UNews - Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre

Dr. Athan Zovoilis receives prestigious Cozzarelli Prize

caroline.zentner — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 16:56:14 +0000

Dr. Athan Zovoilis is among the recipients of the 2020 Cozzarelli Prize for his 2020 work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on the role of SINE RNAs as epigenetic ribozymes. Zovoilis’ work was selected by the PNAS editorial board as the winner under the Biological Sciencescategory. The 2020 awardees will be recognized at a virtual awards ceremony during the National Academies of Science Annual Meeting on April 25.

The annual Cozzarelli Prize acknowledges papers that reflect scientific excellence and originality and was established in 2005 as the Paper of the Year Prize and subsequently renamed in 2007 to honour late PNAS Editor-in-Chief Nicholas R. Cozzarelli.

Dr. Zovoilis is an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry and member of the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre, The Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience and the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute. Dr. Zovoilis’ recognized research on SINE RNAs has been the follow up of his previous work published in the journal Cell that first revealed the processing of this novel class of biomolecules and their role in regulation of cellular response to stress as well as the foundation for his lab’s recent published findings on the role of these RNAs in pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.

U of L scientists add to knowledge of RNA-based mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease

caroline.zentner — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 20:17:49 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers who found a new molecular mechanism involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in mice have confirmed the same mechanism is at work in patients with the disease. In both cases, the use of high throughput sequencing techniques that study the DNA readout of brain cells helped identify a class of biomolecules, called SINE RNAs, that are produced in different patterns in AD patients versus healthy individuals. These findings will help guide the way for future studies to identify early indicators of AD before symptoms occurs, as well as targets for therapeutic intervention.

The study, led by Dr. Athan Zovoilis, a Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics, was recently published in EMBO Reports, a peer-reviewed scientific journal for molecular biology that ranks among the 10 per cent of most-cited journals. The research was a collaborative effort between the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Center (SAGSC), the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) and the Calgary Brain Bank at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

“Our results further the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that are implicated in AD,” says Zovoilis. “As we improve our understanding of changes in the brain before symptoms of AD appear, we get closer and closer to developing treatments for AD.”

AD is the most common cause of intellectual decline in the elderly population. More than 44 million people worldwide currently suffer from AD or related dementia and related costs exceed $12 billion in Canada alone. Although some drugs may improve AD symptoms temporarily, no cure or reliable early indicator of increased risk currently exists. This is largely due to the fact that the molecular process underlying the excessive death of brain cells of AD patients is unclear. This recent study, published in EMBO Reports, identifies a molecular mechanism that may help point to an early indicator of increased risk for AD.

The researchers looked at the set of biomolecules called SINE non-coding RNAs. Previously thought to be produced by “junk DNA,” that is, DNA of no functional importance, scientists are now discovering they are important players in how cells function and critical components of disease mechanisms. Zovoilis and his team have shown these biomolecules, when they become over-responsive, are connected to the death of brain cells that occurs in AD.

The study was funded by the Alberta Prion Research Institute, the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories and Genome Canada.

U of L’s computing capabilities to expand through NSERC grant

caroline.zentner — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 15:30:49 +0000

New computing infrastructure will support the world-class research being done at several centres at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, including the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre (SAGSC), the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), the Canadian Centre for Research in Advanced Fluorine Technologies (C-CRAFT) and the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI).

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) Research Tools and Instruments Grants Program is providing nearly $147,000 to support the expansion.

“This infrastructure increases our high-performance computing capabilities and supports our research in bioinformatics, genomics, machine learning, neuroscience and computational chemistry,” says Dr. Athan Zovoilis, a Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and director of SAGSC. “It will also benefit BioNet Alberta, the bioinformatics network in Alberta, which includes the three major Alberta universities and is led by the U of L’s SAGSC.”

“With this funding, we will be able to replace our aging graphics processing unit (GPU) nodes,” says Dr. Stacey Wetmore, a Tier I Board of Governors Research Chair in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry with expertise in computational chemistry. “This new GPU cluster will enable both our teams to perform complex calculations very quickly, meaning we can tackle important problems related to health and disease. U of L students will also have the opportunity to be trained on state-of-the-art equipment.”

