Genome Alberta's Official Newsletter
Genome Alberta Newsletter GeneSnips - September 4, 2008
Genome Alberta News
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Genome Canada Appointments
Effective July 1, Cindy Bell, Vice President, Genomics Program, assumed new responsibilities as the Executive Vice President, Corporate Development for Genome Canada. Working with the President and CEO of Genome Canada, Cindy will provide leadership in the development and implementation of strategies, initiatives and approaches to enhance Genome Canada’s business model by seeking additional funding for Genome Canada programs from the following sectors: federal government; national and international funding agencies and institutions; philanthropic organizations, and not-for-profit donor-based disease foundations.
On September 3, Patricia Kosseim will assume the position of Chief GE3LS Officer at Genome Canada. Patricia, who is currently General Counsel at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, a position she has held since January 2005, will be joining Genome Canada as part of a two (2) year Executive Interchange Program. Reporting to the President and CEO of Genome Canada, Patricia will be responsible for developing and implementing Genome Canada’s national and international GE3LS strategy. (GE3LS refers to: Ethical, Environmental, Economic, Legal and Social issues associated with genomics and proteomics research.)
Age of Personalized Medicine
A year from now the Genome Alberta GE3LS team wants to see you at the Age of Personalized Genomics conference they are holding in Banff, Alberta the Rimrock Hotel. In a very short period of time we’ve seen the completion of the Human Genome Project and moved on to personal genome testing. With such fast-paced developments come a host of issues. The conference will address some major themes:
- Research and ethical challenges
- Impact on health care and health care systems
- Commercialization & direct-to-consumer genetic testing
- Media and popular representations
For more information contact Robyn Hyde-Lay at rhyde-lay@genomealberta.ca
Bioinformatics Admin Assistant Needed
The Bioinformatics Platform (BIP III) team needs an Administrative Coordinator for an initial term of 15 months with a strong probability for further employment, depending on renewal of funding. You’ll be working closely with Managers for the Bioinformatics Platform and the Four-dimensional Modeling of Genetic Disease Pattern Project (the 4D Project) to provide general administration and support for the projects.
You can find full details for the position here or by going to our home pages at www.genomealberta.ca
Genome Alberta Events Calendar
Genome Alberta has a Calendar of Events on our home page at www.genomealberta.ca and it is open to events, workshops, conferences or courses that you think might be of interest to genomics researchers or students. Just send a note to info@genomealberta.ca and we will add it to the calendar.
Genome Canada International Conference
Join Genome Canada October 22 - 24, 2008 at its third international conference on genomics and proteomics research. Be among the first to hear about the latest advances and discoveries that will have a direct impact on society today, and in the near future.
The theme for this year’s conference is 2020 Vision: The Impact of Science on Society and features a distinguished roster of speakers.
For more information and registration go to http://genomecanada.ca/
conference2008/index.asp?l=e
At Last
We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting and .... finally our Receptionist and Admin Assistant Aleishia has had her baby. An 8lb, 3 oz baby boy. Congratulations Aleishia and everyone forgives you for making us wait so long.
GE3LS Digest
This is a sample from the GE3LS Digest put out on a regular basis by Genome Alberta’s GE3LS team. If you’d like to receive the full digest, email rhyde-lay@genomealberta.ca
Alberta launches centre in Edmonton to market nano and micro inventions – August 27, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/science/080827/g082704A.html Alberta took aim at going big in the science of small Wednesday by launching a centre focused on getting micro and nanotechnology inventions off the worktable and into the marketplace."There hasn't been enough spending towards productization and commercialization," said Ken Brizel, CEO of the Alberta Centre for Advanced Micro and Nanotechnology Products. "This is brand new. This gives capability to all the startups and entrepreneurs as well as larger corporations." Brizel said there are already 40 companies and 200 researchers working in the field in Alberta, all looking to have their work brought to market. "There's a lot of work going on," he said.
An Advocate for Science Diplomacy – August 18, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/science/19conv.html?_r= 1&oref=slogin When she was a single mother in the early 1960s, Nina V. Fedoroff, 66, defied odds and conventionality by working her way through college, graduate school and postdoctoral studies. Dr. Fedoroff, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, did fundamental research on plant transposons, or jumping genes, and was among the first to clone plant DNA. She is science adviser to the secretary of state and administrator of the Agency for International Development. We spoke last month in Washington and later on the telephone. An edited version of the conversations follows.
DNA databases blocked from the public – August 29, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me- dna29-2008aug29,0,4364552. story The National Institutes of Health quietly blocked public access to databases of patient DNA profiles after learning of a study that found the genetic information may not be as anonymous as previously believed, The Times has learned. Institute officials took the unusual step Monday and removed two databases on its public website. The databases contained the genetic information of more than 60,000 cooperating patients. Scientists began posting the information publicly eight months ago to help further medical research. Creators of the databases had taken steps to mask the identities of the patients, summarizing and aggregating the genetic information. However, the independent study released today reported that a new type of DNA analysis could confirm the identity of an individual in a pool of similarly masked data if that person's genetic profile was already known. Such a confirmation could reveal patients' participation in a study about a specific medical condition, denying them their presumed confidentiality, experts said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genome Alberta in Pictures
As the Geee in Genome wound up its stay in Alberta Dr. Janice Cooke the Alberta co-leader of our Trai Project was in Red Deer on August 20th to talk about Mountain Pine Beetle genomics. You can find more pictures from Dr. Cooke’s presentation at http://picasaweb.google.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe to GeneSnips
To unsubscribe to GeneSnips, please follow this link:
http://www.genomealberta.ca/genesnips/newsletter_unsubscribe.aspx
