It was announced publicly this week that the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s (OIRM) funding will not be renewed after March 2020. Closing OIRM would be a significant loss to the regenerative medicine community in Ontario, where so many of Canada’s stem cell and regenerative medicine researchers are located.
Kate Allen, Toronto Star, reported the news on May 14. Ironically, this was one day before OIRM hosted its biggest event of the year: OIRM Symposium. The Symposium is an annual event that showcases presentations from some of Ontario’s leading experts, including those who have received funding from OIRM and are invited to report on their progress. The stem cell and regenerative medicine community looks forward to this event to connect with colleagues and acquaintances, and to hear excellent science being presented.
The OIRM Symposium is also where new funding gets announced. This year, OIRM stated it was awarding almost $3 million. As Dr. Duncan Stewart, President and Scientific Director of OIRM, said: “Ontario has a thriving regenerative medicine sector and the research being done in this area is second-to-none. This year, several of our funded projects are moving into clinical trials and others are already finding commercialization opportunities. This sector holds incredible promise, as our world-leading research is already leading to company creations, international recognition and, most importantly, significant progress in improving treatments for devastating diseases.”
In a CBC radio report, an Ontario government spokesman said that the private sector could replace the government’s support and no doubt OIRM will be actively seeking other sources of funding, as well as pursuing other government funding. Mike Crawley of the CBC writes that Ontario stem cell scientists believe “the private sector is not willing to invest until their studies reach a late phase. To get there […] government funding is crucial.” History has shown that to be true.
Dr. Janet Rossant, President of the Gairdner Foundation, is OIRM’s founding Scientific Director. In the Star article she says that the timing of the government’s announcement “seems very short sighted at a time when the opportunities for stem cell therapies are coming along very fast.”
CCRM and University Health Network have built a 20,000 ft2 Good Manufacturing Practices facility in Toronto to manufacture clinical grade cells and viral vectors for Phase I and II clinical trials to meet the growing demand from patients seeking cell and gene therapies. That’s the same need that drives Ontario researchers like Drs. Cristina Nostro to keep developing pancreatic beta cells to help treat type 1 diabetes and Armand Keating to study the safety of using genetically-modified autologous stem cells for the treatment of males with Fabry disease and a team at The Ottawa Hospital to keep testing and improving their treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, to name only a few.
Importantly, OIRM funding also supports graduate students and Fellows and it would be a shame if there wasn’t funding available to support their promising work and their travel to professional development workshops, events and conferences in Canada and abroad.
Dr. Nika Shakiba was a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and she is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Learn about her PhD research here:
Stacey Johnson
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