Funding Opportunity from Genome BC

The Sector Innovation Program (SIP) aims to support strategically important genomics research with long-term potential to address the needs and challenges of key sectors in BC’s economy and society. This competition has the following parameters:

• Project budgets must be in the range of $250K to $500K.
• Project terms must be in the range of 24 to 36 months.
• No Co-funding (matching funds) is required.
• Genome BC aims to encourage research that employs interdisciplinary approaches. To that end, projects that bring together climate scientists, geneticists, public health experts, community members, rightsholders and other relevant specialists are encouraged. This is not an eligibility criterion but will be considered a strength during the review of applications.

Through this competition, Genome BC aims to support research projects related to the following key research areas:

• Infectious diseases: the impact of changing climate patterns on the distribution and evolution of infectious agents. Includes human infectious diseases (e.g. Lyme disease, West Nile Virus) and diseases that could impact the food supply (e.g. plant, seafood or livestock diseases).
• Nutrition and food security: the impacts of climate change on the nutritional value of food crops and forage on which humans and livestock depend, and the sustainable management
• of wild plants and wildlife used for food and medicine.
• Allergies and respiratory health: the genomic basis of respiratory health (e.g. allergies, asthma, and COPD) in response to increased allergens and environmental contaminants from climate events (e.g. wildfires).
• Adaptation and evolution: genetic adaptation of human populations, microbes and viruses in response to environmental changes, and the genomic basis of climate change impacts on chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes, renal disease, neurological disease, heart and lung disease).
• Digital solutions of climate change and health: research that collects, measures, organizes, and analyses diverse Big Data streams to improve the quality and harmonization of data on climate change and human health.

The application deadline is September 25, 2024. An info session will be held on August 1, 2024 - Sector Innovation Program Information Session (genomebc.ca). Please refer to the program webpage for more information on this funding opportunity: Sector Innovation Program - Genome BC.

If you are interested in applying for this program, please contact the Office of Research Services.