Ogi News - 25 February 2009

OGI News 25 February 2009

Publications by OGI-funded Researchers Make a Splash to Start 2009 Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) funded researchers are off to a strong start in 2009 in leading international journals with a record of publishing high-impact papers in the life sciences sector. Five research teams’ insights − in cancer, cardiovascular disease and cellular control mechanisms − appeared in Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Reviews Genetics and Molecular Cell. Additionally, a new international journal, Genome Medicine, featured inaugural contributions from OGI-funded scientists at the expanding interface of genomics and medicine. Taylor et al. (2009) Nat Biotech, 27, 199. link

Hegele (2009) Nat Rev Genet, 10, 109. link

Makhnevych et al. (2009) Mol Cell, 33, 124. link

Dick (2009) Nat Biotech, 27, 44. link

Caulfield et al. (2009) Genome Med, 1, 8. link

Buchanan et al. (2009) Genome Med, 1, 16. link

Leidel et al. (2009) Nature, 14 Jan ’09 (advance on-line). link

“The breadth and depth of the papers published by OGI-supported researchers continue to have a significant impact on Ontario’s reputation as a global driver of innovation in genomics and, more broadly, the life sciences sector,” commented Dr. Christian Burks, President and CEO of OGI. “These insights into the molecular basis of disease also provide entry points for identifying new treatments as well as more personalized approaches to providing treatment.” Following their publication in Nature Biotechnology, Ontario researchers garnered widespread media attention − including across Canada, in Britain’s The Daily Telegraph, Reuters, Brazil’s national daily Correio Braziliense and in India’s The Hindu. Dr. Jeffrey Wrana, with colleagues from Mt. Sinai Hospital (Drs. Ian Taylor, Rune Linding (now in UK), Yongmei Liu, Shelley Bull and Tony Pawson,) and the University of Toronto (Drs. David Warde-Farley and Quaid Morris) as well as Portugal, unveiled a software tool called Dynamic Network Modularity (DyNeMo), which analyzes gene expression levels of proteins found in breast cancer tumours to support physicians evaluating a patient’s treatment options. Their key innovation was filtering the expression levels through the lens of protein interaction networks in the cell. In Genome Medicine, Drs. Sarah Ali-Khan, Béatrice Séguin, Billie-Jo Hardy, Abdallah Daar (all of University Health Network), Stephen Scherer (SickKids) and several Canadian and international collaborators focused on the challenges, as medicine increasingly draws on human genetic variation, of treatment of race and ancestry in biomedical research. Additionally, Drs. Janet Buchanan, Peter Ray, Stephen Scherer and their colleagues at SickKids focused on the important need for medical infrastructure to stay abreast of genomics technology development to better benefit human health. About OGI The Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) is a private, not-for-profit corporation focused on using world-class research to create strategic genomics resources and accelerate Ontario’s development of a globally-competitive life sciences sector. Through its relationship with Genome Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), and other private and public sector partners, OGI works to: identify, attract and support investment in Ontario-led genomics research; catalyze access to and the impact of genomics resources; and, raise the visibility of genomics as well as its impact and associated issues. For more information on OGI, please visit www.OntarioGenomics.ca or contact Alastair Harris-Cartwright on +1 (416) 673-6582 or [email protected]