ATM Announces Involvement in New UBC Micro-certificate in Innovation Leadership: Medical & Bio-Innovations

The University of British Columbia’s School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) recently announced the launch of a new educational offering, the Micro-certificate in Innovation Leadership: Medical & Bio-Innovations. The Academy of Translational Medicine is excited to share its involvement in the conception and development of this new educational offering, which will be delivered by SBME.

The part-time blended program addresses the gap between scientific and technological innovations and the practical, legal, and strategic skills needed to bring these innovations to market successfully. Developed by leading industry experts, the curriculum emphasizes the practical applications of innovation leadership and intellectual property management. Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of how to identify and address unmet medical needs, implement effective intellectual property strategies, and lead innovation projects within their organizations.

This program wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support and insights from our industry advisory committee and partners at the UBC Academy of Translational Medicine and UBC Extended Learning. – SBME on LinkedIn

The Micro-certificate has been highly anticipated, receiving praise by trailblazers in the sector. Complementing the strong technical and scientific expertise that participants already possess, the program will bridge the gap to successfully bring medical and bio-innovations to market. As a stepping stone towards a future certificate in translational readiness, the ATM is pleased to share this new program with its Community, in addition to the ATM-led Regulatory Affairs in the Life Sciences Micro-credentials.

Courses in the Micro-certificate

• Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy and Management
• Unmet Needs in Healthcare: Strategy and Solutions

Information Session: 26 June 2024 | 12pm

Registration is open for the first cohort of the Micro-certificate in Innovation Leadership: Medical & Bio-Innovations, which will begin October 2024.

Please explore the following pages for full details and information:

• Press Release
• Program Information
• Course Details and Registration
• ATM Education

The Academy of Translational Medicine (ATM) is in the news again. In March, a Globe and Mail article highlighted the ATM and ATM Director Dr. Poul Sorensen. In a recent article, B.C. drug developers get boost with government funding for new manufacturing facility, the relevance of the ATM has been noted once more.

The article outlines the four projects in the new Canada’s Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub (CIEBH), which was recently provided $140 million in funding. Of particular focus, is why the project investing in an advanced therapeutics manufacturing facility at UBC (which will occupy 25,300 square feet) is a significant opportunity for life sciences in British Columbia. UBC’s prominence is evident in how the CIEBH project fits within the current landscape and how it will position the province moving forward. Author Sean Silcoff draws on the high-calibre expertise of those such as Dr. Megan Levings to provide insight as to how the lack of such a facility has been a major drawback, and references Dr. Dermot Kelleher (Dean, UBC Faculty of Medicine) as well as the world-class researchers leading the projects, many of whom are UBC-affiliated. The formation of the ATM is highlighted as one of the key strategic initiatives by Dr. Kelleher that will transform how translational medicine is conducted at the University, alongside the new facility and related projects. The ATM looks forward to its participation in propelling therapeutic advancements forwards, and encourages its community to read the article here on The Globe and Mail website.

The Academy of Translational Medicine is looking forward to Dr. Dean Regier’s upcoming public seminar as part of the recruitment process for the position of Professor (tenure) in Translational Medicine at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. Dr. Regier, Associate Director of UBC’s Academy of Translational Medicine (ATM), is also Senior Scientist at the BC Cancer Research Institute and Associate Professor (Partner) at the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH). This is a formal presentation to faculty, staff and students highlighting Dr. Regier’s expertise and qualifications.

When: Tuesday 21 May 2024 from 11:30am – 12:30pm

Where: SPPH Building Room B104 + Zoom

Over the past 15 years, Dr. Regier’s research has focused on regulatory science and the economics of precision medicine, generating patient-oriented and real-world evidence for regulatory, clinical, and payer decisions. Dr. Regier holds multiple large-scale research grants nationally (Genome Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research), garnering over $19 million in funding as principal investigator. His work has been presented at leading institutions, with invitations from the US National Academies of Sciences, Australian Genomics, Harvard University, Health Canada, and l’Institut national d’excellence en santé et services sociaux. He regularly engages patients and communities, including through talks, interviews, media, and workshops (National Terry Fox Run, BC Cancer Foundation, CBC News), and through his patient-oriented research.

Embedded in British Columbia’s population-based cancer control system, Dr. Regier’s lab supports 14 early career researchers, staff, and trainees. At UBC, he teaches a graduate course in health economics and is faculty lead for Canada’s only academic course in regulatory affairs and regulatory science. Dr. Regier is an Associate Editor at Value in Health and a long-standing member of BC’s Drug Benefit Council, making evidence-informed recommendations to the Ministry of Health for therapeutics included on BC’s PharmaCare formulary.

For those attending via Zoom, please register.

This seminar is also posted as an event on the ATM Calendar.

Full details can be found on the SPPH website.

2024 Topic: Combination therapies against cancer: new opportunities for translational research

The ATM Community is encouraged to consider this joint call from TRANSCAN specific to translational research. Specifically, the main purpose of this call will be design of patient preclinical models for combination therapies. Through chosen projects, this call expects to improve the efficacy of personalized treatment of cancer patients through the development of new combinatorial treatment strategies, based on a better understanding of drug mechanistic functions and of their impact on the disease course. This opportunity is of interest for early-career researchers, as it is mandatory to have at least 1 early-career researcher as principle investigator. As described by TRANSCAN, this opportunity promotes highly innovative and ambitious collaborative projects in translational cancer research at European and international level for projects lasting no more than 3 years. This is the 4th Transnational Call for Research Proposals, with 20+ national/regional funding organizations participating.

Proposals have to cover 1 of 3 specific aims

1. Development of new tumour derived models to test new drug combination therapies
2. Design and development of high-throughput drug combination screening platforms to test new combination therapies
3. Use of immunotherapy and radiotherapy combinations strategies to overcome drug resistance

Evaluation Criteria (each scored using a 0-5 point scoring system)

• Excellence
• Impact
• Quality and efficacy of the implementation

Key Dates

• 5 July 2024 | 3am PT Pre-Proposal Submission Deadline
• 29 November 2024 | 3am PT Full-Proposal Submission Deadline
  • 18 October 2024 Invitations for Full-Proposal Submission
  • 18 November 2024 Full-proposal submissions open
• May 2025 Funding Decision
• September 2025 Expected Project Start

Those interested are encouraged to access full explanations of information provided above and to other relevant details to this call for proposals, including full criteria, guidelines, forms, and links