Summer 2007
Issue 50

Renewal Submission

Following six months of intensive work, the Stem Cell Network renewal application for a second cycle of funding has been submitted to the Networks of Centres of Excellence program for review.

Each reviewer will receive binders containing the Network’s Progress Report, Strategic Plan, and Letters of Support.

“Sophie Chargé worked tirelessly writing the reports and pulling together all the project information.  She did a great job!” said SCN Executive Director, Drew Lyall

Lyall Added, “I would like to thank the investigators and trainees who help with the Renewal by completing project updates, collecting signatures, and to everyone who provided input and feedback on the document.  This truly was a group effort.”

The Network will take part in a review site visit on September 25th.

All PIs will be receiving a booklet containing the Network’s Progress Report and Strategic Plan submitted to the NCE at the end of July.

Annual General Meeting

Lucky 7: The Stem Cell Network’s 7th Annual General Meeting will begin on
November 7th, 2007, in Toronto.

This year’s AGM will be held at the Toronto Marriot Downtown Eaton Centre in Toronto, Ontario, November 7-9th.

The AGM provides excellent networking opportunities with partners, scientists. bioengineers, clinicians and ethicists.  In addition, it will help to promote and explore networking, collaboration and partnership opportunities for research, training and business development.

A tentative schedule for the AGM is under development, and will be posted online as soon as it is finalized.

To learn more about the AGM and to register, please visit the AGM website at http://www.stemcellnetwork.ca/agm

Online registration for the 2006 Stem Cell Network Annual General Meeting will begin on at the end of July.PIs will be notified via email when the registration site is live.

Registration for the meeting is open until November 2, 2007, however, attendees are asked to register early, and book hotel accommodations before the October 11th discount cut-off date.

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AGM Abstract Submission Site

Abstracts submission site is open.

The deadline for application for Oral Presentations is Thursday, September 6th.

Abstract may be submitted after this date, however, they will only be considered for Poster Presentations.

Visit the AGM site for more information on abstract submission.

AGM Steering Committee

The AGM Steering Committee, chaired by Bill Stanford, is looking for members.

If you would like to get involved in the AGM planning committee -- and help put together another dynamic program -- please contact Lee Freeman at lee@stemcellnetwork.ca.

The Traininee Advisory Committee is already working on the AGM trainee event. If you have some ideas to share with the TAC contact: tac@stemcellnetwork.ca

Sponsorship:

This year’s sponsorship solicitation process has begun.  The sponsorship package highlights the benefits of being a Network partner, and sponsoring the meeting.

All PIs interested in receiving a sponsorship package should contact James Price by email at james@stemcellnetwork.ca or by phone at (613) 562-5114.

The StemCell Summit

Hynes Convention Centre
Boston, MA
October 2 – 3, 2007
http://www.thestemcellsummit.com/

Sponsored by The Stem Cell Network

New Catalyst Grants Awarded

Funding has been awarded for the following new Catalyst Grants:

  • Freda Miller and Wolfram Tetzlaff: “Stem cells to treat spinal cord injury”
  • Jacques Drouin: “Reprogramming neural stem cells towards the dopaminergic program”
  • Connie Eaves and Clay Smith: “Canadian Cord Blood Stem Cell Initiative”
  • Devidas Menon and Tim Caulfield: “Assessment, allocation and access: stem cells and health systems”
  • Bernard Thébaud: “Human UCB-derived mesenchymal stem cells to prevent lung injury”
  • Tim Kieffer: “Gene delivery to gut stem cells”
  • Lawrence Rosenberg: “Islet Neogenesis Associated Protein (INGAP): mechanisms of action & therapeutic potential”

Updated Guidelines for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research

The "Guidelines for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research" have been updated, effective June 29, 2007. These supersede the June 2006 Guidelines.

Provision 7.0 of the June 2006 Guidelines, has been edited to include links to both the Policy Details document, as well as the Frequently Asked Questions.

The Policy Details document has been updated to reflect that the scope of the Guidelines includes cells that have been derived from human pluripotent stem cells, not just human pluripotent stem cells.

The procedures for submitting stem cell research information to the Stem Cell Oversight Committee have been updated, including links to application forms and consent templates.

Guidelines are updated on an annual basis, and are posted in June. CIHR continues to work in close collaboration with Health Canada to ensure that the Guidelines are in harmony with the regulations that are being developed for the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Should any change to the Act or its regulations require modifications of the Guidelines, outside of the annual update, these will be posted prominently on the CIHR website.

