Igor Jurisica, PhD.

Igor Jurisica joined Ontario Cancer Institute, University Health Network in July 2000. He is a Senior Scientist at OCI and Canada Research Chair in Integrative Computational Biology. In addition he is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Adjunct Professor at School of Computing Science, Queen's University and Graduate Program in Computer Science, York University, and a Visiting Scientist at the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies.
Dr. Jurisica's research focuses on computational biology, and representation, analysis and visualization of high dimensional data generated by highthroughput biology experiments, in the context of Cancer Informatics. Of particular interest is the use of comparative analysis for the mining of integrated different datasets such as protein-protein interaction, gene expression profiling, and high-throughput screens for protein crystallization.

Gary D. Bader, PhD.

Gary Bader is an Associate Member at the Lunenfeld. He works on biological network analysis and pathway information resources as an Assistant Professor at the Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (CCBR) at the University of Toronto. He recently completed post-doctoral work in the group of Chris Sander in the Computational Biology Center (cBio) at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Dr. Bader developed the Biomolecular Interaction Network Database (BIND) during his Ph.D. in the lab of Christopher Hogue in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He completed a B.Sc. in Biochemistry at McGill University in Montreal.

Quaid Morris, PhD.

Quaid Morris uses machine learning and statistical modeling to help decode the human genome. His research is focussed on two areas: deciphering the regulatory code for gene expression and predicting the biological function of genes and proteins.

Lincoln Stein, MD/PhD.

The technology required for cancer research has become increasingly more complex over the past several years. Accordingly, the development of innovative solutions to handle the large and complicated datasets these new technologies generate has become an essential part of the cancer research process. OICR?s Informatics and Bio-computing Platform, led by Dr. Lincoln Stein, integrates and interprets this data, developing visualization tools to turn raw data into meaningful information for biologists, clinicians and trainees.

Joe Gray, PhD.

Joe Gray is Chair of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine at Oregon Health & Science University. His laboratory explores mechanisms by which genomic, transcriptional and proteomic abnormalities occur in selected cancers, elucidates how these abnormalities contribute to cancer pathophysiology and assesses the ways in which these abnormalities influence responses to gene targeted therapies.

Lawrence Hunter, PhD.

Lawrence Hunter is Director of the Center for Computational Pharmacology and the Computational Bioscience Program at the University of Colorado Denver. His research interests lie in the development and application of advanced computational techniques for biomedicine, particularly the application of statistical and knowledge-based techniques to the analysis of high-throughput data and of biomedical texts. Also, neurobiologically and evolutionarily informed computational models of cognition, and ethical issues related to computational bioscience.

UHN - Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI)

Ontario Cancer Institute is one of three research institutes comprising the University Health Network. Cancer research is the priority at the Ontario Cancer Institute. Researchers here employ state-of-the-art tools in genomics, proteomics, structural biology, molecular biology, biophysics and the behavioural sciences. With these tools they analyze cancerous cells at the molecular level; test gene and cellular therapies for cancer and other diseases; develop new technologies for diagnosing and treating cancer; determine the effects of diet and behaviour on cancer risks; and develop and test informatics tools for the large-scale analysis of patient populations.

The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (UofT)

On November 3, 2005 The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research opened its doors to world renowned researchers from many disciplines to come together to identify the causes and cures of diseases.
The human body is a finely tuned machine, powered by genes, proteins and cells that operate in a complex, efficient system. Traditional biology studied these components one at a time, yielding limited insights about the way a machine functions. It is now apparent that the most effective way to understand how the human body works, and to best repair it when it breaks down, is to unravel how these different components work together. The Donnelly Centre takes this holistic approach to biomedical research: By integrating technology, expertise and thought from a diverse array of disciplines, it aims to unravel some of the great complexities of biology. In the process, the Centre is poised to make some significant future advances in medicine and health.
At the Donnelly Centre, biomedical research is defined by three broad platforms: Integrative Biology, Bioengineering and Functional Imaging and Models of Disease.

Banting and Best Department of Medical Research (UofT)

Banting and Best Department of Medical Research is the preeminent Canadian biomedical research institute located on the campus of University of Toronto. The department is named after Drs. Frederick Banting and Charles Best, who discovered insulin and subsequently won a Nobel Prize in medicine.

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR)

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research is a centre of excellence in cancer research with a focus on prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
The Institute is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
The Institute is bringing together multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations, which will allow complex questions to be pursued. It is translating research findings into programs, technologies and therapies.
Established in December, 2005, the Institute will support more than 50 internationally recognized principal investigators; there will be a strong core of scientists at the MaRS Centre with the remainder in nodes of excellence around the province.
The Institute is leveraging the current research excellence at universities, research hospitals and health research institutes across Ontario, leading to greater integration of cancer research efforts across institutions.

We have a number of collaborators in top cancer centers and research institutions around the world such as:
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA
European Bioinformatics Institute, Cambridge, UK
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA
Spanish National Cancer Institute, Madrid, Spain
Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel
International Molecular Exchange consortium,
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA
IBM TJ Watson Research, USA

Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation

Ontario has a tremendous legacy in the life sciences - insulin and stem cells were discovered here - and today's researchers are keeping the province at the forefront of global discovery. The province is the largest hub of biomedical activity in Canada and the third largest biomedical research centre in North America.
In the 2009 Budget, Ontario announced a special initiative to attract, develop and retain world-leading research talent in the province. Through the Ontario Research Fund, the province committed $114.6 million to genomics and gene-related research through the Global Leadership Round in Genomics and Life Sciences (GL2).
This one-time round of funding is supporting 19 large-scale, collaborative projects that aim to discover new therapies and technologies that are improving quality of life, as well as protecting our environment and biodiversity.