Dr. Christian Burks

Biography:
Christian Burks, PhD
President and CEO, Ontario Genomics Institute
Toronto, Ontario

Dr. Burks' career has focused on developing scientific programs and companies; fund raising from and partnering with public and private institutions; and harnessing genomics to create a new foundation for the development of life science applications and products. Since 2004, he has been OGI’s President and CEO as well as served on its Board of Directors. During this period, OGI has initiated genomics research projects with ~$330M in total funding and created new programs to increase the use, impact and understanding of genomics. Previously, he was CSO with Affinium (Toronto); CIO with Exelixis (South San Francisco); and, at Los Alamos National Laboratory, led GenBank, created by a team he joined as a post-doc. Dr. Burks has co-authored over 65 publications and served internationally on numerous editorial, advisory and governing boards. Following a B.A. in the Great Books Program at St. John's College, he completed a PhD at Yale University.

Abstract:

Stewardship of Research Resources

Basic scientific inquiry usually relies on and often generates research resources. Such resources range from infrastructure to consumables to data and knowledge. At the leading, bleeding edge, such resources are usually being modified and improved in near real time, and thus are best maintained by (and therefore supplied by) academia. At the point their technological development has stabilized and when there is a market for producing and selling them at scale, such resources are usually maintained by (and therefore supplied by) industry. There is, however, a middle ground where resources could and should be stabilized, but for strategic and/or market-based reasons, need to be maintained and provided longer-term without the direct support of industry. Long-term stewardship of established genomics research resources provides an example where a focused policy framework (and associated public funding) is largely lacking in Canada, but which would accelerate the impact of the basic research which creates those resources.