The Sector Innovation Program (SIP) aims to support strategically important genomics research with long-term potential to address the needs and challenges of key sectors in BC’s economy and society. Each intake of the program has a specific strategic focus.
To date, Genome BC has committed an investment of $11M to the SIP program and plans to allocate funds, as necessary, to run regular intakes of the program. As each SIP intake has a strategic focus, applications to SIP will only be open to projects that address the strategic focus of that particular intake.
The focus of this intake (SIP8) is to support genomics research related to the impacts of climate change on human health. Climate change is already negatively impacting human health in many ways, and health risks are predicted to increase as global warming continues. Higher temperatures, shifts in precipitation patterns, more frequent and intense heat waves, and weather events deprive people of clean air, fresh water, a safe food supply, and can influence the prevalence and distribution of infectious diseases. Genomics can be a useful approach to explore and understand the current and projected impacts of climate change on human health, and ultimately inform our response to a changing climate. Through this competition, Genome BC aims to support research projects related to the following key research areas:
- Infectious diseases: the impact of changing climate patterns on the distribution and evolution of infectious agents. Includes human infectious diseases (e.g. Lyme disease, West Nile Virus) and diseases that could impact the food supply (e.g. plant, seafood or livestock diseases).
- Nutrition and food security: the impacts of climate change on the nutritional value of food crops and forage on which humans and livestock depend, and the sustainable management
of wild plants and wildlife used for food and medicine.
- Allergies and respiratory health: the genomic basis of respiratory health (e.g. allergies, asthma, and COPD) in response to increased allergens and environmental contaminants from climate events (e.g. wildfires).
- Adaptation and evolution: genetic adaptation of human populations, microbes and viruses in response to environmental changes, and the genomic basis of climate change impacts on chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes, renal disease, neurological disease, heart and lung disease).
- Digital solutions of climate change and health: research that collects, measures, organizes, and analyses diverse Big Data streams to improve the quality and harmonization of data on climate change and human health.
