2023 Conference – Plenary Events

2023 Conference – Plenary EventsLaura Bethany2024-03-06T11:06:44-05:00

The following panels were included in the Plenary Events:

802: Transformations in Canada’s Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Sector

803: Canada Research Coordinating Committee, Vision to Action, 2018 – 2023

805: Canada’s Productivity Growth Conundrum

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Panel 802

Transformations in Canada’s Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Sector

English
French

Organized by: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Panel Date: November 15th, 2023
Speakers:
David Golding
Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan
Francisco Diaz-Mitoma
Isabelle Caron
Ritu Banerjee
Valérie Laflamme

See Panel Details

Panel Abstract:
The Office of Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Readiness within Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) proposes a session that aims to portray the transformation happening within the Canadian biomanufacturing sector by highlighting the Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy (BLSS), providing an update regarding its accomplishments, and, using as a case study the recently signed Memorandum of Cooperation between Canada and the UK, providing an overview of both the on-going and potential research and innovation collaborations that this work is enabling. Experts from Canada (including ISED, the Biologics Manufacturing Centre, the National Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Variation Biotechnologies Inc.) and from the United Kingdom (Innovate UK) will jointly present regarding the activities and progress of the BLSS and the Canada-UK Biomanufacturing Collaboration. This session will offer attendees the opportunity to learn about the BLSS, including activities from Canadian Government partners and highlight how the Government of Canada is supporting the sector and addressing gaps through international partnerships.

Summary of Conversations:
The panel discussed Canada’s strategy to advance its biomanufacturing and life sciences ecosystem through government funding and coordination between research facilities. Speakers addressed leveraging global collaboration, ensuring supply chain resilience, and overcoming challenges facing smaller markets like Canada. There was emphasis on facilitating partnerships between companies and researchers, particularly in crises, and on government support to move Canadian innovations through development phases. Lessons from past failed government initiatives were raised to avoid hollowing out capacity. Additional subjects included improving pandemic preparedness through supply chain and clinical trial coordination, simplifying tech transfer between facilities, and prioritizing antimicrobial resistance. The discussion highlighted progress made in biomanufacturing while acknowledging room for further improvement through continued investment and global cooperation.

Take Away Messages/ Current Status of the Challenges:

Government investments in new biomanufacturing infrastructure and facilities have expanded domestic capacity, though continued coordination is needed to fully leverage these assets.
Supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic highlighted the need for increased resilience through partnerships, diversification and onshoring of critical materials and technologies.
Virus-like particle platforms show promise for rapidly developing new vaccines, but face challenges scaling up from clinical to commercial manufacturing.
Translating Canadian innovations into products requires expanded support across the development pipeline from research through clinical trials and commercialization.
Partnerships between industry, government and academia are critical for coordinating expertise and resources to address complex healthcare challenges.
Future pandemic preparedness efforts should focus on clinical trial coordination, supply chain risk management, and distributed domestic manufacturing.
Continued collaboration between Canada and global allies provides opportunities to share knowledge, leverage investments, and advance solutions for shared priorities like antimicrobial resistance.

Recommendations (or Next Steps):

Establish a task force to identify gaps and opportunities in Canada’s clinical trial infrastructure and coordination to improve pandemic preparedness and response.
Launch a program to provide funding and support for domestic companies to onshore and secure precursor materials and other critical supply chain elements.
Create an international consortium between Canada, UK and other allies to collaborate on complex health challenges and leverage each other’s expertise.
Invest in developing talent and retaining Canadian innovations by providing funding and incentives across the development pipeline.
Set up a technology transfer and manufacturing coordination team between NRC facilities and BMC to streamline processes.
Make antimicrobial resistance a priority research area and ensure investments in pandemic preparedness also bolster capacity to address AMR.

