One of the most secure buildings in Winnipeg has been under the international microscope recently as scientists inside the National Microbiology Lab work on an experimental Ebola vaccine.
On Saturday, in celebration of 15 years of research, the lab opened its doors to the public.
"I know a lot of people have questions about what we do here,” said Steven Guercio, the lab’s executive director. “They think it's a secret facility and we want to make sure they know that it isn't. We do a lot of great work here and the work that we do is safe."
University of Winnipeg biology student Kimber Munford said she has dreamed of working at the lab since she was a child and was excited about the open house.
"I just think it's awesome that Canada and Winnipeg specifically are contributing these things to the world,” she said.
This facility is home to Canada's only Level 4 containment lab, the highest safety designation, which allows researchers to work with the most dangerous pathogens, including the Ebola virus.
"It really does put us on the map as a centre of excellence for this type of infectious disease research,” said Dr. Michael Drebot, NML’s director of zoonotic disease and special pathogens.
For safety reasons, Saturday’s visitors couldn’t enter the Level 4 lab, but they did get to video conference with a researcher in the secure area.
Clinical trials of the experimental Ebola vaccine developed in that secure lab have begun on 40 human volunteers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the United States.
The first shipment of 800 vials of the vaccine donated to the World Health Organization will ship on Monday.
WHO will be able to use the vaccine at its discretion as the fight against Ebola rages in west Africa.
"We're trying to pursue this in different ways so that at different sites we can evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine and so together we can push it forward as an appropriate vaccine for treatment,” said Dr. Drebot.
Researchers expect to have initial results from the clinical trials by December.
