Looking Back on our First Year

In its first year, the Canadian Bioinformatics Hub (CBH) established itself as a national platform for coordinated bioinformatics training and community engagement across Canada, built on the two main pillars of training scientists and nurturing supportive communities, all guided by an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) framework. This year, CBH has laid groundwork and launched its mission to foster a more diverse and inclusive research community, thereby strengthening Canada’s global competitiveness in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Data Science.

This year, we celebrate:

Year 1 Report – Executive summary

The Canadian Bioinformatics Hub (CBH) is a national platform that brings training and community programs together under one umbrella. It is built on two main pillars: training scientists to use computational tools to solve life sciences problems, and creating community spaces for knowledge exchange and sustained collaboration. Both pillars are guided by a framework to prioritize inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA), ensuring that all population groups in Canada — including equity-owed and Indigenous communities — can participate in a meaningful manner in both official languages. 

Over the first year of CBH operations, we have worked to:

  • Section 1 – Management and Operations: Operationalize CBH by hiring and training regional representatives and creating centralized documentation.
  • Section 2 – Infrastructure Development: Establish a comprehensive product requirements document with the hired web development company (Tennis) to guide the development of CBH and CBW websites in year 2.
  • Section 3 – Removing Barriers: Design the foundation of the IDEA Framework and implement proposed practices in CBW training and CBH Training Awards.
  • Section 4 – National Expansion: Scale training and community programming throughout Canada by launching regional workshops and events.
  • Section 5 – Training Standardization: Establish core principles to drive future training partnerships, secure instructor training seats for Regional Coordinators and CBW faculty, and align our workshops with the ISCB competency framework.

In year one, we have laid the foundations for and launched the CBH as a national platform for coordinated training and community engagement across disciplines of data-driven biology. Several challenges were encountered including delays in finalizing subagreements, uneven progress across regions, and barriers to accessing national computing infrastructure. Nonetheless, there is significant excitement about the launch of CBH and we have held numerous collaboration meetings with other national projects and networks. Our goal over the coming years is to use CBH to foster a more diverse and inclusive research community, ensuring that Canada’s scientific workforce better reflects the population it serves. Its success will help Canada remain globally competitive by strengthening its capacity in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and Data Science. 

Key Achievements

Section 1 – Management and Operations 

  • Signed five of six regional subagreements. Hired the Platform Manager, Platform Training Manager, and six Regional Coordinators. 
  • Hosted a two-day in-person training event for Regional Coordinators in Toronto.
  • Established processes and resources to support national operations.
  • Convened all six advisory committees, defined terms of reference and schedules.
  • Created a communication guidebook with branding, policies, and strategies.
  • Developed the basis for a partnerships framework to guide future collaborations.

Section 2 – Infrastructure Development 

  • Signed a contract with Tennis to design and develop the CBH and CBW websites.
  • Completed a product requirements document including branding, user personas, site maps, and functional specifications for training and community portals.
  • Began parallel design of the CBW site, which will be fully integrated into the CBH site.
  • Planned for the new website to support regional administrators, host event listings, and centralize all training and community programming.

Section 3 – Removing Barriers 

  • Ensured diverse representation in all six Advisory Committees.
  • Developed a national land acknowledgement statement and ensured all CBH communications and materials (text and graphics) are bilingual (English and French).
  • Founded the Indigenous Trainee Circle for Bioinformatics Training (ITCBT).
  • Developed a bilingual interactive e-learning course with Compute Ontario.
  • Introduced practical accessibility strategies at CBW events.
  • Designed an IDEA “Train-the-Trainer” program to design accessible workshops.
  • Established the CBH Training Awards with specific categories for equity-owed trainees.

Section 4 – National Expansion 

  • Documented all CBW processes in a comprehensive Training Guidebook for scaling.
  • Developed national templates and shared resources (Google folders, GitHub pages) to support regional delivery of workshops.
  • Conducted a national training needs assessment survey with nearly 500 responses to guide future programming.
  • Initiated planning for the CBH Conference in 2026, rotating provinces every 2 years.
  • Laid the groundwork for community programming, including parameters for partnership and an event sponsorship framework to support regional engagement activities.

Section 5 – Training Standardization 

  • Expanded core training principles into broader organizational principles that guide both training and community programming.
  • Secured membership with The Carpentries to train CBW faculty in effective teaching methods; reserved 17 instructor seats for September 2025.
  • Processed competency mapping for existing workshops using the ISCB framework.