HAMILTON, ON-Backed by the Federal Government, Genome Canada says it is investing $4 million in 16 new bioinformatics and computational biology (B/CB) research projects to be conducted at academic institutions across Canada.
The investments are being made through Genome Canada’s 2015 Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Competition, a partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
“The government of Canada is pleased to support these important bioinformatics and computational biology projects that will maximize the return on investment in genomics research,” said Canadian Minister of Science, Kirsty Duncan in a statement. “This work will help guide research that safeguards the well-being of all Canadians and will increase our capacity to respond to important societal challenges like climate change.”
Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Development, Karina Gould made the funding announcement on behalf of Minister Duncan at McMaster University. Gould highlighted the work of McMaster University’s Dr. Andrew McArthur, who is a co-leader on two B/CB projects looking to develop new software and database tools that will empower public health agencies and the agri-food sector to more rapidly respond to threats posed by infectious disease outbreaks such as, food-borne illnesses or the growing crisis of microbes resistant to antimicrobials.
Marc LePage, president and CEO of Genome Canada also highlighted the importance of the 16 projects and harnessing the power of genomics and the big data it provides researchers across multiple sectors.
“Bioinformatics and computation biology is a priority area for Genome Canada given the growing need for enhanced tools and methodologies to make sense of the huge and growing influx of data stemming from genomics research,” he said.
Other projects in this funding round will enhance diagnosis and treatment for patients, improve crops of importance to Canada and strengthen environmental monitoring.
Each project will receive approximately $250,000. A full backgrounder of the 16 projects is available at www.genomecanada.ca/sites/genomecanada/files/2015_bcb-backgrounder-en.pdf.
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