For more information, please visit the CIHR’s website, at

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/34463.html

2007 Annual Report

The 2007 Annual Report, entitled Continuing the Legacy, is now available for download online, and will be sent out to PIs at the end of July.

This year’s Annual Report coincides with the Network's application for renewal as one of Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence. It is an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made and the challenges still before us. When the Stem Cell Network set out to build on the Canadian legacy of stem cell research, it did not expect that it would be creating its own legacy. In a few short years, networking has become the way to do stem cell research around the world.

Click here to view it online.

SCN website re-launch

After a slight delay, the SCN launched its new website on July 1st

The new site, which is organized into seven key sections, is simple to navigate.   The site now contains a Stem Cell section, which will provide up-to-date, comprehensive information on stem cells and disease, and an international patient FAQ section. 

While the content is in place, the site is still undergoing some content development as we await final translations.  We ask that you please be patient as we iron out any technical issues.

PIs may view their listing at http://www.stemcellnetwork.ca/en-ca/people/list

Please feel free to contact Lori Barron if you would like to update your individual information, links to your lab site, or update your photo.

In the News

Stem Cell Research Gets a Big Boost

ELIZABETH CHURCH
The world's first facility dedicated to understanding the role played by each gene in human embryonic stem cells will be established at Hamilton's McMaster University thanks to a "courageous" gift from a local businessman.

David Braley, who is also the owner of the BC Lions, is contributing $15-million to the promising but controversial field of study as part of a $50-million donation made yesterday to the university's medical school.

The money will be used to kick-start a multiyear project that scientists are describing as a kind of lending library that will categorize the function of each gene in human embryonic stem cells.

Eventually it will be able to provide stem cells with specific genetic characteristics to researchers working on treatments for a broad range of diseases.

Mr. Braley, a McMaster graduate who has already given millions to his former school, was praised yesterday for his groundbreaking move and his willingness to support a field of research that faces some strong opposition, especially in the United States.

"This is a courageous act in the face of political naysayers," said John Kelton, dean of the university's Michael DeGroote School of Medicine. "I think it is a stake in the ground to say, let's get on with it. If governments can't get their acts together, private donors are going to step up to the plate." Mr. Braley, who is 66, said this latest gift is part of a long-term plan to give some "surplus money" to support education and health care in the city where his business operates and he scoffed at attempts to cast him as a hero.

"I'm not courageous. This is a really great business decision," he said.

"We have to look at the basic structure of human embryonic stem cells and we have to do that to fix people. If we can do that, boy, what a step forward for mankind." Developing a better understanding of how human embryonic stem cells function could be key to finding treatments for a host of diseases. That's because these cells are present at the earliest stages after conception and have the power to multiply indefinitely and grow into all the tissue types that make up the human body.

hESC Culture Training Course

  • Deadline: Friday, August 3, 2007
  • September 17 – 20, 2007 at the Terrence Donnely Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research (CCBR), 8th floor, University of Toronto
  • Partners: StemCell Technologies, Inc (STI), McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine, McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine
  • Trainees will participate in hands-on laboratory sessions led by SCN trainees and STI scientists in the mornings, followed by seminars on specific hESC topics in the afternoons from renowned SCN researchers and STI scientists. 
  • Registration is limited to 12 participants.
  • Applicants must be trainees from either SCN, Training Program in Regenerative Medicine (TPRM), or the International Consortium of Stem Cell Networks (ICSCN).
  • Applicants must clearly demonstrate that they will apply the techniques learned at the training course to their own research project within one year.

Click here for more information.

International Travel Awards

  • Deadline: Tuesday, July 31, 2007
  • Provides funds for ICSCN trainees to attend the SCN AGM and to participate in SCN lab visits.
  • Candidates must be either post-doctoral fellows or PhD candidates with a minimum of two years of PhD level experience (at the time of applying), and working in the stem cell field under the supervision of an ICSCN member.  To determine if your network/institute is an ICSCN member, visit this site.
  • Candidates must have worked for a minimum of two years in the stem cell field prior to applying for the award and must intend to pursue research directly related to this area.
  • SCN International Travel Award will support only one trainee from any given ICSCN research laboratory at one time.

Click here for more information.

Canadian Alumni Award and International Alumni Award

  • Deadline: For attending 2007 AGM: Friday, September 7, 2007.
    For attending workshops: minimum of 2 months prior to workshop dates.
  • Provides funds for travel and accommodations for SCN alumni to attend the SCN AGM and SCN workshops
  • Candidates must have previously been an active member of a SCN research group, and must still be actively engaged in stem cell research.
  • Candidates must present their work as a poster or talk at the meeting.  Application must be supported by a member of the SCN AGM Steering Committee for attending the AGM or by the SCN project leader who is organizing the workshop for attending a workshop.

