Genome Alberta's Official Newsletter
Genome Alberta Newsletter GenOmics - July 6, 2010
- July 6, 2010 -
In this Update:
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Genomics News
Ontario Genomics Institute Announces SIG Prize
The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) has announced the launch of a new $10,000 prize to promote and recognize research reflecting integrative and inter-disciplinary approaches to characterizing the societal issues, outcomes and impacts of genomics projects.
The OGI Societal Impact of Genomics (SIG) Prize will be awarded based on an annual competitive evaluation – by a multi-disciplinary panel of experts – of submitted candidate publications authored by one or more Ontario-based researchers.
Applications for the SIG prize are accepted from Ontario researchers currently or previously funded by OGI. The first deadline for application submission is January 30, 2011.
For more information on the SIG prize and application details, visit: http://www.ontariogenomics.ca/
research/ogi-societal-impact- genomics-sig-prize
Genome Canada Competition Dates
For those who successfully completed a registration for the new Genome Canada 2010 funding there are important dates to note:
- July 15, 2010 Pre-Application due date – Genome Centres
- August 9, 2010 Pre-Application due date – Genome Canada
- September 14, 2010 Applicants notified of results of Pre-application
- November 1, 2010 Deadline for full applications to Genome Centres
- December 1, 2010 Deadline for full applications to Genome Canada
- Late January 2011 Review committee meets (including meetings with applicants)
- Mid-February 2011 Decision by Genome Canada Board of Directors
- Late February 2011 Notification of Award (NOA)
Genome Alberta has held 2 information webinars on the process for applicants and if you have made it through the registration stage and still have questions please contact Genome Alberta Cheif Scientific Officer Gijs van Rooijen at vanrooijen@genomealberta.ca
The list of accepted Registrations for the 2010 Large-Scale Applied Research Project Competition is now posted on the Genome Alberta website (pdf file, will open in a new window)
New Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy
The Government of Quebec has released an update to its Québec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS), called Mobilize. Innovate. Prosper. The announcement promise more than 1.16 billion dollars to support health research, support for merit awards, workplace internship awards, international internships, and strategic clusters in health fields considered priorities. A new financial measure will help to fund innovative strategic development projects in research centres. The funding builds on the previous strategy which covered 2007–2010 and will take Quebec through to 2013.
Also announced in the new strategy will be the appointment of a Québec chief scientist. A competition will be held to recruit this individual for a period of five years. His or her job will be to oversee Fonds Recherche Québec and ensure operational efficiency, particularly on interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral matters.
Full details of the strategy can be found on the QRIS pages on the Government of Quebec website.
New VP – Outreach for Ontario Genomics Institute
The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) has announced the appointment of Dr. Alison Symington as Vice President, Outreach where she will assume responsibility for OGI’s external stakeholder relations, corporate communications and educational outreach programs.
Dr. Symington joins OGI from Bioscience Education Canada, where as Executive Director she led the organization through a substantive rebranding and refocusing, and managed a number of outreach and educational events that significantly increased the visibility of Canadian science education nationally and internationally. Notably, she led the Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, the Biotech Toolbox Program and was involved in the creation of several laboratory courses for high school teachers
For more on the appointment visit the OGI website.
3rd Issue of GE3LS Impact Newsletter Now Online
Impact is Genome Canada’s GE3LS newsletter and the 3rd issue is available online at http://www.genomecanada.ca/en/
ge3ls/newsletters/spring-2010/
Latest Edition of the Canadian Bioinformatics Help Desk Newsletter
http://www.gchelpdesk.
ualberta.ca/news/28jun10/cbhd_ news_28jun10.htm
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GenOmics Top Stories
Get our your iPad and go to http://facebook.genomealberta.
ca . The new and improved GenOmics looks great, the video and audio displays nicely and it won’t burn up your data plan. Use the same link from your laptop or desktop computer and you’ll be treated to an ad-free site where the stories change a couple of time a day to bring you the latest in science news from sources you can trust.Consider it a complete science newsroom squeezed into your computer.
Genetic signatures of human exceptional longevity discovered
A New Way to Change the World
Scientists create 3-D models of whole mouse organs-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Found on Twitter
This is just a snapshot of the thousands of postings that appear every day on Twitter and that are related in some way to biotech, the life sciences, genomics or some of the other related omic sciences. We have a more complete rundown of what we have unearthed on Twitter is on one of our latest blog postings.
@BiologyAnswers What are lethal genes? http://bit.ly/cRx0h0
@carlzimmer Listening to the podcast roundups of #evol2010 meeting posted at Evolution, Development, and Genomics blog
@drkiki It's Thursday! That means it's science time on TWIT... Dr. Kiki's Science Hour is celebrating its first birthday... http://fb.me/zMLS8JJT
@GenomeBiology New article in #genomebiology from Hans Ellegren and colleagues, a study of molecular evolution in two bird genomes http://bit.ly/9mZu4m
@genomicslawyer CA Legislature proposes bill to halt Berkeley's proposal to offer students DNA testing: http://bit.ly/affAgE
@jaffathecakeOhh, British Medical Association has voted to remove NHS funding for homeopathy & for it to be removed from pharmacies. Go science!
