January 31, 2012
Vancouver, BC – A new funding competition for genomics and personalized medicine research was announced today by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology.
Personalized medicine offers the potential to transform the delivery of medical treatments to patients. The genetic make-up of the individual, the environment and the specific course taken by the disease/condition all influence the outcome of a disease and the effectiveness of its treatment. Treating disease must evolve from the commonly used “one size fits all” approach to a tailoring or “personalizing” of treatments and other interventions to the specific characteristics of the individual. This personalized approach will be possible through the use of new diagnostic technologies that look at patients’ unique genetic signatures and other indicators of disease.
This competition is a joint initiative between Genome Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)and the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium (CSCC). The goal is to engage biomedical, clinical, population health, health economics, ethics and policy researchers, as well as provincial health authorities, in an undertaking to identify health care issues that are suitable for a personalized medicine approach. The expected results from funded projects will ultimately support “knowledge translation” research to educate and advise front-line health care workers on how personalized medicine can be used for more effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.
Initial funding of $67.5M will come from Genome Canada ($40 million), CIHR ($22.5 million) and the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium ($5 million). Projects will be funded for a maximum of four years. To qualify for funding, researchers through the regional Genome Centres must obtain matching funding that is at least equal to that provided through the competition, which will bring the total investment in this research area to $135 million. Matching funds are typically derived from provincial, academic, private sector or international sources.
To be eligible for this competition, proposals must:
- include genomics approaches as essential components in terms of importance to the overall outcomes of the project;
- address personalized health in humans; and,
- be of a scale and scope such that they are able to address challenges requiring a genomics approach, be internationally competitive and have the potential for major impact.
Canadian researchers who wish to apply for funding must do so through their regional Genome Centre. The application process is comprised of three steps: Registration, Pre-Application and Full Application. The application timeline is as follows:
| January 24, 2012 |
Launch of Request for Applications (RFAs) & release of competition Guidelines & Evaluation Criteria |
| February 27, 2012 |
Deadline for researchers to submit initial registration to Genome Centre |
| March 2, 2012 |
Deadline for Genome Centre to submit eligible registrations to Genome Canada |
| March 5, 2012 |
Applicants notified by Genome Centres of eligibility of registration |
| April 10, 2012 |
Deadline for researchers to submit pre-applications to Genome Centre |
| May 14, 2012 |
Deadline for Genome Centre to submit pre-applications to Genome Canada |
| July 6, 2012 |
Applicants notified of results of pre-application |
| August 20, 2012 |
Deadline for researchers to submit full applications to Genome Centre |
| October 1, 2012 |
Deadline for Genome Centre to submit full applications to Genome Canada |
| Late-November 2012 |
Review committee meets (including meetings with applicants) |
| Early December 2012 |
Decisions by Genome Canada and partners |
| Mid-Late December 2012 |
Notification of decision |
Details and application information about the funding competition can be found online at: www.genomebc.ca/opportunities/current-funding-competitions/genomics-and-personalized-health/
Researchers from BC institutions who wish to apply to this competition are strongly encouraged to contact Genome BC as soon as possible through:
Dr. Gabe Kalmar, Vice President of Operations
Email: gkalmar@genomebc.ca
Telephone: 604-637-4389
