About Us

Learn about our management, history, and supporters who have helped us over the years. 

Our Organization

The Centre for Health Genomics and Informatics (CHGI) lies within the Centre for Advanced Technologies (CAT) at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM). CAT supports all of the shared resource facilities in the School of Medicine, and falls under the portfolio of the Associate Dean, Research Infrastructure.

"Creating the future of health" is the vision for the CSM's Strategic Plan, and the Cumming School of Medicine has committed over $7M to the establishment of the CHGI since its inception. A number of other Faculties, Institutes, Centres, and stake-holders have partnered with the CSM in supporting the growth and operations of the CHGI. Currently, these include:

The CHGI's services are not limited to the Cumming School of Medicine or its supporting partners, and are offered equally to all researchers associated with the University of Calgary, regardless of department or faculty. External requests from other academic, government or commercial sources may also be considered (different fees apply).

Management of the CHGI is divided between our Lab Manager, Shelly Wegener, and our Bioinformatics Manager, Dr. Paul Gordon.

An Operations Committee chaired by Angela Krawetz, Director, Strategic Projects and Core Facilities, and comprised of members from CHGI partners and stakeholders also meets regularly to review and plan operations. A separate Scientific Committee, chaired by Dr. Francois Bernier, Head, Dept. Medical Genetics, and comprised of leading faculty members from partners and stakeholders will also be appointed to review and plan future services. The CHGI is subject to external review by outside experts, as determined by the Cumming School of Medicine.

Our History

Core DNA facilities began at the University of Calgary as part of the UCDNA Services labs. They were established by Dr. Richard Pon, first in oligonucleotide synthesis in 1985, with the addition of Sanger DNA sequencing in 1992. Dr. Christoph Sensen developed the bioinformatics groundwork, with the creation of the Sun Centre of Excellence for Visual Genomics in 2002 and the Distributed Bioinformatics Platform for Genome Canada from 2002-2010.

Together, Dr. Pon and Dr. Sensen (who was then the Director of the Centre for Advanced Technologies) recognized the growing need for a local next-generation sequencing facility. However, the high cost of developing a facility was a major obstacle.

It took the leadership and vision of Dr. Brent Scott (Executive Director, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute) to drive forward a plan for a joint genomics platform between the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Faculty of Medicine. In 2009, Dr. Scott obtained a five-year funding envelop, with $5.8M from the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and $2M from the Faculty of Medicine (later renamed the Cumming School of Medicine in 2014). This startup funding was used to establish two lab sites. One lab was built in the University’s Health Sciences Centre to support genomics for basic and clinical research. The other site was established within the Alberta Children’s Hospital Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory for the development of next-gen genetic tests for clinical use. It has since merged with the Genetics and Genomics Laboratory. IT infrastructure from the former Genome Canada platform was re-purposed to support the bioinformatics needs of both labs.

Our Genomics and Informatics platform opened in 2011 under Dr. Scott and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI). The facility has operated many next-gen sequencers over the years, evolving with developments in technology. The first sequencer, a Life Technologies SOLiD 4, was soon followed by two SOLiD 5500xl instruments and an Ion Torrent PGM. In 2014 and 2015, Illumina MiSeq and NextSeq 500 sequencers were added. During this time, the platform developed as a partnership between many stakeholders who contributed financially or through in-kind donations, and helped the platform grow.

In 2016, the ACHRI Genomics and Informatics platform officially became the Cumming School of Medicine Centre for Health Genomics and Informatics. Executive leadership was passed to Dr. Francois Bernier upon Dr. Scott’s retirement in 2018.

ACHRI received a Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund award for Precision Medicine and the Genetic Diseases of Childhood in 2018. Among the many new capabilities being funded by this award is our capacity for whole human genome sequencing, which will help position the University of Calgary as a provincial leader in Precision Health.

Acknowledgments

We extend our gratitude to the following institutes and agencies for their past and present contributions. They have allowed for our growth and continued success:

  • Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation
  • Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute
  • Alberta Cancer Foundation
  • Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
  • Canada Foundation for Innovation
  • Cumming School of Medicine
  • IBM
  • International Microbiome Centre
  • Western Economic Diversification Canada