Conference & Meetings World Supplements Canada Supplement | Page 15

Ottawa
Organisers have identified the
following CCS objectives:
• To showcase high quality
Canadian research for CCS
members and affiliates;
• To enhance opportunities for
professional collaboration and
networking;
• To promote the CCS as a
credible voice in cardiovascular
health and care to the community
and the public;
• To collaborate with the Heart and
Stroke for shared advocacy; and
• To generate sustainable funding
for CCS programmes.
Achievements at UOHI since it
opened its doors in 1976 include:
1984 – The first heart transplant in
Ottawa
1989 – Heart transplant performed
on 11-day-old infant, youngest
recipient in Canada
2002 – Canada’s first Positron
Emission Tomography (PET) centre
opens
2005 – The Novel STEMI
programme demonstrates a four-
fold reduction in mortality among
high-risk heart patients
2011– World’s first bedside genetic
test to determine whether a patient
is at risk of reacting poorly to
standard drug therapy
2015 – Opening of the Canadian
Women’s Heart Health Centre
Ottawa has also become
home to two national Life Science
Networks of Centres of Excellence
(NCE) all active in supporting large-
scale, academic-led research
programmes to accelerate R&D
and commercialisation. They
include:
• The Stem Cell Network, Canada’s
premier research organisation
dedicated to enabling the
translation of stem cell research
into clinical applications,
commercial products and public
policy
• Biotherapeutics for Cancer
Treatment (BioCanRx), pan-
Canadian network of expertise and
infrastructure for the development,
manufacture and clinical testing of
new personalised biotherapeutics
that hold the promise of being
more effective, affordable and
safe than conventional cancer
therapies.
Turnstone Biologics is one
company that has partnered with
academia to develop cancer-
fighting viruses. Turnstone has been
recognised as one of the top
15 biotech start-ups in the world
and, in 2016, secured US$41m
in venture capital (VC) funding
– the largest biotech VC deal in
Canada that year. Turnstone was
co-founded by FACIT, The Ontario
Institute for Cancer Research’s
commercialisation partner, which
provided initial management, seed
financing, intellectual property
consolidation and hiring of initial
employees including the CEO.
Reza Moridi, Minister of Research,
Innovation and Science, said of
Turnstone: “Ontario is proud of its
commitment to cancer research
and innovation. Congratulations
to Ontario’s Turnstone Biologics
research team. This global
collaboration means patients are
closer to receiving ground-breaking
cancer-fighting discoveries
developed in Ontario. It means
another Ontario start-up is scaling
up and creating jobs in Ontario.”
Nina Kressler, President and
Above:
Fast Facts, The
Ottawa Hospital
Annual Report
2017-2018
CEO of Ottawa’s Shaw Centre
endorses the city’s global
leadership credentials for Life
Sciences.
“With world-leading research
being done in stem cell therapies,
nerve transfer, and a double-virus
therapy for cancer, organisers of
events such as the International
Mesothelioma Interest Group have
taken note, having hosted their
global conference here in 2018,
while the International Society of
Paediatric Oncology is planning its
annual conference in Ottawa in
2020.”
Ottawa is also set to host the
11th International Symposium on
Targeted-Alpha-Therapy in the
first week of April 2019 thanks to
Canada’s proficiency in nuclear
medicine.
The event, which explores the
latest developments in preclinical
studies and clinical experiences in
radiochemistry is an opportunity for
some 300 delegates to network
and learn from industry leaders
and to tour the Canadian Nuclear
Laboratories.
When Ottawa hosted the
International Mesothelioma
Interest Group (iMig) in 2018, Lesley
Mackay, Director of Meetings
and Events at Ottawa Tourism,
said: “Because we have this
ecosystem in place, it naturally
leads to people wanting to put on
conferences in the city.”
For a city of just under 1m
it is easy to form relationships
throughout the Life Sciences
industry and draw upon local
expertise, especially with the
second-highest concentration of
scientists and engineers in North
America in one city.
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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