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TRAINING CANADA'S BIOINFORMATICIANS
Ottawa - Wednesday August 9, 2000: Today, 60 (sixty) research scientists gather at the University of Ottawa for a ten day workshop to train how to use and develop the software tools used in the Human Genome Project. Spearheaded by Canadian Genetic Diseases Network (CGDN) in partnership with the Biotechnology Human Resources Council (BHRC), these researchers will be trained to enable them to start to fill vacant positions for bioinformaticians in pharmaceutical and biotechnology research corporations as well as in academic and government laboratories across Canada. Workshop participants come from coast to coast, from Halifax to Vancouver. Comments Dr. Michael Hayden, Scientific Director of CGDN, �training the next generation of researchers to apply computer skills to mine biological information more rapidly from data derived from the Human Genome Project will be vital to building a thriving biotechnology industry in Canada.�
Bioinformatics is a new discipline which uses computational tools to answer research questions posed by medical researchers and researchers in agriculture, aquaculture and veterinary medicine. This workshop is the first in a series of Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops organized by CGDN that will held across Canada over the next year. The Bioinformatics workshop will be run again in May 2001 at the University of Calgary, followed by Proteomics workshop in June at the University of Alberta, the Genomics workshop at the University of New Brunswick in July and finally the Developing the Tools workshop at the University of Toronto in August 2001. Graduates of the workshops will receive a Certificate in Bioinformatics which is accredited by the Universities of British Columbia, New Brunswick and Toronto and the BHRC. Francis Ouellette, Scientific Coordinator of the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops and who was recently recruited back to Canada to take up a bioinformatics position at UBC, comments, �we have succeeded in bringing together the few experts in bioinformatics in Canada to work co-operatively to train as many people in bioinformatics as we can. We have also had magnificent support from computer companies, SUN Microsystems and Silicon Graphics, from the National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Universities and from organizations like the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Merck Genome Research Institute and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.�
The Biotechnology Human Resources Council is an industry government partnership between Human Resources Development Canada and the biotechnology industry. The BHRC was created in April 1997 in response to the 1996 Government of Canada Human Resource study on the biotechnology sector. This study proposed a series of recommendations to ensure that the Canadian biotechnology sector has access the skilled employees it requires, both now and in the future. In cooperation with all stakeholders, BHRC designs, distributes and promotes programs and services of value to Canada�s biotechnology industry for attracting, developing and retaining a highly-skilled Canadian workforce essential for its sustainable growth and international competitiveness.
For further information:
Contact: Stephen Herst, Canadian Genetic Diseases Network
Tel: 604-822-1386 / 604-822-7886 Fax: 604-822-7945
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