Cyril Mani and Marin Schultz have been named McGill University’s recipients of the prestigious Schulich Leader Scholarship.Out of apool of more than 300,000 potential candidates across Canada,1,400 students were nominated,of whom 50 received this celebrated award.Cyril Mani,19,received the$100,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship.A graduate of Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal,Mani will be entering the department of Mechanical Engineering in McGill’s Faculty of Engineering this fall.Mani was selected for his outstanding academic record highlighted by honours including the Bourse de l‘Avenir from the Fondation de l‘Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and aCanadian Association of Physicists award.Mani is also one of the founders of Micreau,an organization of student ambassadors leading interactive workshops at elementary and high schools,aimed at educating students about global issues and practical skills such as autonomy,self-management and critical thinking.“Attending McGill for me is all about the people that make it unique,”says Mani.“Being in auniversity that encourages its faculties to interact as McGill does is very important since Iwant to experience different ways of thinking and diverse points of view.” 查看详细>>

Major federal and provincial investments in genomics research were announced this week following three recent Genome Canada competitions.The announcement,made at University of Guelph,includes over$10 million in funding to seven projects led by McGill researchers.Here‘s aquick look at one of those projects.(A complete list follows.)Since the sequencing of the human genome at the beginning of the millennium,scientists have made great strides in understanding the role genes play in our identity,differences among individuals and our susceptibility to diseases such as cancer.Bioinformatics and computational tools are critical in visualizing and analyzing genetic data,but they fall short when it comes to three-dimensional analysis of how DNA is folded onto itself to fit into the nucleus,known as its chromatin architecture.This 3D structure defines the genome’s normal function during early cell differentiation and development and is known to drive many developmental disabilities as well as cancer.There is apressing need for anew generation of computational tools that integrates our knowledge of these 3D states,to help researchers make optimal use of the rapidly increasing amounts of data produced by modern DNA sequencing.A team led by McGill professors Mathieu Blanchette,Jacek Majewski and,Jérome Waldispühl will create and release improved computational and statistical tools for analyzing 3D data in their native 3D context.Their new tools will be integrated with the team’s 3D visualization platform that will help scientists explore the data,build new hypotheses and test them in rigorous statistical frameworks.The results of this project will be made widely available through open-source software that will enable statistically robust analysis of individual and groups of 3D genomic data;provide avirtual reality-based 3D genome browser supporting integrated visualization of genomic data;and include atoolset for integrative mining of genomic and epigenomic data in their 3D genome context.A lay version of the visualization platform will also be used for community outreach through exhibits in schools and museums. 查看详细>>

