About Us
Learn about our management, history, and supporters who've 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:
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute
- Alberta Public Laboratories' Genetic and Genomics Lab
- Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
- Energy Bioengineering and Geomicrobiology Research Group
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
- International Microbiome Centre
- Precision Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics (POET) Group
- Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases
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.
Genomics and Bioinformatics Boardroom and Office Suite
A new Genomics and Bioinformatics office suite was developed by ACHRI in 2019, in the space originally occupied by Christoph Sensen’s Centre for Visual Genomics. The suite contains space for almost 50 faculty, staff and students as well as a common room and large meeting room. It is located on the first floor of the Health Sciences Centre between clinic areas 3 and 5.
Sample Assessment and NGS Library Preparation Labs
A suite of labs in the basement of the Heritage Medical Research Building are used for sample assessment and library preparation. One side of this suite contains an air-lock separated clean room facility used for sample storage and pre-PCR processing. The other side contains RNase-free, post-PCR, and analytical work areas. Access to this suite is restricted and visitors should meet with sequencing staff in HSC B104a.
Sequencing Lab
The lab housing our next-gen sequencing instrumentation and sequencing staff offices is located in the basement of the Health Sciences Centre in HSC B104a. The Sanger DNA sequencing service is also located here. Samples for both NGS and Sanger DNA sequencing should be delivered to this location.
Server Room
This secure server room is located in HSC B151. It directly connects to the next-gen sequencers in the adjacent sequencing lab, and has a fibre-optic connection to the Alberta Children’s Hospital sequencers. The room is secure and protected with its own fire-suppression system and UPS power backup. It also hosts the specialized computer infrastructure used by our academic bioinformatics research faculty.
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