About

1999-2007

The Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops (CBW) series began offering one and two week short courses in bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics in 1999, in response to an identified need for a skilled bioinformatics workforce in Canada.
In partnership with the Canadian Genetics Diseases Network and Human Resources Development Canada, and under the scientific direction of Director, Francis Ouellette, the CBW series was established.
For eight years, the series offered short courses in bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics in various cities across Canada.
The courses were taught by top faculty from Canada and the US, and offered small classes and hands-on instruction.

2007-Present

A new format and series of workshops were designed in the fall of 2007 at the third Mentor Network Meeting.
It was recognized that with the introduction of new technologies and scientific approaches to research, having the computational biology capacity and skill to deal with this new data has become an even greater asset.
The new series of workshops focuses on training the experts and users of these advanced technologies on the latest approaches being used in computational biology to deal with the new data.
Now hosted by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, where Francis Ouellette is Associate Director of Informatics and Biocomputing.
The CBW began offering the workshops in 2008.

Current Workshops (2011)

Toronto Workshops


Date	Name	Description
June 13-14	Informatics on High Throughput Sequencing Data	With the introduction of high-throughput sequencing platforms from Illumina, Roche and ABI, it is becoming feasible to consider sequencing approaches to address many research projects. However, knowing how to manage and interpret the large volume of sequence data resulting from such technologies is less clear. This 2-day course covers the bioinformatics tools available for managing and interpreting high-throughput sequencing data.
July 4-5	Microarray Data Analysis	Microarrays remain the most popular, most affordable, and best-established technique for functional genomics. Tens of thousands of datasets have been generated to address diverse aspects of biology. This workshop provides an overview of the analysis of microarray data ranging in size from one to two samples to hundreds of samples.
July 7-8	Pathway and Network Analysis of -omics Data (Formerly Gene List Analysis)	This is a 2-day course covering the bioinformatics concepts and tools available for annotating and determining functional enrichment of a gene list and analyzing networks. The workshop is focused on the principles and concepts required for analyzing and conducting pathway analysis on a gene list from any organism, although focus will be on human and model Eukaryotic organisms.
September 8-9	Exploratory Data Analysis and Essential Statistics using R	This is a 2-day intensive course covering essential topics in common statistic approaches. The workshop will help attendees develop a solid understanding of what statistic inferences are based on and how to extract true, meaningful information from a data set with enough confidence to guide future research projects. involves .

Vancouver Workshops


Date	Name	Description
May 2-3	Pathway and Network Analysis of -omics Data (Formerly Gene List Analysis)	This is a 2-day course covering the bioinformatics concepts and tools available for annotating and determining functional enrichment of a gene list and analyzing networks. The workshop is focused on the principles and concepts required for analyzing and conducting pathway analysis on a gene list from any organism, although focus will be on human and model Eukaryotic organisms.
May 30-31	Exploratory Data Analysis and Essential Statistics using R	This is a 2-day intensive course covering essential topics in common statistic approaches. The workshop will help attendees develop a solid understanding of what statistic inferences are based on and how to extract true, meaningful information from a data set with enough confidence to guide future research projects. involves .

Edmonton Workshops


Date	Name	Description
June 16-17	Informatics and Statistics for Metabolomics	This workshop will cover many topics ranging from understanding metabolomics technologies, data collection and analysis, using pathway databases, performing pathway analysis, conducting univariate and multivariate statistics, working with metabolomic databases and exploring chemical databases.

Ottawa Workshops


Date	Name	Description
January 24-25	Exploratory Data Analysis and Essential Statistics using R	This is a 2-day intensive course covering essential topics in common statistic approaches. The workshop will help attendees develop a solid understanding of what statistic inferences are based on and how to extract true, meaningful information from a data set with enough confidence to guide future research projects. involves .

CBW Awards

For the 2011 workshop season, the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops offer award opportunities to eligible participants. The CBW has $10,000 in awards available for the workshops. The awards would cover the registration fee for the participant's workshop ($500 + HST). Further information here.

Jobs

The Bioinformatics Jobs Board offers a list of jobs available in the Bioinformatics sector. The jobs are from a variety of organizations and companies such as hospitals and universities.

Bioinformatics Links

The Bioinformatics Links Directory contains links to molecular resources, tools and databases. The links listed in this directory are from a myriad of sources, selected on the basis of recommendations from bioinformatics experts in the field.

Contact

Michelle Brazas, PhD
Manager, Bioinformatics Education
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
101 College St., Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A3
Phone: (416) 673-8502
Fax: (416) 977-7446
Email: course_info@bioinformatics.ca