A patient develops arare condition and needs answers,so their clinician searches frantically to find patients with similar,rare,symptoms and similar possible causes.To understand the mechanisms of one debilitating disease,a medical researcher tries to separate the“signal”of causes of that disease,in particular,from the“noise”of natural biological variation of human lives and conditions.Getting the answers those patients and researchers need requires the ability to analyze or query health and genomic data from an enormous number of patients-patients who have their own needs,and deserve to have their data kept at the highest levels of security and privacy.Today acollaboration of African,Canadian,and EU researchers came together to announce the CINECA(Common Infrastructure for National Cohorts in Europe,Canada,and Africa)project,establishing an unprecedented multi-continental project to build the infrastructure--data standards,technical protocols,and software--to allow queries and analyses over the distributed data sets made available by each partner,while allowing those partners complete control over the patient data that they have been entrusted with.Canada’s health data system has always necessarily been federated,and the experience of the Canadian Distributed Infrastructure for Genomics(CanDIG)with building federated queries and analyses over locally controlled private health data is essential to the project.CanDIG member institutions SickKids and McGill University are directly involved with CINECA,and CanDIG as awhole will bring its experience to bear by leading the work of building standard methods for federating queries,and actively participating in building compatible and interoperable systems for login,access control,and running complex distributed analyses.“CanDIG is already connecting several important Canadian health data sets in cancer research”,said Guillaume Bourque,Director of the Centre for Computational Genomics at McGill and Co-PI of CanDIG.“As part of this project,we are proposing to connect additional Canadian data sets,and then connect those to an even larger number of data sets internationally.Those new connections between data sets are going to allow Canadian researchers much deeper insight into even that data that they already had access to.”“The technical goals we have set for ourselves are ambitious”,said Mike Brudno,PI of the CanDIG project and Senior Scientist at SickKids Hospital in Toronto.“But CanDIG has extensive experience working with CINECA partner projects EGA(European Genome/Phenome Archive)and ELIXIR(A European network of life sciences and bioinformatics resources)through their participation as peer Driver Projects for the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health(GA4GH).Building on what our projects have already done alone and together,we’re confident that we can not only meet those goals,but build open-source standards-based solutions for the entire community.”“Key to this project’s success is trusted,reliable,federated data querying and analysis”,said Steve Jones,Head of Bioinformatics and Co-Director,Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre,and Co-PI of CanDIG.“We’ve shown how this can be done in support of real science and insight,while retaining control over the data we have been entrusted with;and we’re excited to bring our expertise in data federation to the international community.”The CINECA project is funded by both the EU through the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and the Canadian Government through the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.CanDIG is aCanadian national health and genomics platform for allowing authorized queries and analysis of data over locally-controlled private data sets.For more information,see https://www.distributedgenomics.ca/The Canadian Center for Computational Genomics provides bioinformatics analysis and HPC services for the life science research community.For more information,see http://www.computationalgenomics.ca/ 查看详细>>

Following the 2018 Nobel Prize for Medicine,global attention is now more than ever turned toward the promise of immunotherapy in oncology.An international team’s work has shed new light on amolecule called TIM-3 that might play akey role in the regulation of the immune response.Scientists and physicians from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre(RI-MUHC),the Montreal Children‘s Hospital of the MUHC(MCH-MUHC)and McGill University,in collaboration with French teams from AP-HP,Inserm,UniversitéParis-Descartes,UniversitéParis-Diderot,and the Imagine Institute at the Necker-Enfants Malades hospital,have singled out this protein as the next potential target for immunotherapy treatments in patients with cancer and other diseases."This study places the TIM-3 protein at the heart of immune system regulation.We could use it as atarget in immunotherapies to trigger enhanced immune responses in patients with cancer and better treat them,"says co-lead author of this study,Dr.Nada Jabado,who is aresearcher from the Child Health and Human Development Program at the RI-MUHC and an hemato-oncologist at MCH-MUHC.Researchers found that when the TIM-3 protein is suppressed or inactive,the immune system becomes completely“unleashed”and Tcells are uncontrollably over-activated,resulting in arare form of lymphoma(a form of cancer that starts in the lymphocytes)called subcutaneous panniculitis Tlymphoma(LTSCP).The team of researchers has identified two founder mutations at the origin of this syndrome,which act directly on the TIM-3 protein,preventing it from expressing itself on the surface of the lymphocytes and attacking the cancer cells.They also found that this form of lymphoma associated with over-activation of the immune response was more widespread than they first thought.These results,which led researchers to consider this form of lymphoma as anew genetic disease,are being published in the journal Nature Genetics on Monday,October 29. 查看详细>>

A deep and shared commitment to supporting the recommendations of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC)have led McGill University and Vancouver Island University(VIU)to form aunique collaboration to create new opportunities in Indigenous studies.On Monday,October 15,2018,Prof.Christopher Manfredi,Provost and Vice-Principal Academic,McGill University,and Dr.Ralph Nilson,President and Vice-Chancellor of VIU,signed aMemorandum of Understanding(MOU)agreeing to explore how the universities can work together to further support research and learning in the areas of Indigenous education and Indigenous studies.“By working together,we can build bridges and learn from our different experiences.McGill shares VIU’s commitment to Indigenous success and to the support and promotion of Indigenous scholarship and pedagogies;I look forward to seeing this important collaboration develop,”said Manfredi.According to the MOU,a working group consisting of representatives from both universities and Indigenous communities will be formed to discuss how the institutions can best collaborate. 查看详细>>

