The space where universities, industry and government intersect is where exciting and important things happen. It’s where I’ve spent a significant part of my career. As I near completion of my mandate as Vice-President, Research and Innovation at McGill University, I’ve been reflecting not only on what has been accomplished, but how.
Chief among the takeaways is the essential role of collaboration – among universities, industry and government, but also across national and disciplinary boundaries – in driving progress. This has been seen in a wide range of fields, from artificial intelligence, to biodiversity, to energy storage, to neuroscience.
The rapid development of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 – vaccines that drew on earlier mRNA research, including by McGill’s Nahum Sonenberg – testified to what can be accomplished when the world’s scientists put their minds together, with industry and governments investing to accelerate progress.
Expanding the university’s collaborations, including in genomic medicine, has been a priority of mine and McGill researchers these past seven years.
Genomic research holds incredible promise in the battle against a wide range of diseases, not the least of which is cancer. Many challenges remain, particularly in translating discoveries into effective therapies. It is through collaborative approaches that progress will be made.
In this field, two of McGill’s key partnerships have been with Japan. We have established a joint PhD program with Kyoto University. And we have an important relationship with Japan’s RIKEN Center for Integrated Medical Sciences. Neither would have been possible without the visionary support of Quebec’s Chief Scientist, Rémi Quirion, who saw the value for Quebec in creating these ties, and seed funding from the Fonds de recherche du Québec, which Quirion heads.
McGill last year inaugurated the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Institute of Genomic Medicine, thanks to a $30 million gift from the entrepreneur-philanthropist and his wife, Mona Dahdaleh. The institute is leading breakthrough research aimed at developing novel diagnostic tools, targeted treatments and new pharmaceuticals, as well as vaccines, and the data-sharing policy tools and frameworks to implement these innovations.
Its work builds on the university’s long history of leadership in this area, tracing back to the achievements of Charles Scriver, which led to the establishment of newborn screening programs and the creation in 1972 of the McGill Group in Medical Genetics.
The Dahdaleh institute also helped McGill attract a $165 million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) last year, one of the largest in the university’s history, to move ahead with the DNA to RNA (D2R) program. D2R focuses on genomic-based RNA therapeutics, with an approach that is inclusive of underserved groups. This investment was bolstered by another $191 million from industry, academic, government, community and non-profit partners on four continents.
And now the Dahdaleh Institute is partnering with RIKEN, Kyoto University, Foundation Pasteur Japan and UK Biobank to organize the International Symposium on Genomic Medicine, Therapeutics and Health, April 8 to 10 in Tokyo. Mark Lathrop, who heads both the Dahdaleh institute and D2R, is a key symposium organizer.
The symposium agenda is cutting-edge, including such topics as advances in computing that allow the use of massive databases to enhance understanding of causal relationships between certain genes and diseases. More broadly, the objective is to deepen scientific collaboration between academia and industry across continents, across disciplines and across generations.
International partnerships are part of McGill’s DNA. They enhance the university and Montreal’s research ecosystem by helping to attract top minds and are vital to the university’s role in fostering relationships between Quebec and, more broadly, Canada, and the rest of the world.
A new European Union program, Horizon Europe, is opening additional avenues for collaboration. McGill participated in 38 projects under its more limited forerunner, Horizon 2020, making the university the top Canadian collaborator, along with the University of Toronto.
These institutional partnerships do not happen spontaneously. They require vision, ambition and commitment on the part of researchers, and support from universities, philanthropists, governments and public funding agencies.
Threats to McGill’s funding are threats to its crucial role in building economic and scientific ties for Quebec.
It remains essential that these partnerships be encouraged and nurtured.
Martha Crago is Vice-President, Research and Innovation at McGill University. Her mandate ends June 30, 2024.
This article was originally posted in french on Le Devoir.
