Ontario’s COVID-19 Genomics Rapid Response Coalition
About
To accelerate the genomic characterization and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Ontario and to help expedite patient genome sequencing through a coordinated approach bringing together all of the province’s genomics resources and capacity to enable timely and comprehensive genomic analysis.
Genomics
Infrastructure
Standardized Sequencing Methodologies
Bioinformatics
Infrastructure
Data Management & Sharing
The ON-CoV Coalition is designed to provide for method standardization and coordination of:​
1
Collecting Patient Samples and Metadata
2
Sequencing
3
Data Curation and Management
4
Epidemiological Studies
This work will expedite real-time testing and reporting to inform public health and public policy, help manage and overcome the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and ensure scalability for Ontario’s future pandemics preparedness.
Why Genomics?
Genomic technologies are the foundation for the solutions necessary to combat the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic. Ontario’s world-leading expertise in genomics, bioinformatics, genomics epidemiology, and artificial intelligence, can expedite Ontario’s response to COVID-19. 
The results reported by the Coalition will inform vaccine and therapeutic development.
Why Ontario Genomics?
Over the past 20 years, Ontario Genomics, together with the Ontario Government, Genome Canada, and academic, clinical and industry partners, has built a world-leading genomics ecosystem in Ontario with over $2.7B in funding leveraged for research, translation and the establishment of genomic technology platforms.
Ontario Genomics is well-positioned to provide and promote:
COLLABORATION
LEADERSHIP
EXPERTISE
Members
ONCoV Genomics Coalition Steering Committee
-
Dr. Samira Mubareka, Sunnybrook Health Sciences/University of Toronto
-
Dr. Herveen Sachdeva, Toronto Public Health
-
Dr. Sarah Wootton, University of Guelph
ONCoV Genomics Coalition Members
Aaron Campigotto
University of Toronto
Bettina Hamelin
Ontario Genomics
Samira Mubareka
Sunnybrook Health Sciences / University of Toronto
Danielle Brabant-Kirwan
Health Sciences North
Robyn Lee
Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Letitia Nadalin Penno
Canadore College
Nahuel Fittipaldi
Public Health Ontario
Andrew G. McArthur
McMaster University
Marc Fiume
DNAstack
Allison McGeer
Sinai Health Systems
Prameet M. Sheth
Kingston Health Sciences Centre / Queen’s University
Jared Simpson
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Michael Szego
Unity Health Toronto / University of Toronto
David Villeneuve
Canadore College
Bo Wang
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, UHN / University of Toronto
Sarah Wootton
University of Guelph
We are proactively working with the research community, partner genome centres, and governments to accelerate the genomic characterization and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Ontario. Learn more and stay up-to-date about our COVID-19 programs and important resources.
Partners
.png){kind=logo}
Contact
November 15, 2022
Medical professionals say Ontario’s government has a lot of work to do to change those perceptions and encourage more masking, including sharing information and evidence at a community level about the effectiveness — including against influenza and other viruses.
Researchers identify SARS-CoV-2 variant in white-tailed deer, evidence of deer-to-human transmission
In the summer of 2020, months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, Samira Mubareka and her colleagues began testing wildlife in Ontario and Quebec for the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Now, her team has identified a SARS-CoV-2 variant in white-tailed-deer, evidence of transmission.
November 14, 2022
October 22, 2022
Canada is heading into a potentially brutal winter as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise, Omicron continues to rapidly mutate, and booster uptake remains stagnant — all at a time when flu season is returning and the health-care system is already under intense pressure. Dr. Allison McGeer, a medical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital and a member of our ONCoV Genomics Coalition, said the lack of booster uptake in Canada has been “worrying” so far, which she attributes to confusion over messaging around waiting three or six months.