A set of targeted cancer drugs,known as BRAF and MEK inhibitors,have proven to be beneficial for some metastatic melanoma patients whose tumours include aspecific mutation in the BRAF gene,known as V600E.A recent study conducted in the lab of Dr.Peter Siegel at McGill University’s Goodman Cancer Research Centre suggests that these same drugs may prove beneficial for abroader range of cancer patients.The results of the study,published in the journalClinical Cancer Research,show that these drugs may also be effective for patients with other mutations in the BRAF gene,known as Class 2BRAF Mutations.At the moment,melanoma and lung cancer patients diagnosed with Class 2BRAF Mutant tumours have no targeted therapy options available.This leaves these patients with only chemotherapy or drugs known as checkpoint-inhibitor immunotherapy,which block proteins that prevent one’s own immune system from attacking cancer cells.“Checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy has dramatically improved the outlook for metastatic melanoma and lung cancer patients as awhole,but unfortunately only up to half of all patients treated with these drugs benefit,”explains Matthew Dankner,an MD/PhD student in Dr.Siegel’s lab and the lead author of the study.“Our results point to aviable second-line alternative for these patients in the form of targeted therapy drugs that are taken in pill-form,tend to be well-tolerated by patients,and have the potential to improve survival and quality of life.”The researchers became interested in exploring the potential of using clinically approved BRAF and MEK inhibitors against melanomas with Class 2BRAF mutations.This idea was first proposed when Dr.April Rose,the senior author of the study and aMcGill Medicine graduate who completed her PhD in Dr.Siegel’s lab,saw apatient with Dr.Catalin Mihalcioiu at the MUHC Oncology Clinic whose metastatic melanoma had spread to the brain.Genomic analysis of the patient’s tumour revealed aClass 2BRAF mutation and asample of the tissue was obtained by Dankner. 查看详细>>

Miasya Bulger and Raphael Hotter have been named McGill’s recipients of the prestigious Schulich Leaders Scholarship.This year,out of apool of 350,000 potential candidates across Canada,1,400 students were nominated,of which 50 received this celebrated award.Miasya Bulger,18,is arecipient of the$100,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship.A graduate of Lisgar Collegiate Institute in Ottawa,Bulger will be entering the Department of Bioengineering in McGill’s Faculty of Engineering this fall.Bulger was selected for her outstanding academic record combined with her community leadership in mentoring STEM students,working with youth through the Royal Canadian Army Cadet program,and implementing programs for youth at the Ottawa Public Library.In addition,Bulger has focused her efforts on initiatives to alleviate child poverty in Ottawa by organizing awareness workshops for students and fundraising drives for food banks and local charities.“This scholarship provides me with the resources to pursue my dream program of study and also represents the next step when it comes to changing the conversation regarding women in STEM fields,”says Bulger.“I hope to become arole model for young girls who often look to mentors when envisioning themselves in afuture career.”Raphael Hotter,18,is arecipient of the$80,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship.A graduate of Marianopolis College and Herzliah High School in Montreal,Hotter will be entering the Physical,Earth,Math&Computer Science group in McGill’s Faculty of Science this fall.Hotter was selected for his excellence in academic achievement and his efforts as co-founder of aschool computer science club and hackathon.In addition,his longstanding research interests led to an award-winning science fair project which proposed anew drug to treat the Ebola virus(which he pursued with the guidance of McGill researchers)and,most recently,a new way to image the vascular architecture of the brain,which earned second place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.“It’s agreat honour to attend McGill,”says Hotter.“I’m most looking forward to the multicultural environment and getting to know people from around the world.”“Schulich Leader Scholarships are the largest STEM scholarships in Canada.With 50 outstanding students selected each year from across Canada,this group represents the best and brightest Canada has to offer,”says program founder Seymour Schulich.“These students will make great contributions to society,both on anational and global scale.With their university expenses covered,they can focus their time on their studies,research projects,extracurricular,and entrepreneurial ventures.They are the next generation of technology innovators.” 查看详细>>