Sudbury, Ontario, 15 February 2007:
Laurentian University is pleased to announce the official opening of its
High Field (500 MHz) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility. The instrument
was donated to Laurentian by Merck Frosst. An instrument of this quality costs
between $1.2 million and $1.6 million when purchased new.
A high field NMR is to a research University what an MRI is to a
hospital. This key instrument in chemistry-related projects enables researchers
to identify the structure of molecules, proteins and enzymes, therefore
contributing, among other applications, to the design of new medical drugs.
"For a chemist, a high-field NMR is part of everyday life,” said
Dr. Gerardo Ulibarri, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
at Laurentian University, and principle investigator of the new facility. “This
instrument brings to Laurentian a state-of-the-art, world-class facility where
we can conduct leading-edge and competitive research not only in medicinal
chemistry, but also in biology, organics, biochemistry, geology and physics.”
Dr. Ulibarri added that, in the long run, the high field NMR
facility at Laurentian will be open to and benefit external clients.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance is a phenomenon which occurs when the
nuclei of certain atoms are immersed in a static magnetic field and exposed to a
second oscillating magnetic field. The higher the field, the more precise are
the measurements. Any material, whether solid, liquid, or gas, can be observed
by this technique.
The high-field NMR is located in a restored laboratory, behind the University’s
stadium, thanks to the generous contributions of Merck Frosst, Laurentian
University, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund through the Ministry of Northern
Development and Mines, FEDNOR and Bruker Biospin.
Dr. Ulibarri joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
at Laurentian University in July 2004. He has worked in laboratories in
Japan, Canada,
France and
Mexico. His main research interests are
medicinal chemistry, environmental health protection and anticancer treatments.
With his fellow researchers, Dr. Ulibarri studies ways of selectively treating
cancer through increasing the bioavailability of antineoplastic drugs,
developing new approaches to exploit the differences between normal and
malignant cells, and developing new drugs based on rational design.
