History

The Canadian Gene Cure Foundation (CGCF) is a registered Canadian charitable organization. It was formed in 1999 by a group of dedicated visionaries and members of the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network (CGDN) who strongly believe more funding is needed for medical genetics research in Canada.

The Network has an impressive array of accomplishments. Network investigators discovered more than 50 medically significant genes, created new state-of-the-art research facilities, and spawned more than a dozen biotechnology companies. Yet the true legacy of the CGDN is something less measurable but more profound: the change in the culture of genetics and genomics science that has taken hold across Canada.

CGDN's former scientific director, Dr. Michael Hayden, says "The Network was the key catalyst in the transformation of a culture of isolation into a culture of cooperation. It was very profound and very real. There was a shift in perspective in the sense that your colleagues' success, wherever they were in the country, became your success."

And it is this legacy, this ‘culture of cooperation', that the Foundation was created to foster through the continued support of the ground-breaking research that has put Canada on the map as a world leader in human genetics research.