Click here for more information on the Canadian Alumni Award, or

Click here for more information on the International Alumni Award.

Graduate Course in Regenerative Medicine

  • Deadline: Thursday, September 6, 2007
  • Partners: Training Program in Regenerative Medicine (TPRM)
  • This multidisciplinary regenerative medicine graduate course is offered for credit to all SCN graduate students and is delivered through live web-cast.
  • Registration is limited to 30 SCN trainees.
  • Please click here to see enrollment instructions.  In addition, please email Tia Moffat tia@stemcellnetwork.ca to confirm if spaces are still available.

Click here for more information.

Co-op Award

  • Deadline: Friday, September 7, 2007
  • Provides funds towards a salary for a co-op student to work on a research project with clear relevance to stem cells.
  • Applicants must be enrolled in a co-operative program at a Canadian university and working towards their undergraduate degree.
  • Applicants must be supervised by a P.I. who is a member of the SCN. Note: The SCN PI can host a co-op student from a different institution than his/her own.
  • The award is for $10,000 for two four-month work-terms (which may be contiguous).
  • Summer students not enrolled in a co-operative program are not eligible.
  • Subsequent competitions will be held quarterly, generally the first Friday in March, June, September and December.

Click here for more information.

Curiosity Made Him Prez’

By Poh C. Tan, BSc.

As fellow graduate students nearing the end of our studies, there is always that one question
that seems to constantly surface in our minds, “What is next?” “What do I want to do now?” 
These are the same questions that Dr. Aruna Somasiri asked himself during the final years of his studies.  “Curiosity and passion” he says, “these are the two key things you need to find your place in society.  As a young boy, Dr. Somasiri has always been fascinated by science.  This all began when he was curious about the world of biochemistry in grade school; he pursued this curiosity through undergraduate studies and obtained a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry.  His curiosity further led him to pursue a PhD in the field of breast cancer research at the University of British Columbia.  During his PhD studies he has explored many different types of avenues to help him decide what he wants to pursue when he graduates.  When he looks back, one common re-occurring theme seemed to contribute to his current success – networking.

“Networking is a type of skill that one has to develop while in grad school, because it is a necessary tool to help you find your role in society”, he advises.  “It is through networking and curiosity, combined with my passion for science that has lead me to start my own company”, he adds. “I and my colleagues noticed that there was a need for histological services in BC and so, we saw an opportunity and we took it”, he says.  Dr. Somasiri is the president of Wax-it Histology Services Inc., a company that started with three members has now expanded to eight in just 3.5 years.  Wax-it Inc. caters its expertise to academia, government and industrial clients. As president of the company, he is involved in many important roles such as, business development, market research, and advertising as well as day to day research activities in the laboratory.  He works closely with his partners and employees to expand his company every year. 

His advice to graduates, who are trying to find a suitable career path, is to find out where their passion lies and let curiosity lead the way.  He further advises, “Once you have found what you are passionate about, don’t be afraid to take a risk, because only then you allow yourself to succeed.”

Dr. Aruna Somasiri obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia and is currently the President of Wax-it Histology Services Incorporated in British Columbia. 

We Need to Do More Visioning in Research

By Derrick E. Rancourt

Athletes use visioning to imagine winning races, and conceive of the necessary steps to ensure success. Recent studies show individuals and teams are more likely to reach their objectives if they envision both the goals and the pathway to them. The success of sport visioning popularized its use as a management tool and an aspect of strategic planning. Organizations and workplace teams are encouraged to picture their ideal future. The vision must be credible, but still require effort to attain. By bridging present actions to future goals, visioning motivates, challenges, and inspires, while building a standard of excellence within teams.

esearchers often use the principles of visioning to prepare a research grant. We first create a view of where we would like our research to be: the Vision and then establish a number of long campaigns, Missions, which help us to reach our target. A funded project might be considered as a mission. Each Mission has a number of Strategic Thrusts. These would be considered to be project objectives or specific aims. Each Thrust would have a number of Actions, which define the who, what, where and when of each plan. In research projects, these actions would be the planned experiments. An investigator may have a program of research (vision), with several grants (missions) being coordinated at one time. When applying for grants, it is important to communicate one’s vision and how a particular project proposal fits into one’s program and vision.

