Fall 2020 CSMB Newsletter

October 2, 2020

Message from the President

Dear CSMB Members,

I was honoured to take over from Dr. Tarik Moroy as President of CSMB in July. I am grateful to Dr. Moroy for his leadership over the last couple of years and his continued wise counsel as Past-President.  I also welcome Dr.Hans-Joachim Wieden (University of Lethbridge) as Vice-President. The change in CSMB Presidents coincided with the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic which has challenged the lives of all Canadians and impacted the research enterprise in unprecendented ways.  This crisis has also shown how important of science, research, evidence and data are in informing policy as provincial and federal governments effectively (or perhaps ineffectively) respond to this major health crisis.

The CSMB Advocacy and Communications Committee convened in Ottawa last February, just before the global pandemic announcement and lockdown, to meet with policy makers across the political spectrum on Parliament Hill to advocate in support of science.  Our voice was further heard when Dr. Tarik Moroy was invited, on behalf of CSMB, to present to the Standing Committee on Health, with respect to the government’s response to COVID-19 in May. We  are committed to continuing these activities on behalf of CSMB members – see details on the Advocacy and Communications Committee update.

We acknowledge and thank the many CSMB members who have scaled up their research activities, under very challenging circumstances, in response to calls, and supported by targeted funding, for accelerated understanding of the virus and the human cellular response, as well rapid development therapeutic options for treatment and prevention.  We acknowledge the burden and stress that other CSMB members have experienced as research activities were shut down or scaled back. We recognize the concerns about research productivity and career trajectories for our members and their trainees and will continue to advocate to the funding agencies on our members behalf.

As a leading organization in promoting the importance of fundamental science in informing policy, we are proud to announce the organization of the panel “Roles & Responsibilities of Academic Science Societies in informing Policy: Lessons & Observations from Around the World” at the upcoming Canadian Science Policy Conference (https://sciencepolicyconference.ca/program-2020/).  CSMB President, Dr. Imogen Coe, will lead an international panel of science society presidents to discuss the role of an academic science society in policy. Participants include Dr. Charles Bourque (McGill University) President of the Canadian Association of Neuroscience, Dr. Stephen Heard (University of New Brunswick), President of the Canadian Association of Ecology and Evolution and Dr. Shohini Ghose (Wilfrid Laurier University), President of the Canadian Association of Astronomy and Physics along with Dr. Hilary Lappin-Scott, President of Federation of European Microbiological Societies and Dr. Susan Amara, President of American Association for the Advancement of Science. This panel was proposed before the full impact of COVID19 was felt in Canada but will prove to be timely as we share information and observations with respect to the relationship between scientists and policy-makers in Canada, Europe and the US.  Please consider attending the virtual CSPC Conference for interesting discussions.

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the winners of the 2020 CSMB awards, and invite you to read their profile below – they are truly inspiring researchers.

We are hard at work planning our next meetings & opportunities to network. Our upcoming meetings, which will take place virtually, including the Life Sciences Career Expo, and the “Protein Homeostasis in Health and Disease”. These will be great opportunities for career development, sharing scientific data and networking. More details below.

The CSMB continues to grow as a vibrant, forward-looking national organization representing life scientists and researchers across Canada.  It is a community that has stepped up to recent challenges for a stronger Canada.  Please feel free to reach out to me with comments, concerns and ideas and continue follow us on social media. Stay engaged and take care!

Imogen R. Coe

President of the CSMB

 

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2019 CSMB Bulletin now available

Read the latest edition of the CSMB Bulletin, now available on our website.

Read it to learn more about your representatives on the CSMB board, our latest Annual General Meeting, our Financial Statements, our meetings, trainee committee activities, award winners, CSMB-sponsored events, and for updates from all our member departments across Canada.

Thank you to bulletin editor Dr. Frances Sharom for putting together the Bulletin again this year!

 

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Advocacy & Communications Committee Update

CSMB submits a brief for Standing Committee on Finance Pre-Budget Consultations in advance of the 2021 budget

Read CSMB’s submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for Pre-Budget Consultations in advance of the 2021 budget:

Boosting Investment in Scientific Research: An Important Piece for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery and Readiness for Future Challenges

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Panel led by CSMB at the Canadian Science Policy Conference -November 17.

We invite you to register for the upcoming Canadian Science Policy Conference, which will take place online, November 16-20, 2020.

