Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Bioinformatics and computational biology (B/CB) is essential to all health and life science research today, but Canada does not have a large enough skilled workforce to meet current research needs. To build capacity in B/CB to advance our research for the benefit of all, we need three things: 1) people with expertise in bioinformatics; 2) resources such as data and compute infrastructure; and 3) knowledge and skill development in bioinformatics. These three components are interconnected and must be supported by a bioinformatics community and network. In anticipation of a grant call for bioinformatics capacity building in Canada, this proposal aims to bring together the major thinkers in bioinformatics capacity building from across the country to: 1) evaluate B/CB community building activities such as a Canadian Bioinformatics Society, annual conference and local networks; 2) identify ways to collaborate across our training programs to provide skills in both software development and sustainability, and bioinformatics analyses; and 3) draft an outline for an anticipated CIHR grant call.