Years of honing the art of grant writing creates investigators who are excellent tacticians. They use these tactics to establish strong cases for their research and can exquisitely describe the processes they will use to carry out the project. If they fail to reach our grant targets, they blame failures on the unpredictable nature of research. However, good grant applications require contingency plans to help mitigate this very nature. In reality, failures are more often due to the inability to lead research teams to maximal productivity, owing to failing to include the research team in the vision planning / communication process. By not participating, the research team fails to understand the vision and how they can contribute to maximize success.

Start Early. Including staff in grant planning three months before a deadline, helps prepare important preliminary data. By including peers in the planning and review process a much better grant can be written because they help edit or catch holes, which can be fixed before submission.

Multidisciplinary projects often define the worst failures to reach objectives. In these teams, investigators from different disciplines are meant to bring different views and approaches to a problem. This environment is meant to enrich scientific enquiry, as teams synergize and feed off of each other’s perspectives. In reality, the individual teams making up the larger group often fail to interact with co-investigators in any meaningful way. The problems become evident at the grant writing stage, where proposed projects come from individual labs not from collaborations. Another common place where multidisciplinary projects fail is when granting agencies or network administrators force the merger of groups, who have not developed a common vision.

Successful visioning involves “key stakeholders” in the process. Stakeholders include, but are not limited to, peers, subordinates and enlisted seniors (who write letters of support).  Including everybody in the process provides innovation and helps to refine the plan. Most investigators are holed up in their office and do not necessarily understand all the nuances of their team’s activity. By soliciting key stakeholders, red flags or shortcuts are identified and stronger supporting letters can be generated. Stakeholder consultation also fosters communication. Many investigators do not share their written grants with their staff, which makes it impossible for them to know what is expected and what their roles are. It also helps to create buy-in. Finally, by including peers and subordinates in the visioning process, they feel appreciated and connected, with a sense of purpose, which motivates people. Colleagues included in grant planning work harder to see that their plan succeeds.

A good visioning session will employ the principles of brainstorming to solicit ideas, followed by a period of idea consolidation. More than anything, a visioning session needs to be chaired by a strong leader who establishes trust between the participants and helps to ensure that uncreative people will not crush the ideas, leaving the group or the individual to feel humiliated. Criticism introduces an element of risk for group members who forward outlandish ideas when putting forward an idea which stifles the creativity and free running nature of a good brainstorming session. At the outset everyone in the room feels vulnerable yet needs to feel completely safe before their thoughts can be offered. The leader must ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates the ideas during the session. Evaluation of ideas comes later and can be done by the group or a subgroup. Moreover the leader needs to emphasize that participants should not fear having their thoughts discussed or ridiculed at after the session ends. In other words “what happens in the room stays in the room”.

Too Many Cooks. The task of managing team members is more challenging in multi-institutional networks, which may have ten or more supervising investigators. Start by developing a tentative vision with the investigators and soliciting feedback from their respective teams. From there, construct the final vision. It is important to have a leader, who can lead the team to consensus on contentious issues. Carving out reasonable pieces of work for each participating investigator is important. It’s not just about getting a piece of the funding – unless there is meaningful work, individual investigators may become disengaged. Identifying missions involving more than one lab can help sub-projects to form. The key is willingness to work together, which should be communicated by members in the early discussion.

To set the tone of the session, the leader should define the problem clearly and lay out the criteria to be met and a time limit for discussion. She should appoint a recorder who writes down the ideas being generated using flipcharts or other devices. The leader should have full control of the meeting and should encourage ideas from all participants. Naturally, participants will hold back the flow of ideas for many reasons, including incomplete understanding of the problem, a fear of criticism, or pressure from more senior participants. Although some of these problems may be circumvented by establishing the ground rules at the beginning of the session, the leader should practice other techniques to encourage the flow of ideas and freewheeling, the building of ideas upon one another. Effective leaders stimulate discussion by offering creative new perspectives, steering discussions in new or unusual directions or helping find novel approaches. These techniques guide the group towards problem solving, rather than treading on the familiar.

While discussing the emerging vision the team must recognize its strengths and also where it needs support. To help define these parameters teams should use SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. SWOT analysis looks at both internal and external environments to help identify future directions and planning. Competencies can strengthen the credibility of planned missions and help teams believe their vision is attainable. However, to understand their weaknesses and threats, important missing competencies should be identified and recruited, which creates new opportunities and potential synergies to the team.

Cultural Differences. Different disciplines or groups may vary in their culture or point of view. It is important to build a common understanding and a foundation through visioning. Failing to understand each other leads to research silos and a complete lack of synergy. However, when many different scientific cultures are included in a visioning process, it is important to have a strong leader. This individual influences people by capturing their confidence, cooperation and commitment.

