Project 460967

The DNA that makes up the genome is tagged with various chemical marks that are attached either directly to the DNA or to its packaging proteins. These marks, collectively called the epigenome, act as a kind of molecular mark-up language that tells the cell's proteins which genes to turn 'on' and which to turn 'off'. Understanding how the genome uses this language to deploy different programs that lead to different fates in cell development, altered cell function, and in disease, is a critical question to be addressed. The epigenome harbours enormous promise to understand normal development and disorders arising throughout a person's lifespan. The CEEHRC Network was created to establish a pan-Canadian network of researchers across the country and drive epigenomic research forward in Canada, and to provide outreach and training resources to the broader research community. As one of its primary mandates, the CEEHRC Network hosts a successful Annual General Meeting in the fall that alternates between the western and eastern coasts of Canada. This fall, the meeting will be held October 4-7, 2022 in Esterel, QC. At this meeting, we aim to introduce a special joint Canada-Japan session where project awardees from a recent CEEHRC Team Grant competition will be invited to present their research. This will be a valuable showcase of the potential synergies between Canada and Japan and provide opportunities for catalyzing potential new collaborations. In this application, we seek to obtain funding to support the travel of the Japanese and Canadian co-leads on each of the three funded programs, as well as a trainee from the respective labs, to Esterel and to facilitate this session at the meeting to allow the researchers to disseminate their work to attendees. Through this discourse and collaboration, we seek to foster these international ties, address the bench-to-bedside gulf in epigenetics research in Canada, and to harness improved understanding of epigenetic mechanisms.