CSMB has put together the panel:
Title: Roles & Responsibilities of Academic Science Societies in informing Policy: Lessons & Observations from Around the World
Date & Time: 8:30 am – 10:00 am Tuesday, November 17

Speakers:

• Stephen B. Heard President, Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, Professor at the University of New Brunswick
  
• Charles Bourque President of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, Professor in the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University
• Hilary Lappin-Scott President, Federation of European Microbiology Societies (FEMS)
• Imogen R. Coe President of the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences, Professor of Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science, Ryerson University
• Shohini Ghose President of the Canadian Association of Physicists,  Professor of Physics and Computer Science, Wilfrid Laurier University
• Susan Amara Scientific Director; Intramural Research Program , National Institute of Mental Health

A full description of the panel, and of the speakers can be found on the CSPC website:

https://sciencepolicyconference.ca/program-2020/

 

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Meeting of the Advocacy & Communications committee – October 1, 2020

The first meeting of the Advocacy & Communications committee took place on October 1, 2020. It was an opportunity to discuss the recent Throne Speech by the Prime Minister, the new leader of the opposition, and the general current political climate, and  how to adapt our advocacy efforts to the evolving situation.

The CSMB advocacy team is developing a strategy to engage with the government over the coming months. Stay tuned for more information and calls to action coming your way soon!

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Advocacy reading list

Here are some readings of interest:

• An article published 20 years ago, still relevant: Invention is the mother of necessity, by Nobel laureate Arthur Kornberg
• A more recent Canadian Nobel laureate Donna Strickland, on Why Scientists need time to make big discoveries
• Canada needs research to build a bold post-pandemic future, by Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation,  in the Hill Times
• The throne speech and why we’re in deep trouble – by Alex Usher, at Higher Education Strategy Associates
• We can’t risk losing a cohort of young scientists due to the pandemic – University Affairs

Also make sure you read this article, by Farah Qaiser, in Forbes:

Virologist Michael Houghton Is One Of The 2020 Nobel Prize In Medicine Recipients Where she explains why Houghton turned down the Gairdner award in 2013, a few years after joining the University of Alberta.

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Reappointment of Canada’s Chief Science Advisor, Dr. Mona Nemer

The CSMB applauds the recent announcement by the Prime Minister of the renewal of the role of Chief Science Advisor, and the reappointment of Dr. Mona Nemer to this position.

We invite you to read the Chief Science Advisor Annual Report 2019-20 released on October 6th.

Dr. Mona Nemer is a well-respected member of our community, who was awarded the CSMB Arthur Wynne Gold Medal in 2018. We are proud to have her represent the voice of scientists to the government.

Dr. Nemer is very committed to young scientists. CSMB Trainee committee member Farah Qaiser is a member of the Chief Science Advisor’s Youth Council.

Here are a few images of Dr. Nemer at the CSMB 2018 meeting in Banff.

 

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Update from the CSMB Trainee Committee

Recently, the trainee committee has been working on new initiatives to support trainees.

New outreach oppportunity: Gairdner awards

Are you interested in science outreach? Would you like to build your skills and connect with students?

We are excited to invite you to participate in a new initiative. In partnership with the Gairdner Foundation and Michael Smith Laboratories, the CSMB has commissioned a set of articles, zines, and videos to showcase the work of this year’s Gairdner Award winners.

With your help, we would like to introduce this content to as many high school science classrooms as we can. This is an opportunity to talk about your own research and briefly highlight the work of a Gairdner Award winner.

We’ll provide an informal webinar (tentatively scheduled the week of October 19) with Dr. David Ng, a Professor of Teaching with the Michael Smith Laboratories at UBC. He’ll chat about the best ways to approach teachers, templates for your classroom session, and tips and tricks on facilitating discussions.

Please fill out our form to express your interest: https://forms.gle/h8BM9kSu49WX5dJr7

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Update from the Membership and Diversity Committee

NEW MEMBERSHIP: New criteria for recently graduated undergraduate students for 2020-2022

CSMB recognizes the challenges COVID-19 has caused for many of our undergraduate and graduate students and we appreciate the uncertainty associated with your “next step”.  We believe that continued engagement with the Canadian scientific community will has lasting benefits beyond COVID-19.  Memberships criteria for students enrolled in their programs has not changed, however, we are now expanding our membership requirements to include undergraduate students and graduate students that have recently graduated from their University program.  Please see changes to Student Membership: https://csmb-scbm.ca/membership/

Student Membership (2 year membership $25). This membership category is for Canadian or International students undertaking undergraduate or graduate degrees in Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology or Genetics at a Canadian educational institution. Undergraduate and graduate students that have graduated or will graduate with proof of graduation (May 2020-October 2021) are encouraged to join. It is also applicable to Canadian/landed immigrant undergraduate and graduate students studying in these areas abroad.

