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Archives for March 2025

John M. Rafferty joins Ontario Genomics as new President & CEO

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Ontario Genomics Names John M. Rafferty as New CEO to Champion Made-in-Ontario Innovation

Ontario Genomics is pleased to announce the appointment of John M. Rafferty as its new President & Chief Executive Officer, effective March 31, 2025. A visionary and dynamic leader with 25 years of experience driving innovation and impact in diverse organizations, John brings extensive experience in advancing transformative initiatives across sectors.

John M. Rafferty - President and CEO, Ontario Genomics

John joins Ontario Genomics following his tenure as President & CEO of CNIB, where he led the organization through a period of unprecedented growth and impact, expanding its national reach and strengthening partnerships across industries. His leadership in fostering innovation, strategic collaborations, and policy advocacy has been instrumental in creating meaningful change for blind individuals and communities across Canada.

As he steps into his new role at Ontario Genomics, John is committed to accelerating the commercialization of innovative genomic technologies and advancing “made-in-Ontario” solutions to address some of the world’s greatest challenges. Under his leadership, Ontario Genomics will continue to build strong partnerships between researchers, industry, and government to unlock the full economic and societal potential of genomics in Ontario and beyond.

We are also pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Jordan Thomson to Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Commercialization. Jordan steps into his new role after successfully serving as COO for the past thirteen months. Jordan’s deep expertise in genomics technologies and their commercialization pathways, coupled with John’s leadership, will create a powerful team to drive market adoption and impact.

We also extend our deepest gratitude to Stephen Cummings, who has served as Interim President & CEO for the past year. His steadfast leadership has been instrumental in guiding Ontario Genomics through a pivotal period of transition. Stephen’s dedication has strengthened our position as a leader in the genomics ecosystem, and we thank him for his invaluable contributions.

Please join us in welcoming John to Ontario Genomics and watch this space for more exciting news in the weeks ahead!

The Future of Food is Coming but is Canada Ready?

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New Report Projects an $18.8 Billion Food Biomanufacturing Industry for Canada

Following up on its 2021 report, Ontario Genomics has updated economic analysis for Canada’s food biomanufacturing sector in the Food Innovation in Canada Report, which shows explosive economic and job creation opportunities across the country. Cellular agriculture, or food biomanufacturing, is the process of using precision fermentation, cell cultivation or tissue engineering to make various foods, ingredients and even textiles that are usually made through traditional agriculture and manufacturing.

Food Innovation in Canada Report

Along with input and feedback from researchers and organizations that specialize in food security and innovation, Dr. Michael von Massow at the University of Guelph, provided the economic analysis for this ground-breaking report on the future of precision fermented and cultivated foods in Canada. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Food biomanufacturing in Canada could become an $18.8 billion industry creating 125,000 jobs as soon as 2050, with greater growth in the long term.
  • Ontario could lead the country in food biomanufacturing with a $13 billion industry potential that could create over 91,000 jobs.
  • A cohesive national strategy, large-scale production facilities, research and commercial development support, and an agile regulatory process are needed to help Canada reach its potential and stay globally competitive.

Report author and Director of Strategic Partnerships, Elaine Corbett, says, “This report shows government and food producers the massive economic potential for food biomanufacturing in our country and gives the data needed for a national strategy and investment. This kind of food innovation is already happening around the world and considering the shifting economic climate, Canada needs to do even more to develop this manufacturing for Canadians but also to export to other countries.”

Since the 2021 report, there has been significant growth in the number of Canadian companies, investment, research and development, but more support is needed to help this industry overcome commercial scale-up challenges.

Ontario Genomics is a non-profit organization funded by the Government of Ontario and other partners. Since 2000, we’ve been involved with cutting-edge science to find homegrown solutions to challenges the world faces like climate change, food insecurity and in healthcare.

Canada launches the most ambitious genomic health research program in Canada history: The Canadian Precision Health Initiative

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The Canadian Precision Health Initiative (CPHI) is a $200M investment from the Government of Canada, through Genome Canada, to help transform Canada’s healthcare approach into a modern, precision health system.

Supported by the regional Genome Centres, including Ontario Genomics, this initiative will build Canada’s largest-ever collection of human genomic data —more than 100,000 genomes. This database will represent Canada’s diverse population to ensure precision health innovations benefit all.

Canadian Precision Health Initiative (CPHI)

CPHI partners will work together to build a coordinated precision health community that will:

  • Build a Canadian alliance for genomics in health to align efforts across Canada’s complex, federated health and research ecosystems.
  • Mobilize and advance the utility of genomic health data, working with academia and industry to ensure they have the right data assets and AI-powered tools to deliver life-saving solutions.
  • Implement data governance and policies ensuring the ethical and responsible use of genomic data.

Ontario Genomics is the lead for 4 awarded projects and the co-lead for 2 awarded projects. These projects will help generate high-quality genomic data that can be shared and securely used by researchers and clinicians across Canada. Learn more about these projects below:

Expanding the Use of Genomics to Unravel Rare Diseases: Care4Rare EXPAND

Project Leaders: Kym Boycott (University of Ottawa/Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute), Christian Marshall (University of Toronto/Hospital for Sick Children), Francois Bernier (University of Calgary), Jacques Michaud (Université de Montréal/CHU Ste Justine)

Genome Centres: Ontario Genomics, Genome Alberta, Génome Québec

INFANT: Identifying At-risk Newborns from the Analysis of NGS Testing

Project Leaders: Kristin Kernohan, Neal Sondheimer, Melanie Lacaria, Erika Bariciak, Pranesh Chakraborty, Matthew Henderson (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute)

Genome Centre: Ontario Genomics

Precision Child Health – Comprehensive Sequencing for Childhood Life-long Disorders

Project Leaders: Stephen Scherer, Seema Mital, David Malkin, Linda Hiraki, Amanda Ricciuto, Gregory Costain, Yiming Wang, Ronald Cohn (Hospital for Sick Children)

Genome Centre: Ontario Genomics

Precision Health Network for Neurodevelopment, Mental Health and Brain Injury

Project Leaders: Evdokia Anagnostou (Holland Bloorview Research Institute), Jennifer Crosbie, Stephen Scherer, Louise Gallagher (The Hospital for Sick Children), Jacob Vorstman (Hospital for Sick Children), Darcy Fehlings (University of Toronto/Holland Bloorview Research Institute), Roger Zemek (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute), Danielle Andrade (University Health Network)

Genome Centre: Ontario Genomics

Genomic Evidence for Precision Medicine for Selected Chronic Diseases among Black Peoples in Canada

Project Leaders: Upton Allen (Hospital for Sick Children), Loydie Jerome-Majewska (McGill University), OmiSoore Dryden (Dalhousie University), Juliet Daniel (McMaster University)

Genome Centres: Genome Atlantic, Génome Québec, Ontario Genomics

Longitudinal, Deep-Phenotyped Pediatric Databank of Medical and Drug Therapy Outcomes

Project Leaders: Bruce Carleton (University of British Columbia), Michael Rieder (University of Western Ontario), Maja Krajinovic (Université de Montréal)

Genome Centres: Genome British Columbia, Genome Alberta, Génome Québec, Ontario Genomics