Award-winning anti-collision system for wheelchairs increases mobility
The use of powered wheelchairs can be dangerous for people with cognitive disabilities, such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease, due to the associated loss of awareness of surroundings. Now, thanks to a new anti-collision technology being developed by CIHR-supported researchers, people who use these wheelchairs will be able to get around safely. The research team, led by Dr. Alex Mihailidis of the University of Toronto in collaboration with colleagues at the University of British Columbia, recently won the top prize at the international CanestaVision TM design contest. With Dr. Mihailidis's new design, a 3D sensor will instruct the wheelchair to stop and move in a safer direction should anything obstruct its path.
A CIHR-IAPH funded project is allowing aboriginal researchers design community-specific programs aimed at preventing alcohol-related birth defects (FASD) in children.
Drs. Andrew Churg and Joanne Wright, CIHR-funded researchers from the University of British Columbia, along with Dr. Steven Shapiro from Harvard University, received the 2005 Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health. Valued at $15,000 (US), this annual award is presented to researchers who are doing outstanding clinical, fundamental, epidemiological or preventive work in the fight against smoking. Drs. Churg, Shapiro and Wright were recognized for their work in proteases and emphysema. The award takes its name from the late Dr. Oschner, who was the first researcher to identify that cigarette smoking is a primary cause of lung cancer.
January 5, 2006
Globe and Mail editorial highlights CIHR's efforts to increase Canada's productivity
In a January 3 editorial, the Globe and Mail (G&M) supports greater federal government investment in research and development to improve Canada's productivity levels. Canada's productivity, or amount of output per worker per hour, currently lags behind 21 of the 23 nations of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. As an effective example that will help improve Canada's productivity levels, the G&M recognizes CIHR's recent partnership with the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The partnership will fund collaborative study in five areas, including infectious disease. Globe and Mail, January 3, 2006, p.A12.
Dr. Samy Suissa, a CIHR-funded researcher from the McGill University Health Centre, has discovered that medication used to reduce gastric acid allows Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) to develop outside of hospitals. This bacterial microbe can cause infection of the bowel that can sometimes be fatal. Dr. Suissa's discovery may lead to novel treatments that will prevent C. difficile from developing in the first place.
January 4, 2006
CIHR launches the China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) launched the China-Canada Joint Health Research Initiative. The Program's aim is to promote the development of Canadian-Chinese scientific cooperation between universities, hospitals, research institutes or affiliated research organizations in Canada and China through the support of collaborative research grants.
