Getting Past “Eureka!”

Global Nexus at McMaster University is working to close the gap between discovery and impact.

“A tremendous gap stands between academic discoveries and their real-world impact,” Miller says.

“Global Nexus is committed to addressing that gap, and we’re doing so by bringing together experts from across sectors to ensure greater translation, commercialization, and implementation of the promising ideas born in university labs.”

Global Nexus is diligently working to streamline the processes between research and commercialization. By bringing together experts, pooling resources, and developing partnerships with leaders across many sectors, Global Nexus is continuously moving projects forward.

Among their ongoing projects is a next-generation, made-at-McMaster COVID-19 vaccine, which recently moved into Phase-II clinical trials. 

Most of Global Nexus’ current projects are based around infectious diseases, an echo of the recent pandemic. Projects include collaborations with industry leaders Pfizer (on promoting equity and accessibility of vaccines) and Zentek (on using aptamers to combat infectious diseases like COVID-19 and the avian flu). They are also using artificial intelligence methods to combat antibiotic resistance and to fast-track drug discovery.

But that is not the sole focus of the accelerator. In fact, Global Nexus is currently working with a potent anti-neurodegeneration drug candidate, studying a potential anti-cancer compound, and is leading several national biomanufacturing initiatives.

This sort of progress is only possible thanks to Global Nexus’ ability to leverage relationships within McMaster – one of the foremost research universities in Canada – and across sectors.

“Those relationships are always growing”, Miller says. “We welcome further collaboration and conversations with researchers, regulators, community leaders, and commercialization partners alike.”

The form that collaboration takes is different from project to project, Miller explains, but collaboration is always central to Global Nexus’ successes. For example, Global Nexus involves government, community, and industry partners much earlier than most research enterprises do. “Typically, research will go through pre-clinical studies and then get published in a journal, and only then do we start working on approvals and commercialization,” notes Miller.

It’s a model that benefits everyone, and with early successes under their belts, it’s one that should continue for Global Nexus as they work to change the face of Hamilton’s life sciences industry.

And as Global Nexus continues to ramp up its acceleration initiatives, Miller says there will be more and more opportunities for involvement and collaboration. “Global Nexus, as the name implies, is a connector,” he says. “Right now, we have a series of important projects being developed, but there are even more on the horizon. Students, researchers, policymakers, public health experts, industry reps, and community leaders will all be called upon to play important roles in the development of new health products that keep our communities safe.”