Financial investment spurs genome sciences research in Alberta

caroline.zentner — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 15:39:47 +0000

Genome sciences and bioinformatics research in the province is getting a huge boost thanks to a $3-million investment and the establishment of BioNet Alberta, a research network featuring the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, Genome Alberta, Genome Canada, Genome Alberta and other partners.

The founders of the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre include, from left to right, Drs. Gerlinde Metz (neuroscience), Majid Mohajerani (neuroscience), Olga Kovalchuk (biology), Igor Kovalchuk (biology), Peter Dibble (chemistry & biochemistry), Athan Zovoilis (chemistry & biochemistry) and Angeliki Pantazi (chemistry & biochemistry).

The network is supported by Genome Canada’s Regional Priorities Partnership Program (RP3) and features a BioNet hub at each university, with the newly established Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre (SAGSC) at the U of L serving as the lead hub.

“Our ambition is to bring Alberta to the forefront of this new technology and its applications,” says Dr. Athan Zovoilis, a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in RNA Bioinformatics and Genomics in the U of L’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and academic lead of BioNet Alberta.

The rapid advance of technology has propelled research in genomics with the goal of better understanding and interpreting an organism’s DNA code. Developments in the field of genomics have wide implications for agriculture and human health, and have paved the way for precision medicine and smart agriculture.

“Genome Alberta is pleased to have led in the creation of BioNet Alberta,” says David Bailey, CEO of Genome Alberta. “This new network will build Alberta’s capacity in bioinformatics and computational biology to manage and utilize the massive amount of data being generated by life science researchers in Canada and around the world.”

BioNet Alberta will be officially announced on Friday, Sept. 20 as part of the first Western Canada Bioinformatics and Omics Conference and the formal launch of the Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre. The conference goes from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 20 to 22, at the U of L.

“The concept of having a genome science centre here in southern Alberta has been discussed for the last year and a half,” says Zovoilis, director of the SAGSC. “At the U of L, we have top-class researchers and infrastructure which is, in some aspects, unique for Alberta.”

The centre brings together four genome sciences research platforms:

genomics, the science of understanding and interpreting an organism’s DNA code
transcriptomics, which looks at genes that are actively expressed by examining DNA’s cousin, RNA
metabolomics, which is the study of metabolites such as amino acids, lipids and sugars
bioinformatics, which combines biology and computer science to analyze and interpret biological data.

“We are going to encompass the vast majority of sciences that do “omics,” another term encompassing genome sciences, here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and in southern Alberta,” says Zovoilis. “The departments that contribute to this centre include chemistry & biochemistry, biological sciences, neuroscience and computer science. We also have members from the humanities who help us regarding any ethics issues and from the Dhillon School of Business about the impacts of genomic sciences on the Alberta economy.”

Research in all omics fields has also changed significantly in the past few years due to advances in technology that allow vast amounts of data to be analyzed in a short amount of time.

“If we regard all the information that describes how we’re made as information in the book of life, then we would need more than 1,200 books of 1,000 pages each to include the information of just one cell,” says Zovoilis. “Ten years ago, to read only one page of one book, it would take one day using massive devices. Today we have smart-phone sized devices called sequencers which can do all 1,200 books of 1,000 pages each in just one day. We also have a larger sequencer that can do this simultaneously for 48 samples.

“This has transformed the way we can now read information about disease, about how people respond better to medication based on their personalized genomic profile or how we can deliver better agricultural products based on the genomic profile of livestock. This is already revolutionizing the ways medicine and agriculture are delivered and makes it possible to have precision medicine and smart agriculture, where diagnostic protocols used are personalized to each patient and animal.”

Everyone is welcome to attend the public talks that are part of the BioNet conference to learn more about genomics research and how it’s having an impact on their lives. The keynote speaker is Dr. Steven Jones, a bioinformatics professor at Simon Fraser ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia and head of bioinformatics and co-director of Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre. Following the keynote, the public is also welcome to attend a panel discussion about the importance of omics on the health of Albertans and the economy. To register or for more information visit BioNet AB 2019.

Funders of the project include Genome Canada, the provincial government, Genome Alberta, Alberta Innovates, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Public Labs, Alberta Prion Research Institute and Bioinformatics Canada.

UNews - Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre

Dr. Athan Zovoilis receives prestigious Cozzarelli Prize

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