Michael Surette, a member of the Michael G. Institute for Infectious Disease Research and a Canada Research Chair Interdisciplinary Microbiome Research, has received $727,419 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

His lab is one of five from across campus to receive funding under CFI’s Leader’s Opportunity Fund. The program invests in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to attract and retain today's best research talent.

The funding is earmarked for Surette's Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Microbiome Research in Health and Disease, which will be a high capacity Biosafety Level 2 facility dedicated to culturing, characterization and rapid molecular profiling of microbial communities of the human microbiome.

The lab received money for the novel research it will pursue, including opportunities for improved disease management, identification of new pathogens, development of new diagnostics and discerning how normal microbiota contribute to health. Surette will collaborate with other researchers from the Institute for Infectious Disease Research and the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute.

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McMaster Daily News: http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=8271