies. Read more.

A major Canadian study on the quality of stroke care, released by the Canadian Stroke Network (CSN) in June, finds that significant work still needs to be done to improve prevention, treatment and recovery from stroke. Read more.

TECTERRA Inc. committed over $6.3-million of funds in support of the geomatics technology sector in Canada during the 2010-11 fiscal year. The sum represents commitments to fund commercialization projects, applied research, professional development, training, and the creation of new jobs across the country. Read more.

Should patients have a voice in the research being conducted to treat or cure them? The Canadian Arthritis Network thinks so. CAN works closely with the arthritis community including patients, academics, rheumatologists, industry, government and non-governmental organizations to ensure that the research it funds is meeting unmet needs. Read more.

The Canadian Obesity Network (CON-RCO), one of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence, is playing a lead role in raising awareness about the issue of weight bias and discrimination. The 1st Canadian Summit on Weight Bias and Discrimination, which was held in Toronto in January, was a major step in that process. Read more.

A new Canadian study, led by an AllerGen Network of Centres of Excellence investigator, reveals that financial barriers — in the form of sharing asthma medication costs between insurers and families — are contributing to poor asthma control in children. Read more.

People admitted to the hospital on a weekend after a stroke are more likely to die compared with people admitted on a weekday, regardless of the severity of the stroke they experience, concludes a study supported by the Canadian Stroke Network, part of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence program. Read more.

Recent investments in automotive R&D by the Government of Canada and the nation’s automotive sector have generated more than $1.1 billion in estimated economic and social benefits for Canada. This is one of the findings of a recent assessment of the AUTO 21 Network of Centres of Excellence. Read more.

The recently acquired mass spectrometer at the Genome BC Proteomics Centre at the University of Victoria offers the promise to revolutionize the clinical identification of the risk of cardiovascular disease, and perhaps scores of other common ailments wherever organs fail. Read more.