New government funding for projects includes world-class cancer diagnosis tools and the medicinal magic of mushrooms
May 29, 2024, Toronto –
With the goal of unlocking the healing abilities of science and technology the Canadian government through Genome Canada and Ontario Genomics are giving over $13.5 million in funding to five projects in Ontario that will improve our healthcare system and ensure biodiversity in our ecosystem.
With more than 600 new cancer cases diagnosed every day in Canada, researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital have joined forces on a $6 million project to grow their tumour classification system. This platform allows doctors to identify difficult to diagnose cancers with near perfect accuracy to get patients the right care they need, faster. They also plan to expand the types of cancers it can identify and share this lifesaving technology with other countries.
Some families have a heightened risk of colon, brain and gynaecological cancer that is passed on in their DNA. Princess Margaret Cancer Centre researchers are getting nearly $800,000 to create an affordable, less invasive test to dramatically cut down on diagnosis wait times and life-long screening for people with this condition.
CGEn researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children, McGill University and the BC Cancer Research Centre are developing new technology to meet the needs of the scientific community. This $3.3 million project will develop advanced genomic services and analysis for nearly 3,000 research labs, companies and not-for-profits.
Mushrooms are more than just great on pizza, they can actually be the basis of new medicines! McMaster University researchers and B.C. biotech company, Kapoose Creek Bio, are using AI and synthetic biology to explore fungal compounds in a $2.2 million project to discover new drugs.
Most of the things we buy in the grocery store have a barcode, and Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph researchers are applying that concept to DNA of all species. Their $1 million analytics project allows scientists to identify all the animals and insects around us and track changes in their population and movements. This technology can be shared with other researchers around the world to ensure biodiversity and sustainability.
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. Find out more at OntarioGenomics.ca.
Maggie Blood
Innovation Communications and Public Affairs Manager