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2020 CSMB Award winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 CSMB awards!

Dr. Mes-Masson trained as a molecular oncologist and obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University in 1984. From 1984-1986, she completed post-doctoral studies at the Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, in the laboratory of Dr. Owen Witte, where she was the first to clone the full length BCR-ABL transcript implicated in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. After a short period as a research associate at the Biotechnology Research Institute, Dr. Mes-Masson joined the Institut du cancer de Montréal and the Department of Medicine at the Université de Montréal in 1989. A full professor since 2001, Dr. Mes-Masson was the scientific director of the Institut du cancer de Montréal and Director of cancer research at the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’université de Montréal (CRCHUM) from 2003-2018 and in 2017 accepted the position of Associate Director, Basic and Translational Research, at the CRCHUM. In 2003, Dr. Mes-Masson was named the Director of the Réseau de recherche sur le cancer du Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), a provincial cancer network of over 100 scientists focussed on translational and clinical cancer research (www.rrcancer.ca). Dr. Mes-Masson is a founding member of the Canadian Tumour Repository Network that focusses on enhancing capacity and quality of biobanking to support research (www.ctrnet.ca). In 2008 Dr. Mes-Masson was named the Quebec node coordinator for the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI). Dr. Mes-Masson has authored over 250 publications in cancer research. In addition to her pioneering work in biobanking, the major focus over her research in the last three decades has been ovarian and prostate cancer. While maintaining an active basic research program that focusses on the molecular events that contribute to cancer initiation and progression, Dr. Mes-Masson has also established a translational research program largely focussed on delivering personalized medicine in oncology. Her recent fundamental research focusses on the prediction of therapeutic responses and the development of new therapeutic agents for ovarian and prostate cancers.

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Meeting news

Given the rapidly evolving situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, the CSMB Meeting has been working hard to adapt.

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The Life Sciences Career Expo – virtual – May 12, 14, 19, 20, 26, 28 May 2021 – 3-6PM Eastern time

LSCE2021 will be a fully event, held over three weeks in May 2021.

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Protein Homeostasis in Health and Disease – virtual – June 14-17, 12 noon – 6 pm Eastern time

The conference committee has decided to have the Protein Homeostasis in Health and Disease conference virtual as well. However, if the circumstances permit, they plan to have ‘local’ conference meeting rooms at different universities such as UdM, UofT, UofA, UBC, etc. where the ‘local’ people would gather together during the conference. This will allow participants to network, while minimizing risks associated with travel.

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New CSMB committee membership announced

We are proud to announce the new membership of the CSMB committees, including new at-large members:

 

	Costin Antonescu Ryerson University	Nominations
	Julie Brill Hospital for Sick Kids	Awards Conference
	Bradley W Doble University of Manitoba	Awards Membership and Diversity
	Léonie Frigon Université de Montréal	Trainee
	Jyh-Yeuan (Eric) Lee University of Ottawa	Membership and Diversity
	Howard Lipshitz University of Toronto	Advocacy and Communications
	Sanela Martic Trent University	Conference Membership and Diversity
	Elizabeth Rideout University of British Columbia	Advocacy and Communications Nominations
	Jian Yang University of Saskatchewan	Awards

 

We also wish to thank our returning at-large members for their continuing service

	Christopher Beh Simon Fraser University	Advocacy and Communications
	Cordula Enenkel University of Toronto	Awards
	Christy Thomson Senior Scientist, Amgen	Membership and Diversity

 

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Recent opportunities posted

• 2020 – 09 – 28 Post-Doc position, Houry laboratory, University of Toronto
• 2020 – 09 – 27 Scientific Innovation Project Coordinator – metrovancouver
• 2020 – 09 – 17 CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR (TIER 2) in Inflammatory Mechanisms in Health and Disease – University of Manitoba
• 2020 – 09 – 17 Assistant Professor, Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph
• 2020 – 09 – 17 Assistant Professor, Innate Immunity, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph

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Send us your content/input

We invite you to send us content for the CSMB website and for inclusion in the CSMB newsletter.  We are actively looking for

• News about CSMB members
• Images that represent molecular biosciences that could be used for our website and newsletter (full credits will be given to the image source)
• Job openings
• Advocacy opportunities open to our members

Write to us here: contact@csmb-scbm.ca

Thank you for reading our newsletter!