@phylogenomics At least evolutionary biologists know what is important: big crowd watching #ESPvs #POR#evol2010 #ievobio
@wyattsgirl 10 years later...few clinical impacts- HGP lacks the clinical relevance http://bit.ly/aDcsUJ despite what Sanger says: http://bit.ly/9WB0Ll
Our featured tweeters are:
- @BiologyAnswers Biology Questions and Answers is a website at http://www.biology-questions-
and-answers.com/ that explains Biology through reviews made of questions and answers.- @carlzimmer Carl Zimmer is a science writer who says he is a “champion of mind-controlling tapeworms, walking whales, and underappreciated forms of life everywhere”. Find out more about him at http://carlzimmer.com/
- @drkiki Dr. Kirsten Sanford is a scientist in neurophysiology who somehow escaped from the lab and is now making her way in independent science media and journalism
- @GenomeBiology Genome Biology publishes articles from the full spectrum of biology. Their first conference, Beyond the Genome is in October 2010. Find more at www.beyondthegenome2010.com
- @genomicslawyer Dan Vorhaus brings news and notes from the frontier of genomics, personalized medicine and the law. He has a very popular blog at http://www.genomicslawreport.
com/ - @jaffathecake Jake Archibald is a web developer at the BBC.
- @phylogenomics is another Twitter Snips regular. Jonathan Eisen is an evolutionary biologist, microbiology & genomics researcher, open science advocate, and professor at UC Davis.
- @tgoetz Thomas Goetz is Executive Editor at Wired and has recently released a new book called The Decision Tree - a manifesto on healthcare & personalized medicine. The book’s website is at http://thedecisiontree.com/
blog/ - @wyattsgirl is Kenna Shaw who still wants to be a scientist but toils for the NIH in the U.S.
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GE3LS Digest
For
more information about GE3LS Digest, please visit http://www.genomealberta.ca/
Gene tests have answers, but do we want them? – May 30, 2010
Direct-to-consumer genetic tests allow anyone with a few hundred dollars to submit a saliva sample and get back genetic information on everything from family ancestry to Alzheimer's disease. The powerful technology could lead to personalized medical treatments based on individuals' genetic risks. But these tests have long been controversial, with many bioethicists worried they could mislead people about their disease risks. Now the government is taking a harder look at the tests. A Food and Drug Administration warning earlier this month prompted drugstore chain Walgreens to delay plans to sell gene test kits in stores. Less than a week later, the House of Representatives Energy and Finance Committee launched an investigation of personal genomics companies 23andMe, Navigenics and Pathway Genomics.
Stanford School of Medicine Launches Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine – June 4, 2010
Stanford University's School of Medicine this week announced the creation of a new Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine designed to integrate genomics information with every aspect of medicine, as well as draw on collaborations between Stanford's basic scientists and clinical researchers, and on technologies developed in Silicon Valley. Stanford says the center will promote personalized medicine by building on research from the sequencing of the genome of Stephen Quake, the Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and co-chair of Stanford's bioengineering department. Quake made news last August by using a technology he helped invent — Helicos BioSciences' Heliscope single molecule sequencer — to sequence and publish his own genome for less than $50,000. Researchers published results from their study of Quake's genome in the May 1 issue of the Lancet.
Gene data for all 'within a decade'—June 24, 2010
Genetic information will be available to most people in the developed world within 10 years, allowing better treatment and safer prescription of drugs. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health, believes mass genome sequencing of individuals would soon be possible at a cost of less than $1,000 per person (£670). In an interview with The Times to mark the 10th anniversary of the sequencing of the human genome, he said bespoke genetic health care would identify those with a higher inherited risk of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer and reduce the diseases though drug treatment, early screening or diet and exercise
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Events
--------------------------------------------------------------------The GEEE! in Genome
If you are planning to spend part of your summer holiday in B.C. this year consider taking a side trip to Prince George for the Geee! In Genome running from May 1 through to September 5.
The exhibit was a big hit when it was here in Alberta last year so if you missed it then, this is a good chance to catch it and take in some beautiful B.C. scenery at the same time. For details visit the website at http://nature.ca/genome/index_
e.cfm
HUPO 2010
The Human Proteomics Conference will be held in Sydney, Australia this year from September 19th to the 23rd.
The program will address clinical, biomedical, biological, cellular and proteomic discoveries through the themes of Oncology, Neurology, Cardiovascular/diabetes/
obesity, and Infection/immunity. A large number of leading international scientists have accepted invitations to speak and 50% of all oral presentations will be draw from the best submitted abstracts. For more information visit the conference website at http://www.hupo2010.com/
2010 Canadian Science Policy Conference
With the success of the 1st CSPC last year in Toronto, the Conference is set to become an annual event attracting some of the best scientists, civil servants, elected officials, and academics in a position to influence science policy in Canada.
This year’s event will be held in Montreal October 20th – 22nd and the theme will be Building Bridges for the Future of Science Policy.
The main objectives of the CSPC are to identify and discuss current Canadian science policy and to forge stronger links between stakeholders and policymakers.
The Canadian Science Policy Conference was initiated by young researchers and has subsequently received a groundswell of support from prominent members of the science community. Be sure to visit the CSPC 2010 website at http://sciencepolicy.ca/
cspc2010
American Society for Human Genetics Annual Meeting
November 2-6, 2010
Washington DC
http://www.ashg.org/2010meeting/
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