New funding helps Ottawa build critical mass as a major centre for stem cell research

The surge of interest in the potential of stem cells to generate new types of tissues is helping to build a research powerhouse in the Ottawa area, with a series of funding initiatives and pending approvals that promise to transform the region into one of Canada's largest concentrations of medical research. The creation of the Ottawa Health Research Institute and the Centre for Stem and Gene Therapy (CSGT) - are both under the leadership of Dr Ronald Worton - are but the first two steps towards developing impressive health research capacity in the region, with additional initiatives seeking funding approval.

The merger of the Loeb Health Research Institute and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute into the Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI) brings together approximately 600 scientists, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and technicians, making it second in size only to the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.

Dr Ronald Worton was chosen to lead the new institute as well as the CSGT (see story below), and he is a leading player behind a proposal to link stem cell researchers nationally with a new Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE). The proposed Stem Cell Genomics and Therapeutics Network (StemNet) is seeking a funding commitment of $5 million annually and is part of the current targeted competition for new NCEs that will be announced later this month.

"If the proposal is approved, it will fund 55 scientists across Canada and Ottawa will be the largest centre by far. In two years Canada would be able to lay claim to the largest concentration of stem cell research per capita in the world, working collaboratively for maximum impact," says Worton, who takes up his duties as the OHRI's scientific director and CEO April 1.

Plans for the merger of the two Ottawa research institutes were implemented following the unanimous recommendation of a panel of five scientists. A transition board headed by Dr Howard Alper (VP research at the Univ of Ottawa), then struck a selection committee which conducted an international search and then decided on a choice between Worton and Loeb Health Research Institute director Dr Michel Chrétien. Worton says that the Chrétien's future within the new merged institute is not completely resolved, although he will likely stay on to continue his research focusing on protein engineering and chemistry as they relate to the diseases of aging.

The merger and the announcement of the CSGT come at a particularly critical time for Ottawa as it works to establish itself as a powerhouse in the life sciences sector (R$, December 20/00). Stem cells are possibly the hottest area in medical research today, and the focus on considerable controversy and investment, as the science is accelerated by new technologies and discoveries. By building critical mass at this relatively early stage in the evolution of stem cell research, Ottawa dramatically improves its ability to attract leading researchers in the field.

"The idea of stem cells in many tissues caught on about nine years ago (but) the big burst of activity started two or three years ago and that's when I got interested," says Worton, who has been conducting research into muscular dystrophy for the past 15 years. "It was discovered that, if you take a stem cell from bone marrow and inject it elsewhere such as the brain, it reprograms itself."

Worton says the ability to use embryonic stem cells for many different tissue types, while controversial, has spurred an explosion of stem cell research worldwide and Canada is no exception. Stem cells research is particularly strong in institutes in Toronto, London, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and of course Ottawa.

The latest research suggesting that adult stem cells can also be used to create different tissue types will only escalate the rush towards the field. Scientists at the John P Robarts Research Institute announced the breakthrough just weeks ago, pointing to a day when embryonic stem cells may not be required. Worton says researchers will continue to work with embryonic stem cells for the foreseeable future to better understand how they differ from adult stem cells.

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