NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Canadian government today announced a C$15.7 million (US$12.6 million) investment into four new genomics projects.
The funding is being provided under the third round of Genome Canada's Genomic Applications Partnership Program, which was launched in 2013 to partner academic researchers with industry, provincial governments, non-profits, and other players using genomic technologies. GAPP aims to foster innovations expected to impact the economy and society in the near term. It provided C$56 million to 12 projects in its first two rounds.
In the current round, the Canadian government is providing C$5.2 million through Genome Canada, while co-funding partners are providing the remaining C$10.5 million.
Among those receiving the new funding are researchers from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services, who will use a C$6 million investment to develop a personalized cancer treatment program based on the genomic profiling of tumors. The project is expected to result in a cloud-based cancer genome analysis infrastructure and shared interfaces between Princess Margaret and LifeLabs.
Also, researchers from the University of Toronto and Lung Bioengineering will receive C$6 million to develop a genomics-based diagnostic test to determine whether a lung transplant donor meets transplant requirements.
A C$3.4 million award is going to collaborators at Université Laval, forest research center FPInnovations, the Canadian Wood Fibre Center, and others to use genomic data to improve the ability of the Canadian forest industry to compete globally. The latest genomic findings will be used under the project to grow better trees.
Lastly, researchers at the University of Alberta and Arcadia Biosciences will use a C$300,000 award to use genomic technology to increase soybean seed oil content.