Archives for August 2017

Western University hosts second annual synthetic biology symposium

On July 28, 2017, Western University held their second annual synthetic biology symposium entitled ‘Inventing the Future’. Over 225 participants from across Ontario attended to learn about cutting edge research being done at universities and startup companies like Ardra and Designer Microbes, as well as hear from technology providers including BioNano Genomics, who made the trip from Boston.

“Attendance almost doubled from the first symposium and included more people from outside of London, showing the growing interest in synthetic biology and critical mass forming,” noted Dave Edgell, professor at Western and co-organizer of the event.

Ihor Boszko, VP of Business Development at Ontario Genomics (OG), kicked off the day by talking about OG’s initiative to mobilize Ontario’s synthetic biology community.
“We have a vision to grow synthetic biology into a major scientific and economic contributor in the province, which starts by building the ecosystem through events like this. Ontario is only going to be successful if we bring together groups from the public and private sectors to work together to use engineering biology to tackle problems like climate change, food security and human health,” remarked Ihor Boszko.

The day of talks covered a broad range of topics in synthetic biology, including applications in agriculture from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; foundational engineering and computational tools to understand and control cell behavior; and biomanufacturing. Keynote speaker Dr. Turlough Finan spoke about nitrogen fixation and its potential to reduce fertilizer use, work funded through Genome Canada’s Disruptive Innovations in Genomics programme.

In a day primarily focused on science and commercialization, Drs. Kathleen Hill and Juan Luis Suárez added a unique perspective by discussing the implications of synthetic biology on human identify and evolution, highlighting the rapid technological progress in the field and the need to rigorously study social and ethical implications.

Perhaps most interesting for entrepreneurially minded students in attendance, Jonas Mueller, CSO of biotech startup Ardra Bio, discussed the commercialization of synthetic biology technology, describing their journey from academic lab to the venture-backed Indie Bio accelerator in San Francisco and subsequent return to JLabs Toronto.

Organizers at Western University look forward to growing this annual event as a place where stakeholders across the ecosystem can come together.

Bettina Hamelin joins Ontario Genomics as new President and CEO

On August 1st Ontario Genomics welcomed Bettina Hamelin as its new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Dr. Hamelin joins Ontario Genomics with over 25 years of leadership experience in academia, the biotech and international pharmaceutical industry and the public sector bringing extensive expertise as a biotechnology strategist and a champion of science and innovation. In her previous position as Vice-President of Research Partnerships at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), she spearheaded a 130-member team to lead a $360M/year research and innovation investment strategy, connecting Canadian and global innovation stakeholders to the research enterprise in Canada. Dr. Hamelin joined NSERC after 12 years in Medical R&D leadership roles at Pfizer Inc., where she pioneered novel public-private partnership models that maximized investment outcomes and impact. Dr. Hamelin started her career in academia and was tenured professor and research scholar at Universite Laval’s Heart and Lung Institute, where she broke new grounds into what is now known as personalized medicine by demonstrating the impact of genetic polymorphisms in metabolic enzymes on drug response.

Dr. Hamelin is fluently trilingual, holds an Executive MBA in Healthcare from the University of British Columbia and a Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Kentucky. She has published 35 peer-reviewed articles during her academic tenure and is named co-inventor on five patents. She has also served on numerous Boards and Scientific Advisory Committees, including the BC Clinical Research Infrastructure Network, the Genotype Associated Therapies in Childhood and the Alberta/Pfizer Translational Research Fund.

Dr. Brian Underdown, Chair of Ontario Genomic’s Board of Directors stated that “we are delighted to welcome Dr. Hamelin to Ontario Genomics. We are confident that she will continue to advance genomics research and innovation, and forge collaborative partnerships with the greater research and innovation community in Ontario and beyond.” In addition, Dr. Underdown commented “we are grateful to Dr. Mark Poznansky, outgoing President and CEO, for his passion and unwavering commitment to genomics research and innovation in the province of Ontario, and gladly receive Dr. Hamelin, with her myriad of skills and rich expertise, to the culture of innovation in Ontario.”

Follow Dr. Hamelin on Twitter – @ONGenomicsCEO

Illumina Accelerator explores genomic innovation in Ontario

On July 11, 2017, Ontario Genomics hosted San Francisco-based Illumina Accelerator in Toronto, in partnership with MaRS Discovery District. Due to the overwhelming response from the community, the breakfast kick-off event was sold out, with over 150 participants. This inaugural visit of Illumina Accelerator to Toronto featured Amanda Cashin, Head of Illumina Accelerator, and Alex Robertson, Canadian Business Development Manager.

The Illumina Accelerator is the world’s first business accelerator focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry. The Accelerator operates on a 6-month funding cycle, during which each small cohort of start-ups receives access to capital, is housed at Illumina’s Mission Bay facility, has access to sequencing and other equipment, and receives coaching and mentorship from Illumina’s network of industry experts.

The day-long event started with introductory presentations by Alex Robertson and Amanda Cashin on the state of genomic sequencing technologies, Illumina and the Accelerator. Mid-day, Amanda and Alex spent lunchtime with 10 graduate and undergraduate students discussing careers in genomics and describing their own career paths. For the remainder of the day, Illumina held pre-arranged 1×1 meetings with 15 companies and academics interested in joining the accelerator or partnering with Illumina. Because they were not able to accommodate all requests for meetings due to time constraints, we are confident this bodes well for a return visit in the not-to-distant future.

Following the visit, Amanda Cashin commented: “This visit gave us at Illumina a great first-hand perspective on the amazing and collaborative genomics community you have here in Toronto. We’ve had the opportunity to start developing a network here with researchers, VCs, start-ups and we hope to see an Ontario company inducted into the Accelerator in an upcoming cohort.”

Ontario Genomics funds and actively supports early stage innovative genomic technologies that are invented and developed in the Province of Ontario. The organization works with top-tier researchers with leading-edge ideas, at the time when they begin thinking about forming companies and commercializing their innovations. “For many of these young entrepreneurs and companies, the best next step to creating value is to work with experienced genomics industry veterans and to receive the support required to put their technologies on a trajectory that will lead to commercial success in tomorrow’s genomics market,” said Ihor Boszko, VP of Business Development at Ontario Genomics. “It seemed obvious, that we should reach out to Illumina Accelerator to develop a relationship that would benefit Ontario start-ups and our genomics ecosystem.”