Announcements - NRC-GHI Announces Phase 4 Research Programs

April 8, 2008 — Ottawa, Ontario — Montréal, Quebec — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — Halifax, Nova Scotia — Edmonton, Alberta — Winnipeg, Manitoba

The NRC Genomics and Health Initiative (NRC-GHI) is pleased to announce its newest generation of research programs as part of NRC-GHI Phase 4. Following a highly successful proposal review and selection process, a total of five research programs commenced on 1 April 2008 for a three-year funding period.

Research programs for NRC-GHI Phase 4 were selected based on a variety of criteria including: ability to integrate research and technology disciplines, commercial relevance, and capacity for contributing to cutting-edge areas of genome and health sciences. In addition, one of the driving factors behind new program selection was the degree to which each of the proposed research programs was aligned with NRC-GHI objectives and the new NRC strategy: Science at Work for Canada.

A total of 13 letters of intent were received in March 2007, with 10 research programs approved for full proposal development, making this NRC-GHI's most comprehensive program selection processes to date. Ten NRC research institutes located across Canada will participate in NRC-GHI Phase 4, as well as formal collaborative partners in academia, industry and other government departments, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). The evolution of NRC-GHI and its ability to attract new multi-institute and collaborative partners is a clear indication of NRC's strong research capacity and leadership in horizontal/multidisciplinary initiatives.

NRC-GHI is excited to launch its new programs and looks forward to making successful advances in key research areas of national importance: health and wellness, and energy.

The following programs have been approved for NRC-GHI Phase 4:

Heart Disease: Better Tools for Better Treatment

Participating institutes: NRC-IBD, NRC-IMI, NRC-SIMS

Building upon successful innovations in NRC-GHI Phase 3, this continuing program aims to further develop and test new diagnostic and imaging tools that will improve the treatment and management of heart disease. In particular, this program proposes to expand technologies that will allow health-care professionals to treat patients earlier and more efficiently by providing a series of methods that will help triage patients with evolving heart attacks, offer tools for improved planning and guidance of minimally invasive heart surgery, and help predict patient outcomes. With the final goal of bringing such technologies into clinical practice, this program will benefit Canadians through improved cardiovascular disease diagnosis and better surgical outcomes, as well as a more efficient health-care system. The Canadian economy may also benefit from a stronger medical devices industry, with increased jobs and enhanced national revenue.

Biorenewable Oil for Food and Fuel

Participating institutes: NRC-PBI, NRC-BRI, NRC-IIT and AAFC

Generating an annual $11 billion in economic activity, canola is a vital part of the Canadian economy. Prized as a healthy, consumable oil associated with the reduction of cardiovascular disease, canola's unique characteristics also make it an ideal feedstock for environmentally friendly biodiesel production. This continuing program builds on the successful NRC-GHI Phase 3 Brassica Seed Program, with the objective of applying genomics-based approaches to improve the productivity, yield, oil content and resilience of Canadian canola crops. The increasing demand for canola for both food and non-food applications presents significant socioeconomic benefits for Canada. As such, it is important to harness the full potential of this crop by gaining a better understanding of how seeds can be regulated or manipulated to increase productivity and sustainability. Having already garnered resources and innovative technologies through previous studies of the metabolic and developmental processes required for canola seed production, this program is now well positioned to implement a comprehensive pipeline leading from early gene discovery to pre-commercialization field trials of new crop prototypes.

Biochips for Understanding and Diagnosis of Human Diseases

Participating institutes: NRC-SIMS, NRC-BRI, NINT, NRC-IMI, NRC-IMS, NRC-IBS

The potential of new human pathogen detection technologies is far reaching. Using a variety of technologies established in NRC-GHI Phase 3 this program aims to develop new tools for understanding the molecular processes underlying critical pathogenic and genetic diseases. The end goal is to create rapid point-of-care diagnostic devices with the capacity to improve both the speed and accuracy of patient treatment. In particular, research will focus on diagnosing infectious agents responsible for hospital-acquired infections and threats to food and water safety – leading issues that affect both the national health-care system and the well-being and health of Canadians.

Patient-Specific Virtual Reality Systems for Surgical Oncology

Participating institutes: NRC-IMI, NRC-IIT, NRC-IBD

The objective of this new program is to develop a virtual reality-based   (VR) training system to aid medical practitioners in preparation for surgical oncology. As the most widely used method of cancer treatment, surgical oncology is evolving toward less invasive yet more complex procedures that require elaborate rehearsal. Virtual reality simulation, when combined with emerging imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), will enable the realistic rehearsal of patient-specific surgical procedures prior to actual surgery. In addition, the availability of VR simulators opens the possibility to more objective surgical training for medical students prior to certification. Clinical adoption of VR simulation will result in accelerated training, rapid adoption of new surgical techniques, better surgeries with minimal risk, and consequently, improved patient care. The expertise and technologies developed in this project will provide a solid foundation for rehearsing difficult tumour resections such as brain, colorectal, prostate and breast cancer.

The Identification of Proteins Targeting the Tumour Microenvironment for Therapeutic Applications

Participating institutes: NRC-BRI, NRC-IBS, NRC-IIT, NRC-IMB 

Cancer remains one of the deadliest chronic diseases in the world. In Canada, it is predicted to become the number one cause of death by 2010. To effectively aid patients suffering from this often crippling disease, it is essential to develop new treatments that will combine targeted therapeutic agents with new and efficient diagnostic methods. Building upon earlier NRC-GHI Phase 3 research identifying several promising candidate markers/targets of breast and brain cancer as potential biotherapeutic leads, this program will continue to invest in tumour-targeting agent discovery, as well as further develop selected targeting agents to accelerate transfer to the private sector. This program builds on NRC's multidisciplinary research expertise and commercialization capabilities to increase the flow of technologies and products into the pharma/biotech sector of the Canadian economy. Current cancer therapies are only successful in a fraction of patients due to the high heterogenicity of tumours; this is why personalized medicines are greatly needed in oncology. This is a critical and exciting area of research with significant implications for all Canadians.