Once a vision and missions are staked out, it is important to establish an organizational philosophy, policies and programs. These organizational tools support the vision and articulate it through action. Transparent governance structures, such as management committees must be developed, which support the vision, the membership and its various missions. Furthermore, teams must be assigned to tackle each mission. In turn, these teams use visioning principles to understand their position, the target, and the SWOT before formalizing an action plan. Finally, rituals must be established to reinforce the vision and missions of the team and its greater organization. A strong community develops through these rituals, such as gatherings, ceremonies and celebrations of success. Another key ritual is the identification of “heroes,” those who further the success and reputation of the team and/or organization. This identification strengthens the vision, encourages commitment of both the hero and the others and reinforces positive performance. 

An Interesting Variation on Visioning is to use Post-it notes, where participants put their ideas on paper under topics. Topic coordinators group ideas according to theme and label each theme. This approach has distinct advantages over conventional brainstorming; it encourages participation from quieter members and it energizes the session by introducing movement. Rounds to idea feeding and grouping can occur to encourage the cross-fertilization and/or combining of ideas/themes into one. This approach can be further strengthened by rounds of “storytelling” where coordinators describe the emergence of themes. This approach also helps dredge the group for new ideas or refinement.

Many PIs view visioning as a radical concept, so they are reluctant to adopt the process.  However, it is possible to experiment with.  We owe it to trainees to teach the principles of grant writing. Involve them when planning your next grant and watch to see if it increases productivity. Likewise, as you contemplate multidisciplinary research projects, hire a professional facilitator to help your emerging team with its vision and governance. It is surprising to find this experience can breathe enormous life into your research program. 

Derrick E. Rancourt is the Director of the University of Calgary’s Master of Biomedical Technology, a one year course based MSc that integrates life science and business. Elements of this paper were presented at an experimental trainees leadership workshop held in conjunction with the hESC project.

Job Opportunity

This ad is posted on behalf of Drake International:

Neuro-Regeneration

Immediate Openings for a Research Director and a Process Software Manager

Montreal area

We are currently recruiting for a Research Director and a Software Process Manager for one of our clients, a Canadian start-up company, well established in the US, that will open shortly a research center in the Montreal area.

About our client:

Our client specializes in the development of unique regeneration products for the nervous system. Their main focus is in developing therapeutics that restore central nervous system functionality in patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases and CNS injuries that result in lesions and loss of neuronal tissue, including spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease. Their focus in Montreal is on multiple sclerosis.

Our client’s mission is to be the forefront of developing technologies and solutions for restoring the functionality of injured and degenerating neural tissue through a combination of collaborations, partnerships, in-house and contract research projects on break-through neuro-regenerative technologies.

They are a world leader in this field, years ahead of their competition, and their operations are already funded. For the chosen applicants, it represents a tremendous opportunity to contribute to a first-class scientific research team and outperform.

Their approach in Montreal will involve the latest technologies, in order to develop innovative products through a combination of contract research, collaborations/partnerships, and in-house research projects.

The ideal Research Director will have already have an impressive list of major contributions in the neuro-regeneration field and a list of publications ranging from 30 to 200, in journals such as Nature and Science. We are looking for an individual with international contacts, at ease with robotics, and the drive to make a contribution.

The ideal Process Software Manager will have already worked with R&D companies, helping them establish their research process, determine which softwares are the most appropriate considering the research, and making sure they are installed properly. Eventually, this position will be complemented with a programmer. Our client is also open to hire a mature individual who wishes to contribute on the basis of a contract assignment.

If you have the motivation to get involved in this project, and believe that your expertise enables you to contribute   make you become part of this team, please send a long version of your resume and list of your publications to: recherche.drake@hiredesk.net

For more information, please contact Glory Poirier at Drake International in Montreal at 514 395 9595, ext. 329

We will recruit for other positions within their research team in the near future as well. 

About Drake:

Members of the Drake Group of Companies are global leaders in the field of human resources, consultative management, staffing and technology solutions. For more than 50 years, Drake International has helped North American Businesses solve productivity problems and recruit the best people.

Drake’s operating philosophy is based on the principle that organizations and people are at the highest level of productivity when they are working with the right skills, knowledge and behaviours, using the best processes and technologies.

Research Management Committee
Teleconference
September 17, 2007

For questions on Network Meetings, please contact Lee Freeman

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Contact Lori Barron at
lori@stemcellnetwork.ca