IG Newsletter – Fall 2011

Table of Contents

1. Message from the Scientific Director
2. Feature Stories
3. Funding Opportunities
4. Funding Decisions
5. IG Meetings and Events of Interest

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1. Message from the Scientific Director

Institute Advisory Boards (IABs) act in an advisory capacity to the Scientific Director, CIHR's Scientific Council and CIHR's Governing Council on a full range of activities from developing strategic plans (and their implementation) to encouraging partnerships, community linkages and engagement of relevant stakeholders.

On behalf of IG and CIHR, I would like to extend my gratitude to our IAB members who have recently completed their term for their outstanding contributions to the IG: Dr. Jan Friedman (University of British Columbia), Dr. Philippe Gros (McGill University), Mr. Robert Main (Industry Canada) and Dr. Nils Peterson (NRC). Their efforts significantly advanced the IG research and knowledge translation agenda.

I would also like to take the opportunity to welcome Drs. Mickie Bhatia (McMaster University), Kym Boycott (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario), Pierre Charest (NSERC) and Christopher Yip (University of Toronto) who will be joining our IAB as of September 2011.

Please welcome Dr. Étienne Richer who joined IG in May 2011 in the role of Assistant Director at the McGill Office. Étienne's background, combining health outcome research, pharmaco-economic analysis and genetics of infectious diseases research, will be a great asset to IG as we forge ahead in delivering upon our research and knowledge translation mandate.

2. Feature Stories

2011 CIHR International Review: The IG Expert Review Team (ERT) Report and the CIHR International Review Panel Report 2005-2010 are both now available on the CIHR website. The international review was conducted by an International Review Panel chaired by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former Director of the US National Institutes of Health.

Overall, the IG ERT assessment was extremely positive, including the strong statement that IG is regarded by the research community and stakeholders as a flagship CIHR Institute. Going forward, the IG ERT Report identified specific areas, such as computational biology, international efforts, industrial cooperation and commercialization, that could be given greater attention and focus. Later this fall the IG will be embarking on a national consultation to define its priorities for the next five years that will be informed by the CIHR International Review recommendations. For more information regarding the IG's national consultation process, please contact Stephanie Robertson.

Fostering International Cooperation on Research into Rare Diseases: The European Commission, Health Directorate, DG Research and Innovation, and the US National Institutes of Health organized two workshops on rare diseases research in Reykjavik (October 2010) and Bethesda (April 2011), gathering experts from academia, industry, regulatory bodies, patients' organizations and funding agencies. The first meeting identified the need to establish an international consortium; with the second meeting officially launching the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC). This developing international consortium will team up funding agencies and researchers from around the world with the goal of delivering (i) 200 new therapies for rare diseases plus (ii) diagnostic tests for most of the 6,000 rare diseases by 2020. IG is co-organizing the next workshop being held in October 2011 to further develop IRDiRC policy and governance frameworks. For more information regarding Canada's participation, please contact Étienne Richer.

Canada joins Orphanet: Orphanet is the reference European Rare Disease and Orphan Drug information portal. Its provides expert peer-reviewed information on rare diseases and orphan drugs, serves as a specialized services directory, provides tools helping in the diagnosis, care and treatment of patients with rare diseases and support research. Canada is now a part of this exciting initiative as a result of the IG's efforts in developing a Canadian branch to this portal. The Canadian branch will first focus in Quebec with the goal of expanding to the rest of Canada. For more information regarding the IG's involvement, please contact Étienne Richer.

Personalized Medicine Signature Initiative: Co-led by the Institute of Cancer Research, Institute of Health Services and Policy Research and IG, this initiative aims to capitalize on Canadian health researchers' strengths in identifying disease-related genes and biomarkers and in translational research in order to integrate evidenced-based medicine and precision diagnostics into clinical practice. We are currently working with the research community and stakeholders to design the strategic framework underscoring this developing initiative.

