NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The government of Ontario recently announced about C$7 million (US$6.7 million) in new funding for four large-scale genomics projects.
The funding, which is being provided in conjunction with the Ontario Genomics Institute, is "expected to facilitate a more personalized approach to the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses," the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation said. Including the recently announced funding, Ontario has invested C$34.5 million in 12 personalized health research projects since 2011, it said.
Receiving the new funding are researchers from the University of Ottawa; the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa; the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto; and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto.
At the University of Ottawa, Alain Stintzi, David Mack, and colleagues are developing simple, low-cost, and non-invasive methods of diagnosing and treating children suffering from inflammatory bowel disease.
Kym Boycott, Alex MacKenzie and others at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario plan to use sequencing technology to develop methods of diagnosing and treating rare genetic diseases, while Stephen Scherer and Peter Szatmari will direct a team at the Hospital for Sick Children trying to identify genetic risk factors associated with autism spectrum disorders.
In addition, Lincoln Stein and Tony Godfrey of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research are receiving funding to develop methods for earlier detection of esophageal cancer.