Today, Clément Gignac, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade and Jean-Marc Proulx, President and CEO of Génome Québec, announced the results of a competition aimed at encouraging and supporting nineteen innovative research projects in the field of genomics that will be co-funded through an investment in Génome Québec programs by the Government of Quebec and various public and private investors. Of these nineteen projects, seven are from the University of Montreal, including three from the CHU Sainte-Justine. Altogether, CHU Sainte-Justine investigators are receiving more than three million dollars within the framework of this competition.

Guy Breton, Rector of the University of Montreal, lauded the performance of the university’s researchers in this competition: “Once again, the quality of research conducted throughout the university’s network is recognized and supported through government investments,” he stressed. “The University of Montreal’s leadership in genomics is becoming firmly established along many lines in this pioneering science. I congratulate the investigators and their teams who have secured major grants. For them, the best is yet to come: conducting their research projects and training a new generation of researchers in the field of genomics.”

The competitions launched last fall by Génome Québec are aimed at enhancing research in the field of genomics. The selected research projects cover a wide range of human health-related applications.

The selected projects have the potential to substantially modify the approach taken so far in medicine. They are directed at obtaining productive results, particularly in human health, thereby stimulating scientific and socioeconomic development in Quebec. It should be noted that the Quebec government identified genomics as a strategic technology in the Québec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS) unveiled last June by Clément Gignac.

Genomics is one of the niches of excellence that Quebec is noted for nationally and internationally through its pioneering projects and the quality of its research,” stated Clément Gignac. “The life science sector is strategic for the prosperity of Quebec and requires expertise acquired through R&D. The study of DNA holds many secrets, especially unexpected solutions for the treatment of various diseases or health issues. To improve health care provision, it is therefore crucial that we pursue our research efforts in this up-and-coming field,” he added.

“Our view entails making genomics an essential engine for Quebec’s future. As a catalyst for possibilities that are aimed at supporting the scientific and socioeconomic development of Quebec, Génome Québec continually aims for excellence,” stated Jean‑Marc Proulx, CEO of Génome Québec. “By providing major funding in less than a year for projects that will lead to innovative solution technologies, today’s announcement attests to the quality and potential of Quebec expertise,” he concluded.

GÉNOME QUÉBEC COMPETITION

PROJECTS SELECTED AT THE CHU SAINTE-JUSTINE

Pilot project support program

• Zoha Kibar – CHU Sainte-Justine - $182,854

Study of genes that predispose to neural tube defects

Human health support programs

General Component

• Gregor Andelfinger – CHU Sainte-Justine - $1,288,205

Search for the genetic determinants of congenital heart defects

Translational Component

• Alain Moreau – CHU Sainte-Justine - $2,000,000

Development of diagnostic tests for the screening of scoliosis