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Vancouver (November 1st, 2004) - Following a funding competition in the summer of 2004, the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network is pleased to announce the awarding of $1.47 million to research projects headed by two senior CGDN scientists.
It is well recognized that many health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis, that contribute to the economic and social impacts of disease have significant genetic components. CGDN investigator, Dr. Francois Rousseau of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec and Université Laval, is leading a team that will address the "translation gap", or how despite the fact that in the past decade, Canada has invested approximately $600 million in human genetic research in the past decade, the use of those discoveries in clinical practice is still relatively low. Little research has been undertaken to determine how these discoveries can be translated into practice and therefore improve health.
The team will identify and validate new genetic tests and genetic laboratory approaches, study their cost effectiveness and develop tools to increase the efficiency of their evaluation and implementation into Canadian health care. CGDN has committed $512,000 to this project.
"This commitment from CGDN, which is allowing us to create a unique pan-Canadian consortium on translational research in genetic laboratory services, will place Canada at the forefront of this field worldwide by allowing us to tackle it with a systematic approach and a broad range of expertise," said Dr. Rousseau. "This should definitely impact Canadians and the Canadian health care system as it will help us to harvest the benefits from the Human Genome Project in a cost-effective manner."
Dr. Rousseau's team is made up of 17 principal investigators, 21 collaborators and 5 national and international partner organizations with expertise in fields including laboratory medicine, clinical research, epidemiology, health economics, public health, decision making, primary care and knowledge transfer.
In addition, CGDN awarded $960,000 to a team of scientists led by Dr. Philippe Gros, a CGDN investigator at the McGill Centre for the Study of Host Resistance. The team will study tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, coronavirus and malaria, four major threats to global health that have made dramatic comebacks due to antibiotic resistance and the lack of efficacious vaccines.
According to World Health Organization statistics, over 3 million people died from malaria and tuberculosis combined in 2002. Malaria is Africa's leading cause of death in children under five years of age and kills one African child every 30 seconds.
The scientists will implement a strategy of identify genes and proteins associated with resistance and susceptibility to infection in humans and animal models and pathogen-associated virulence determinants that together determine disease on-set, progression and outcome of infection. It is hoped that this study will identify new avenues for vaccine development.
The research team is made up of world leader in the field of genetic susceptibility to infection in humans including Drs. Erwin Schurr, Marcel Behr, Ken Morgan, Danielle Malo, Samantha Gruenheid, Silvia Vidal and Mary Stevenson of McGill University and Dr. Kevin Kain from the University of Toronto.
About CGDN
The Canadian Genetic Diseases Network is a not-for-profit corporation, committed to advancing Canada's scientific and commercial competitiveness in genetic research, and the application of genetic discoveries to prevent, diagnose, and treat human disease. To achieve its objectives, CGDN participates in three essential activities: facilitates and funds collaborative research in human genetics across Canada; educates emerging scientists to excel in human genetic disease research; and facilitates partnerships between industry (biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic firms) and academia to translate research discoveries into therapies or diagnostic tests.
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