* Panel summary generated by OLGOO.com

Panel 803

Canada Research Coordinating Committee, Vision to Action, 2018 – 2023

English
French

Organized by: Canada Research Coordinating Committee
Speakers:
Bénédicte Amilhon
Cathleen Crudden
Jason Edward Lewis
Mélissa Guillemette
Ted Hewitt
Panel Date: November 14th, 2023

See Panel Details

Panel Abstract:
Since 2018, members of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee have been guiding important changes in their organizations and the research community, working ever more closely together, engaging researchers and institutions, to support for an increasingly equitable, connected and innovative research enterprise. Join in conversation with the Chair, and leading researchers from different disciplines and different communities, as they consider the impact of CRCC initiatives and the challenges ahead for Canadian research. To learn more about the Committee, please visit www.canada.ca/crcc

Depuis 2018, les membres du Comité de coordination de la recherche au Canada (CCRC) orientent d’importants changements au sein de leurs organisations et de la communauté de la recherche, en collaborant encore plus étroitement et en mobilisant les chercheurs et les établissements, pour favoriser un milieu de la recherche de plus en plus équitable, connecté et innovant. Participez à la conversation avec le président et des chercheurs de premier plan issus de différentes disciplines et communautés alors qu’ils se penchent sur l’impact des initiatives du CCRC et les défis à venir pour la recherche canadienne. Pour en savoir plus sur le Comité, veuillez visiter le www.canada.ca/ccrc

Summary of Conversations:
The panelists discussed initiatives to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research. Professor Lewis explained how considering EDI in project proposals encourages researchers to address these issues in their work. However, a panelist noted that little progress on EDI has been made over the past decade. The application process and review criteria for the New Frontiers Exploration Fund were discussed. While the paperwork was reasonable, concerns were raised about low salaries and high tuition costs threatening researcher retention. Legal restrictions in Quebec posed challenges for including certain EDI components. Supporting early career researchers through the program aims to help establish new investigators, though collaboration requirements may burden them. Open science practices and transparency have progressed but more work is still needed on data sharing and publishing costs. Respect for Indigenous research methodologies and languages was discussed in the context of validation. Overall, the panelists agreed on the importance of continuing to prioritize and foster EDI in the research environment.

Take Away Messages/ Current Status of the Challenges:

The Canada Research Coordinating Committee has made progress over 5 years on initiatives to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in research.
However, numbers show little improvement on these issues over the past 10-15 years, so more work is needed.
The New Frontiers Research Fund supports high-risk, interdisciplinary projects. Researchers on the panel feel this program provides important funding for risky research.
Panelists working on NFRF-funded projects described how requirements for collaboration strengthened their research. Interdisciplinarity brings challenges but great benefits.
One researcher is exploring how indigenous knowledge systems can positively impact AI development through collaboration between AI scientists and indigenous communities.
Supporting early career researchers is important. Strategies include providing larger grants to early career team members and obtaining teaching relief.
The NFRF application process strikes a good balance between length and funding received. In-person discussions with the review panel are beneficial.
Addressing equity, diversity and inclusion in applications can be challenging due to legal constraints in some regions. Focusing on past efforts to create inclusive teams may be an alternative.
Guidelines on addressing EDI seem directed at researchers unwilling to diversify teams. This can make it awkward for teams already prioritizing these issues.

Recommendations (or Next Steps):

Continue efforts to promote equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in research, as progress has been slow. Require all grant applications to address EDI issues.
Simplify and streamline the application process for research grants, particularly for early career researchers, to avoid overburdening them.
Address the challenges of recruiting and retaining talented researchers by increasing salaries and reducing tuition costs. Funding agencies must make this a priority.
When evaluating interdisciplinary and collaborative proposals, recognize the additional time and effort required. Provide adequate support for communication and relationship building across disciplines.
Support high-risk, innovative research through programs like the New Frontiers Exploration Fund that allow creative freedom. Ensure review processes can effectively evaluate unconventional proposals.
Promote open science practices such as open access publishing and data sharing. Funding agencies should provide resources to make this accessible for all researchers.
Foster respectful partnerships with Indigenous communities. Fund knowledge exchange activities and integrate Indigenous methodologies.
Evaluate how EDI standards can be adapted for regional restrictions on data collection. Focus on inclusive practices rather than metrics.
Prioritize funding for early career researchers to help establish their careers. Balance collaboration requirements with independence.
Enhance validation of diverse research approaches and languages. Recognize the benefits of multilingual and multicultural perspectives.

