In this week’s issue:
Announcement:
- CIHR Reforms: Funding Opportunities for the 2015 Foundation Scheme 2nd “live pilot” and 2016 Project Scheme 1st “live pilot”
Funding Opportunities:
- Government of Canada – Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program
Awards and Honours:
- Breakthrough Prizes Foundation – Nominations for 2016 Awards
Events:
- Life Sciences Institute – Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Speaker Series: Dr. Ali Tehrani, Zymeworks
- Biomedical Research Centre – Application Seminar: Sequencing Made Manageable
- UBC Faculty of Medicine Continuing Professional Development – Practice Survival Skills Conference: What I Wish I Knew in My First Years of Practice
ANNOUNCEMENT:
CIHR Reforms: Funding Opportunities for the 2015 Foundation Scheme 2nd “live pilot” and 2016 Project Scheme 1st “live pilot”
As part of the multi-year approach for the transition to the new Open Suite of Programs and peer review processes, CIHR would like to inform the community that two key funding opportunities are now available:
- Funding Opportunity: 2015 Foundation Scheme 2nd “live pilot” competition
- Funding Opportunity: 2016 Project Scheme 1st “live pilot” competition
A set of questions and answers as well as a number of supporting materials for both competitions can be found through the funding opportunities and on the CIHR Reforms website. Please note that the information in the funding opportunities and supporting documents may change based on the analysis of the results from ongoing pilots. All changes will be communicated and highlighted in the appropriate documents as they are made.
If you have any questions regarding these two funding opportunities, please visit the CIHR website or send an email to Roadmap-Plan.Strategique@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:
Government of Canada – Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships
Internal Deadline: June 8, 2015
As the most prestigious postdoctoral award in Canada, the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program provides the opportunity to bring top talent to join the research community at UBC. Fellowships are awarded to the very best postdoctoral researchers, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to Canada’s economic, social and research-based growth.
At UBC, the internal Banting selection process is managed by the Postdoctoral Fellows Office. Please visit the PDFO website for full details.
Please note that the internal selection process is only for candidates interested in holding their fellowship at UBC.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program
Deadline: June 15, 2015
The “Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program” (the Initiative) is a collaboration of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the International Development Research Centre, and the Israel Science Foundation. This program is availed thanks to the generous contribution of the Azrieli Foundation
The Initiative seeks to support fundamental research at the cutting-edge of biomedical science with a primary focus on brain research. This first call for proposals is directed toward new frontiers in neuroscience and subsequent calls may extend to other organs and diseases, and other topics in health sciences.
The organizations funding this Initiative support the search for breakthroughs in health sciences that have the potential to bring about enduring changes across the globe, including in developing regions.
The Initiative will support world-class research teams co-led by Canadian and Israeli investigators. The teams will be expected to integrate researchers from low and middle income countries to further their scientific capacity. In their capacity as collaborators or trainees, researchers from Eligible Countries will contribute to and benefit from their involvement in the Initiative.
Funds Available
The funding partners intend to make an annual joint call for proposals in each of the next five years. The current competition will fund up to six teams, with a maximal annual budget of approximately $390,000 per team (NIS 1,206,000), for a total amount of approximately $1.17M over three years (NIS 3,618,000).
ISF will administer the grant to the Israeli PI’s institution.
IDRC will administer the grant to the Canadian PI’s institution.
Please visit the CIHR website for further details on this funding opportunity.
AWARDS AND HONOURS:
Breakthrough Prizes Foundation – Nominations for 2016 Awards
Nomination Deadline: May 31, 2015
Founded by Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Jack Ma and Cathy Zhang, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation was created to recognize the world’s top scientists.
To that end, the foundation is accepting nominations for its 2016 prizes in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics.
Fundamental Physics: The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was founded in 2012 by Yuri Milner to recognize individuals who have made a profound contribution to human knowledge. The competition is open to all physicists — theoretical, mathematical, experimental — working on the deepest mysteries of the universe.
Life Sciences: The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences honors transformative advances in understanding living systems and extending human life.
Mathematics: Founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner, the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics rewards significant discoveries across the many branches of the subject.
The winner of each prize will receive a cash award of $3 million. In addition, promising junior researchers in the field of Fundamental Physics will receive a $100,000 award. Laureates are expected to attend a televised award ceremony designed to celebrate their achievements and inspire the next generation of scientists. As part of the ceremony schedule, they also will engage in a program of lectures and discussions.
Anyone may make a nomination, but self-nominations are prohibited.
For complete program guidelines and nomination instructions, visit the Breakthrough Prize website.
EVENTS:
Life Sciences Institute – Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Speaker Series: Dr. Ali Tehrani, Zymeworks
Date & Time: April 13, 2015; 1-2pm
Location: LSC 3, Life Sciences Centre, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver
We are proud to have as our next speaker Dr. Ali Tehrani, President and CEO of Zymeworks.
Dr. Tehrani founded Zymeworks after finishing his Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology at UBC. While completing his PhD he co-founded the Student Biotechnology Network.
The talk will be followed by an optional 1-hour mentorship lunch, where attendees can meet the presenter and get feedback on their own entrepreneurship ideas. Registration is required only for the lunch, and closes Tuesday, April 7.
Biography
Dr. Tehrani is one of Zymeworks’ co-founders and currently serves as President and CEO of the company. He has been an integral part of many of the Company’s corporate achievements including raising seed and angel financing and overseeing the Company’s technical operations and patent filings. Dr. Tehrani holds both Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. While completing his PhD degree he co-founded the Student Biotechnology Network, for which he received the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2002.
Zymeworks is one of the fastest growing Vancouver biotech companies with over 50 employees and a Seattle-based affiliate, developing new approaches to designing novel antibodies to treat cancer, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases. A major scientific milestone is the development of ZymeCAD, a comprehensive platform for in silico protein modeling and engineering, as well as Azymetric for the development of bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. In recent years Zymeworks completed several multi-million dollar rounds of financing and announced large collaborations with Merck, Eli-Lilly and Celgene.
Biomedical Research Centre – Application Seminar: Sequencing Made Manageable
Date & Time: April 17, 2015; 1-5pm
Location: Biomedical Research Centre, 2222 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver
Presentation on the virtues of Next Generation Sequencing and information on service and workflow at BRC-Seq.
- Sequencing applications
- Sequencing experiment design and Q/A
- Basic RNA sequencing analysis
- Basespace (free)
- Partek and ingenuity (licensed)
Technician Contact: Ryan Vander Werff (BRCSeq@brc.ubc.ca)
Date: June 13, 2015
Location: UBC Robson Square, Vancouver
Target Audience: Family Physicians, Specialists, Locums, IMGs, Residents, physicians new to BC, physicians working in episodic care settings.
Up to 7.0 MainPro-M1/ MOC Section 1
Registration: https://events.ubccpd.ca/website/index/110395
Overview:
This 8th annual conference and job fair will emphasize practical, non-clinical knowledge crucial to your career, including BC resources you need to know, billing, incorporation, updating your CV, opening and running an office, and social media management. Talks on medico-legal report writing, reducing your paperwork, patient management, and medical work outside of clinical practice will reduce your office stressors and make you a more efficient physician. Also, take some time network with other physicians and make connections for career opportunities at the end of the day Job Fair!