What is Integrated Discovery?
Ontario is among the world leaders in producing high quality brain research. We lag, however, when it comes to commercialization. What does this mean? It means we are really good at developing knowledge about the brain, but there is a disconnect when it comes to turning this knowledge into tools that can help people.
Integrated Discovery is the Ontario Brain Institute’s (OBI) answer to this disconnect. It maximizes the impact of neuroscience in Ontario by bringing together researchers, clinicians, industry, government, philanthropy, and patient advocacy groups upfront to agree on research programs that hold relevance to all stakeholders. It is an investigational and data management program that will bring individual investigators of important and distinct domains into a focused multidisciplinary assault on brain disorders.
If we do not catalyze upfront (and ongoing) collaboration, then most brain research will stay in academia, industry will continue to shut-down their brain research divisions due to cost and risk, and clinicians will not get the new and improved tools that they need to better treat their patients.
Integrated Discovery as a Platform for Knowledge Translation
We believe that early, integrated collaboration is the key to ensuring the translation of research into better care, whether it takes the form of new drugs, medical devices, or even improvements in treatment protocols. Integrated Discovery also has significant indirect benefits. It enhances communication between researchers, clinicians, industry, and patient advocacy groups. It also stimulates industry in Ontario – the better we get at commercializing our own ideas, the more Ontarians will benefit from the creation of new companies and good jobs.
The OBI expects that Integrated Discovery will create a “virtuous cycle” – benefiting patients, companies, and Ontarians through maximizing the impact of brain research.
