Coolaborator: New Sharing Platform for Research Labs
If you work in a research lab, you might have purchased expensive equipment or large quantities of something you’ll only use a few times. What’s worse is that a neighbouring researcher may have had that product or technology on-hand, and would have been more than willing to share had you known. Chemical reagents, petri dishes or light-sheet microscopy equipment are just not things you typically find on Craigslist. But very soon, you’ll be able to on Coolaborator – a new sharing platform for researchers. One of the co-founders, U of T PhD candidate Wenjun Xu, spoke with Faculty of Medicine writer Carolyn Morris about this soon-to-be-launched service.
What is Coolaborator?
Coolaborator is a virtual platform that helps connect researchers and scientific communities through the sharing and trading of knowledge, expertise and laboratory resources. These can range from everyday consumables like chemical reagents and antibodies to underutilized equipment and even consulting services from peers alike. Limited funding is a common struggle in the research community, and lab equipment can be really pricey. So this is a way of bringing down the costs. But it’s also a way of decluttering and reducing waste. Often researchers need to buy large quantities of products that they only need for a few experiments and often have a build-up of specialized equipment or products they no longer need. Instead of just sitting there unused, these could be very valuable for others. With Coolaborator, we’re creating a centralized hub to promote easy access to available resources and contribute to the advancement of scientific research.
How did you get the idea for this?
A few years ago I was chatting over the phone with my friend and co-founder Zoe Zhang, who has an MSc in biotechnology from the University of Toronto Mississauga and is a regional director for a genetic sequencing company. She was telling me that many of her researcher clients were not going ahead with certain experiments because of a lack of funding. I’d recently had a frustrating experience trying to locate an expensive research device. I work in stem-cell research in Professor Cindi Morshead’s lab in the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, and we were in need of a light-sheet microscopy machine for an isolated experiment. We don’t often do work that requires this equipment, so it wouldn’t have been reasonable to purchase one. We were able to locate the device within the research community, but this type of access is not available in all facilities. We thought a centralized hub for this type of equipment sharing would benefit all researchers. We knew that our experiences were common in the research community, just based on conversations with friends and colleagues. So we brainstormed ideas for a sharing platform for researchers and came up with Coolaborator. Professor Morshead has been supportive of our project, as has Professor Scott Prosser at UTM. We’ve also received a lot of advice and guidance through the Faculty of Medicine’s Health Innovation Hub (H2i).
How do you think it will change research?
With increased collaboration and sharing, research can become more productive, affordable and efficient. Labs will be able to do that extra experimentation that might otherwise be just out of reach, and this could lead to more scientific discoveries and advanced research. And it just makes sense in terms of getting the best use out of our research equipment and products. It’s normal for labs to have jars of chemicals that they won’t use again, or expensive reagents expiring in the fridge. These shouldn’t just be left to go bad – they should be put to good use. Beyond sharing tools, we also hope Coolaborator will become platform for research partnerships and collaborations.
When and how can researchers sign up to use the platform?
We’ve built the platform and have been conducting marketing research to understand the needs of our target group. We’ve also been working with student associations at U of T to build an expertise exchange component. We’re just about to move into user testing, so researchers with a U of T affiliation can sign up for the first phase this November, and others will be able to sign up in the new year. Just go to our website for instructions on how to join. The service is free!