* Panel summary generated by OLGOO.com

Panel 805

Organized by: National Research Council of Canada | Conseil national de recherches Canada
Speakers:
Andrea Johnston
Danial Wayner
Dave Watters
Fassi Kafyeke
Karen Schuett
Panel Date: November 15th, 2023

See Panel Details

Panel Abstract:
Canada has slow productivity growth compared to many of its peer nations. With lower productivity, Canadian industries are at greater risk of falling behind international competition, affecting Canada’s long-term relative standard of living. Experts have suggested several contributing factors, including: low business enterprise R&D (BERD) investments and weak commercialization, lack of incentives for innovation, slow adoption of new technologies, and inadequate policy instruments to encourage productivity growth. This panel will explore how research and innovation drive productivity, what can be done to reverse this longstanding issue in Canada, and touch on the role of research and technology organizations and other public sector institutions in raising Canadian productivity.

Summary of Conversations:
The panel discussed balancing innovation in Canada between technology push from research and demand pull from industry. An example was given of a water recycling company developing university research to convert manure into water. They export internationally but face pressure from US investors to move operations. More college funding was advocated since colleges work faster with companies than universities. Supporting high-growth startups to scale up in Canada was raised as a key issue, along with building large companies from research in a balanced way. Entrepreneurial culture shifting to retain large Canadian companies was discussed. Challenges were noted for exporters and manufacturers to stay based in Canada, but desires existed with more Canadian growth funding. Overall the subjects focused on policies and programs to drive innovation, support high-growth companies, fund colleges for applied research, and foster a culture retaining large anchor firms in Canada.

Take Away Messages/ Current Status of the Challenges:

Access to growth capital and incentives to scale up in Canada remains a challenge for innovative companies, especially when facing pressure from foreign investors to relocate operations abroad.
More funding for applied research should go to colleges instead of universities since colleges can work faster with businesses to commercialize innovations.
Canada needs better support for high-growth startups to scale up into anchor firms that hire PhDs domestically and conduct R&D in Canada.
Balancing technology-push and demand-pull is important for building large companies from world-class Canadian research in a sustainable way.
Fostering an entrepreneurial culture where Canadian companies want to stay and grow in Canada is critical but faces hurdles currently.
Aerospace and other highly regulated industries face long timelines for certifying innovations which hinders the pace of technology adoption.
Experimenting with new programs that connect businesses to clusters, funding, and other innovation resources shows promise for driving innovation.

Recommendations (or Next Steps):

The government should increase funding to colleges for applied research projects with businesses to facilitate faster development compared to universities.
Programs are needed to support high-growth startups in scaling up operations in Canada rather than moving abroad, providing guidance on funding, regulations, facilities.
Policies should aim to develop large anchor firms that originate from Canadian research and hire significant R&D staff, through balanced technology-push and demand-pull incentives.
Tax incentives and local investment funds could encourage manufacturing and headquarters to remain in Canada as small firms scale up.
Culture shift is required so entrepreneurs see benefit in scaling up firms long-term in Canada versus selling early or relocating.
Innovation metrics are important to measure experimentation and productivity gains across sectors, highlighting opportunities for improvement.

* Panel summary generated by OLGOO.com

2023 Conference – Plenary Events

The following panels were included in the Plenary Events:

Panel 802

Transformations in Canada’s Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Sector

English

French

Organized by: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Panel Date: November 15th, 2023 Speakers: David Golding Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan Francisco Diaz-Mitoma Isabelle Caron Ritu Banerjee Valérie Laflamme

Panel 803

Canada Research Coordinating Committee, Vision to Action, 2018 – 2023

English

French

Organized by: Canada Research Coordinating Committee Speakers: Bénédicte Amilhon Cathleen Crudden Jason Edward Lewis Mélissa Guillemette Ted Hewitt Panel Date: November 14th, 2023

Panel 805

Canada’s Productivity Growth Conundrum

English

French

Organized by: National Research Council of Canada | Conseil national de recherches Canada Speakers: Andrea Johnston Danial Wayner Dave Watters Fassi Kafyeke Karen Schuett Panel Date: November 15th, 2023

Organized by: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
Panel Date: November 15th, 2023
Speakers:
David Golding
Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan
Francisco Diaz-Mitoma
Isabelle Caron
Ritu Banerjee
Valérie Laflamme

Organized by: Canada Research Coordinating Committee
Speakers:
Bénédicte Amilhon
Cathleen Crudden
Jason Edward Lewis
Mélissa Guillemette
Ted Hewitt
Panel Date: November 14th, 2023

Organized by: National Research Council of Canada | Conseil national de recherches Canada
Speakers:
Andrea Johnston
Danial Wayner
Dave Watters
Fassi Kafyeke
Karen Schuett
Panel Date: November 15th, 2023