3. Funding Opportunities

Pre-Announcement: CIHR Community-Based Primary Healthcare Signature Initiative – Team Grants: IG is delighted to announce its participation in the team grant funding opportunity scheduled to be launch in October 2011. This CIHR signature initiative will make strategic investments in community-based primary health care research and the translation of research knowledge into practice and policy.

Pre-Announcement: IG Clinical Investigatorship Awards: The IG Clinical Investigatorship Award affords recipients the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to initiate and conduct research - in the area of clinical genetics - by contributing to their salary. This award is designed to provide protected time for early-career clinical investigators to undertake clinical or translational genetics research. The salary contribution is up to $140,000 per annum (including fringe benefits) for two years, renewable once.

Effective this launch, IG anticipates making this program available every two years but will double the budget for the competitions. Please visit the IG website in December for complete program details. In the interim, please contact Stephanie Robertson for more information.

Pre-Announcement: 2012 Summer Program in Taiwan: IG is pleased to pre-announce the launch of the 2012 Summer Program in Taiwan in partnership with the Department of International Cooperation of the National Science Council in Taiwan. Designed to provide Canadian doctoral students with first-hand research experience in an international setting, this two-month research opportunity offers both an introduction to the science and policy infrastructure of Taiwan, as well as and an orientation to Taiwan's culture and language. Please visit the IG website in early October for complete program details.

Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC) - Epigenomics Platform and Catalyst Grant: CEEHRC is one of CIHR's new Signature Initiatives co-led by the Institute of Neurosciences Mental Health and Addiction, Institute of Cancer Research and IG. Two exciting funding opportunities in the field of Epigenetics, offered through CEEHRC, were recently announced by CIHR.

• Epigenomics Platform
• Catalyst Grant

Later this year, CEEHRC plans to launch an Emerging Team Grant funding opportunity to help translate epigenetic research discoveries into practical outcomes. This opportunity is expected to provide broad support for health/disease-focused teams, including both hypothesis-driven and population-based approaches in epigenetics.

4. Funding Decisions

Maud Menten New Principal Investigator Prize (2011): Dr. Menten's outstanding career as a biomedical scientist led to many achievements including important co-discoveries relating to blood sugar, haemoglobin and kidney functions. Named in honour of this outstanding scientist, IG established this prize to recognize and support the research excellence of Canadian New Investigators working within its' mandate. IG would like to congratulate the 2012 Maud Menten New Principal Investigator Prize recipients:

• Biomedical Research Prize: Dr. Hiroshi Tsuda (McGill University)
• Clinical Research Prize: Dr. Marie-France Hivert (Université de Sherbrooke)

5. IG Meetings and Events of Interest

10th Annual New Principal Investigators Meeting (November 4-6, Mont Gabriel, Quebec): IG and the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes are pleased to announce the 10th Annual New Principal Investigators Meeting. The meeting is for new faculty (in their first four years) at Canadian universities, including new scientists and clinician scientists in genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, population health, computational biology, ethical, legal or social issues related to genetics, and other health research disciplines.

6th Canadian Developmental Biology Conference (March 8-11 2012, Banff, Alberta): IG is pleased to announce its involvement in the 6th Canadian Developmental Biology Conference. This popular biennial Canadian meeting showcases national and international excellence in developmental biology research, and is intended to foster better interactions within the developmental biology community through an engaging scientific program.

International Congress of Human Genetics & American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting: Join us at the CCMG & IG Mixer on October 12th, 2011! IG will once again be at the largest human genetics meeting in the world. Visit us at information booth #121 to ask questions about current funding opportunities and upcoming initiatives. Make sure to also stop by our annual mixer event, hosted in partnership with the Canadian College of Medical Genetics (CCMG), to become acquainted and reacquainted with Canadian colleagues. Light snacks, refreshments and a cash bar will be offered. The CCMG & IG mixer will take place at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel (Jolliet Room) at 6:15 pm on October 12th, 2011. For more information, please contact Jennifer Ahlgren.

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