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Dr. Edward M. Rubin joins prestigious Royal Society of Canada as International Fellow

Dr. Edward M. Rubin joins prestigious Royal Society of Canada as International Fellow

Chair of CGEn’s Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Edward M. (“Eddy”) Rubin has been named a Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in recognition of his long-term contributions to advancing genomics internationally.

Edward M. Rubin portrait photo
Dr. Edward M. Rubin

RSC Fellows are elected by their peers for their outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. Recognition by the RSC is the highest honour an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences. Dr. Rubin is one of 102 new 2022 RSC Fellows. 

“Edward Rubin pioneered laboratory and computational technologies as part of the Human Genome Project, to sequence and analyze human chromosomes 5, 16 and 19. He then decoded these complex data, comparing DNA sequences between species to discover genes of pivotal evolutionary and biomedical importance. Throughout, Professor Rubin has generously shared his knowledge with Canadian scientists and been a champion of their research worldwide,” states the RSC.

“Canadian science is indebted to Eddy’s long-term contributions to advancing genomics internationally through his own research, and more specifically in Canada through sharing his wisdom and vision while sitting on many national advisory boards in our country, including CGEn’s Scientific Advisory Board,” says Dr. Naveed Aziz, CEO, CGEn. “On behalf of CGEn, I congratulate Eddy on this well-deserved honour by the Royal Society of Canada, and thank him for his continued leadership and commitment to CGEn’s scientific excellence and impact.”

The RSC will welcome the new 2022 RSC Fellows in November at the RSC Celebration of Excellence and Engagement in Calgary, Alberta.

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CGEn receives $48.9 million in federal funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Initiatives Fund

CGEn receives $48.9 million in federal funding through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Initiatives Fund

August 19, 2022, TORONTO – From deepening our understanding of climate change to diagnosing rare diseases, to developing targeted treatments for hard-to-cure cancers, new research will unlock the potential for a healthier, more resilient and sustainable future for Canadians thanks to renewed investments in genomics infrastructure in Canada. Announced today by the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, CGEn, Canada’s national platform for genome sequencing and analysis, has been granted $48.9 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) through the 2023 Major Science Initiative (MSI) Fund Competition.

“This new investment from the Government of Canada will enable CGEn to harness the power of large-scale genomics and support the scientific community from coast to coast,” says Dr. Naveed Aziz, Chief Executive Officer, CGEn.

As Canada’s national platform for genome sequencing and analysis, CGEn provides genomics services to a wide range of projects led by principal investigators across the country, working in a wide variety of sectors including health, environment, forestry, fishing, agriculture, and other areas important to Canada and its research community.

“Genomics is transforming medical and life science research here at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and across the country and will underpin Canada’s greatest scientific discoveries to come. Today’s investment will enable Canadian researchers to access and expand the use of genome analysis to address important biological questions at a pace we’ve never seen before,” says Dr. Stephen Scherer, Scientific Director, CGEn-Toronto, Director, The Centre for Applied Genomics (TCAG) at SickKids and Professor of Genome Sciences, University of Toronto.

“The Government of Canada’s investment in CGEn today will not only help to sustain current research, but will also serve as a catalyst for innovative genomics research that may lead to new discoveries and breakthroughs that will be of value to all Canadians in the future,” says Dr. Mark Lathrop, Scientific Director, CGEn-Montreal, Professor of Human Genetics and Scientific Director, McGill Genome Centre, McGill University.

“This renewed funding for CGEn will help to ensure that Canada’s scientific community will continue to have access to the latest, cutting-edge technology, advanced training and expertise, and ensure Canada is poised to handle future challenges requiring large-scale genomics,” says Dr. Steven Jones, Scientific Director, CGEn-Vancouver, Director, Head of Bioinformatics and Distinguished Scientist, Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer.

With this renewed support from the Government of Canada through the CFI, CGEn is poised to embark upon the next stage of its strategic vision, continuing to provide the leading genomic infrastructure for Canada’s research and innovation community, while also helping to solidify Canada’s position as a genomics world leader by training the next generation of Canadian genome scientists and collaborating with other major centres to push the field even further.

“We remain committed to our vision and core values of providing essential infrastructure and expertise to enhance, accelerate and support genomics research in Canada. We are grateful for CFI’s support to continue our work with partners and stakeholders to forge a path towards a healthier and more sustainable future for all Canadians through the power of genomics,” says Aziz.

For more information about the CFI MSI 2023 awards, please visit the CFI website.

About CGEn

Established in 2017 as a CFI MSI, CGEn is comprised of three nodes: The Centre for Applied Genomics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto; McGill Genome Centre, McGill University, Montreal; Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer, Vancouver. More than 200 CGEn staff serve close to 3,000 distinct laboratory teams, have authored over 670 scientific publications, and the data and support CGEn has provided has helped to train more than 16,000 highly-qualified personnel since CGEn’s inception. With a mandate to make cost-effective and high-quality genome sequencing a reality for all Canadian researchers, CGEn provides services to projects funded by Canadian funding agencies like Genome Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) as well as other internationally-funded projects. CGEn’s intensive work with academics, industry and government has substantiated the power of genomics, enabling research and development in Canada and beyond.

Media contact:
Hillete Warner, CGEn
hillete.warner@cgen.ca

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Dr. ​​Bartha Maria Knoppers joins CGEn’s Board of Directors

Dr. ​​Bartha Maria Knoppers joins CGEn’s Board of Directors

CGEn is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. ​​Bartha Maria Knoppers as a member of our Board of Directors.

Profile photo of Bartha Maria Knoppers
Dr. Bartha Maria Knoppers

Bartha Maria Knoppers, PhD (Comparative Medical Law: Sorbonne, FR), is a Full Professor, Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine and Director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. Since 2005, she has led the Policy Committee of the Canadian Stem Cell Network and chaired the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum (2005-2015).  Additionally, she was the founder of the Public Population Project in Genomics (P3G) and CARTaGENE Quebec’s population biobank.  She was the Chair of the Ethics and Governance Committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (2009-2017) of the Ethics Advisory Panel of WADA (2015-2021), and Co-Chair of the Regulatory and Ethics Workstream of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) (2013-2019). In 2015-2016, she was a member of the Drafting Group for the Recommendation of the OECD Council on Health Data Governance and gave the Galton Lecture in November 2017. She holds four Doctorates Honoris Causa and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Hastings Center (bioethics), the Canadian Academy Health Sciences (CAHS), and the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). She is also an Officer of the Order of Canada and of Quebec, and was awarded the 2019 Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research, the Till and McCulloch Award for science policy (2020) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Bioethics Society (2021). She served on the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing in 2020. Currently, she serves on Canada’s: Vaccine Task Force(-2021), Health Data Strategy Expert Advisory Group, CanCOGen’s HostSeq Steering Committee and the COVID Cloud (DNAstack); and is a Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the Human Pangeonome Reference Consortium, USA and Ethics Advisor to the Big Data Big Heart, IMI Project, Europe.