A national effort.

Abstract

The 1990s were a difficult time for biomedical research in Canada. The USA vastly expanded its funding for biomedical research, particularly by doubling the budget of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), and many countries, including Japan, China and several EU nations, heavily invested in genomics research. However, repeated budgetary setbacks during the economic recession of the 1990s led to the curtailment of large‐scale research projects set up via the Canadian Genome Analysis and Technology Program. At the same time, federal funding through the Canadian Medical Research Council (MRC) only awarded small operating grants for research groups. Internationally recognized Canadian researchers, such as Charles Scriver of McGill University (Montreal, Quebec)—who was instrumental in encouraging the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to prioritize the Human Genome Project (Cook‐Deegan, 1994)—and Ronald Worton—CEO and Scientific Director of the Ottawa Health Research Institute (Ontario)—were concerned that Canada was at risk of being shut out of impending large‐scale genome‐sequencing efforts. According to Scriver, without a dedicated programme in one form or another, Canada would no longer remain competitive and would become marginalized in all areas of the life sciences within a decade (Cook‐Deegan, 1994). Nevertheless, non‐Canadian funding sources identified a cohort of Canadian excellence during this period. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded 12 Canadian scientists through its International Research Scholar Awards. The Human Frontier Science Program, based in Strasbourg, France, supported a small number of Canadian graduate students for postdoctoral training in US and European labs. In addition, a small number of Canadian principal investigators working in Canadian laboratories received operating‐fund grants from the NIH. > According to Scriver, without a dedicated programme in one form or another, Canada would no longer remain competitive and would become marginalized in all areas of the life sciences within a decade Concerned about the increasing international competition …