 (Wolfville, N.S.) -- Acadia chemistry researcher Dr. Anthony Tong has been awarded $129,000 from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to support the establishment of a Laboratory for Investigating Ultratrace Organic Contaminants. The new lab will provide insight into human health and environmental issues through its capacity to test for millions of organic compounds in a variety of samples.
“When you watch the popular TV show CSI, you see the type of machines that will be in place in this laboratory,” Dr. Tong explains. “We can analyze samples to determine what compounds are present with an amazing level of detail and accuracy. So it is both selective and quantitative. To put it in layman’s terms, I can find the equivalent of a person on the whole surface of the Earth.”
The funds will be part of a nearly $400,000 project to purchase a high-performance liquid-chromatography/tandem mass-spectrometry system (HPLC/MS/MS) as well as a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry system (GC/MS). These advanced analytical instruments will allow Dr. Tong to establish the laboratory, which will provide ultra-high sensitivity and selectivity for different types of chemicals. The lab will be installed in the K. C. Irving Environmental Science Centre at Acadia, and will be the only one of its kind in the region.
“There is a unique opportunity at Acadia for students to do exciting and relevant work. My philosophy is to have this equipment running all the time, so it is not just available for academic research, but for the public,” says Dr. Tong.
He is excited to collaborate with other researchers and with local communities. Already, he has done preliminary work analyzing the water quality of local rivers, and hopes to do more work like reviewing the residue from pesticide and herbicide use in Valley farming, investigating drinking water quality in drilled wells in the region, and indentifying the chemicals that make some wines taste better than others. He is also exploring a low-cost but highly efficient method, using a membrane bioreactor, to treat waste water by studying the influent and effluent.
“The investments at Acadia University and others will further enhance our country’s reputation as a destination of choice for outstanding researchers,” said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of the CFI. “They will make our universities even more competitive when it comes to attracting the best and brightest researchers from around the world.”
Dr. David MacKinnon, Acting Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at Acadia, welcomed the CFI’s investment:
“Dr. Tong’s substantial CFI grant is another example of the recognition being accorded to the quality of research occurring at Acadia.” says Dr. MacKinnon. “His work on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and other emerging environmental contaminants, which this grant will support, is state of the art and has substantial potential to have a positive impact on the health of Canadians. As with so much of the research conducted on campus, Anthony’s research has a direct benefit to those undergraduate and graduate students who have the opportunity to work with him.”
About the Canada Foundation for Innovation
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed almost $4.5 billion in support of more than 6,000 projects at 129 institutions in 64 municipalities across Canada. Visit www.innovation.ca <http://www.innovation.ca> .
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