For Immediate Release – April 18, 2011
London, Ontario

On Thursday, April 21, TechAlliance will proudly host the Regional Competition for the Southwestern Ontario Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge (SABC). The SABC, now in its 18th year nationally, is Canada’s premier student biotechnology competition. The event will take place at the London Convention Centre and will welcome over 25 student teams, competing to win $8,500 in cash prizes plus scholarships to The University of Western Ontario. The competition will begin at 9:00 a.m. continuing through the day with finalists presenting at 1:00 p.m. and an awards dinner starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge mirrors real-world scientific research.  Students work with local scientific professionals as mentors who host the participating students in their laboratories while providing expert advice and access to equipment and supplies. Projects touch on hot biotech topics such as agriculture, healthcare and the environment. The student teams will present their projects to two panels of judges, one for oral presentations and one for poster evaluations. Winning teams are announced at the evening’s awards ceremony and dinner.

These annual science competitions are intended to raise awareness among students, educators and the public about the emerging science of biotechnology and its many applications.

The Southwestern Ontario SABC is proud to be one of the largest programs across the country since the regional expansion in 2006. Many of the student participants have gone on to achieve great success in their respective fields. Securing summer positions with their mentors, completing more intensive research, studying abroad and gaining national recognition for their work are only a few of their highlighted achievements. 

With more than 100 organizations partnered Canada-wide in this educational outreach initiative, there are yearly competitions held in 14 regions across the country including Southwestern Ontario, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton.

More information about the national SABC program can be found at www.sanofibiotalentchallenge.ca.
For media inquiries please contact:
Matt Quin, Director, Communications and Engagement, TechAlliance
519-858-5082 or matt [dot] quintechalliance [dot] ca

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About BioTalent Canada
BioTalent Canada helps Canada’s bio-economy industry thrive globally. As a non-profit national organization of innovators leading our bio-economy, BioTalent Canada anticipates needs and creates new opportunities, delivering human resources tools, information and skills development to ensure the industry has access to job-ready people.
BioTalent Canada is a Canadian sector council—one of many partnership organizations created to address skills-development issues in key sectors of the economy. For more information: www.biotalent.ca, 613-235-1402

About Sanofi Pasteur and sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to improve the lives of everyone. Sanofi-aventis is represented in Canada by the pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis
Canada Inc., based in Laval, Quebec, and by the vaccines company Sanofi Pasteur Limited, based in Toronto, Ontario. Together they employ more than 2,000 people across the country. With combined R&D investments of $181.6 million in 2009, they are leaders in Canada’s biopharmaceutical sector, a critical knowledge-based industry that generates
jobs, business and opportunity throughout the country.

Sanofi Pasteur has a long history of supporting science education at the post-secondary level in Canada. In 1994, it recognized the need to engage younger students in biotechnology education, and the initial SABC program was born.

Since then, the program has expanded to 14 events across Canada and has involved thousands of students. As lead sponsors of the SABC, sanofi pasteur and sanofi-aventis is proud to collaborate with partners in government, industry and academia to get high school students engaged in biotechnology. For more information: www.sanofi-aventis.ca or www.sanofipasteur.ca