Archives for July 2020

ONCoV members funded through phase 2 of Ontario’s COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund

July 28, 2020 by ontarioadmin

The Ontario Government announced phase two of funding for a number of research projects aimed at fighting COVID-19. The projects are a part of $20 million in funding that the Government has put towards the Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund, which focuses on research into “vaccine development, diagnostics, drug trials and development, and social sciences.”

Among the funded projects are those led by members of the ONCoV Genomics Coalition, Allison McGeer at Sinai Health System, Aaron Campigotto at Hospital for Sick Children and Rob Kozak at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. We would like to congratulate them on their successful funding proposals to the Ontario Government to continue promising research to support innovative solutions to COVID-19.

Ontario Genomics has brought together Ontario’s world-leading experts in genomics to form the ONCoV Genomics Rapid Response Coalition, leveraging the power of sequencing, bioinformatics, genomics epidemiology, and artificial intelligence to expedite Ontario’s response to COVID-19.

Funded Projects:

Control of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-Term Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Chemoprophylaxis to Control Outbreaks of COVID19 in Long Term Care Facilities (CONTROL-COVID)
Allison McGeer, Principal Investigator – Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System
The frail elderly are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Interventions are urgently needed to prevent and control outbreaks at long-term care homes. This research will use clinical trials to test the efficacy of different chemoprophylaxis regimens to protect elderly residents of long-term care homes from COVID-19.

Ontario Healthcare Worker Seroprevalence of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies (COVID-19 Antibodies in Ontario Healthcare Workers)
Aaron Campigotto, Co-Principal Investigator – Hospital for Sick Children
Healthcare workers have a critical role in the pandemic response to COVID-19 and are at risk of infection. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a population of healthcare workers and describe the change in SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies as the pandemic progresses. The research will also track the antibody response in those who are infected with COVID-19 and if possible, evaluate the impact of antibody presence on subsequent reinfection. This research will shed light on the incidence of infection and risk factors for infection in healthcare workers from hospitals across Ontario.

Development of Multiple Vaccine Candidates for SARSCoV-2 and Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy in Animal Models
Rob Kozak, Principal Investigator, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
This project aims to evaluate the safety and long-term protection of two vaccines before advancing them to human trials. The study will test the duration of protective vaccine immunity in both small and large animal models and investigate whether vaccinated animals that are infected with seasonal coronaviruses have adverse immunological reactions, leading to worse disease. The data generated from this proposal will help determine the optimal vaccine to advance into human efficacy trials.

Source: Government of Ontario Newsroom

Ontario’s COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition

July 8, 2020 by ontarioadmin

Ontario Genomics brings together world-leading genomics experts to address the COVID-19 pandemic

In response to the global pandemic, Ontario Genomics has rapidly galvanized Ontario’s world-leading genomics and data expertise and capacity through a coordinated, province-wide approach. The ONCoV Genomics Coalition is leveraging the tools of sequencing, bioinformatics, genomics epidemiology, and artificial intelligence, to expedite Ontario’s response to COVID-19.

There are numerous experts and researchers in Ontario who are working on the frontlines towards a diagnostic or therapeutic response to the pandemic. To ensure collaboration and coordination, we need an all-of-government, all-of-industry, and all-of-research community response to the crisis. This will accelerate the genomic characterization and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Ontario, and patient genome sequencing to enable timely and comprehensive genomic analysis. The ONCoV Genomics Coalition presents a comprehensive opportunity for an Ontario-made genomics approach to addressing COVID-19 and builds on existing investments into the research community and the Ontario COVID19 Data Platform.

The Coalition aligns with national and international initiatives and will serve as a nucleus that will facilitate immediate access to existing and new genomics and bioinformatics infrastructure within the province, establish a coordination and standardization framework for the viral sequencing workflow, enable data access and data sharing and provide an integration platform for viral and host sequencing data.

This coalition is a collaborative and open-science platform that brings together Ontario’s leading genomics experts to gather data to rapidly inform public health and public policy in the short-term, as well as drug and vaccine development in the medium to long-term to better protect the health of Ontarians and prepare us for outbreaks in the future.

For more information on the ONCoV Rapid Response Coalition, it’s members and resources, please visit the ONCoV website.

9 genomics companies you need to know

July 7, 2020 by ontarioadmin

Help us celebrate the successes of genomics companies that ‘grew’ with our support

Over the last 20 years, Ontario Genomics, together with the Ontario Government, Genome Canada, and academic, clinical and industry partners, has built a world-leading genomics ecosystem in Ontario. As part of our 20th Anniversary celebration, we highlighted nine success stories from the past two decades to share the advantage that genomics technology brings to industries across different sectors.

The Ontario Genomics Advantage

We have been ‘rooting’ for genomic advancement for decades. Ontario Genomics has been connecting and collaborating to support genomics research and technologies to help ‘grow’ the economy, create jobs, and improve lives through innovation.

Learn more about our amazing start-up successes stories:

We “be-leaf” in creating an impactful footprint in genomics innovation. Great happens together and with collaborative research we can achieve the incredible. It is amazing to see our industry partners blossom into new and exciting chapters.

Receive Email Updates from Ontario Genomics

What’s Happening in Real-Time