Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, October 12, 2006 – The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, and Dr. Suzanne Fortier, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) today announced $6.9 million in new funding to support the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network, headquartered at the Faculté de médecine vétérinaire of the Université de Montréal.
“Most Canadians think of the dairy industry as a key source of nutritious food, but it is also an important economic underpinning of rural communities in many parts of Canada, especially in Quebec,” noted Minister Bernier. “I am very pleased to see that this research network addresses this important challenge that the industry faces.”
Mastitis, an inflammation of a cow’s udder, costs farmers as much as $300 million to $400 million annually – a significant loss given that total net farm dairy receipts were $4.8 billion in 2005. The network's multidisciplinary research program brings together the expertise and resources of more than 40 leading scientists in Canada and abroad who will collaborate closely with other dairy industry professionals and the animal-health biotechnology industry to carry out research and transfer the resulting knowledge and technology back to farmers.
Over the next five years, the network will conduct research oriented towards dairy producers’ priorities. Novel tools and strategies for monitoring and controlling mastitis will be developed. Collaboration among researchers will be streamlined thanks to an integrated data collection and archiving program that also links to dairy producers. More than 65 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and undergraduate students are expected to benefit from their association with the network.
“Working with dairy farmers at several different stages of our research on mastitis is a key factor in the success of this network,” explained Dr. Daniel Scholl, Director of the Network. “This cooperation allows for increased knowledge sharing which is to the benefit of everyone involved.”
A significant strength of this network is the large number of collaborating partners. Various associations representing dairy farmers – including the Dairy Farmers of Canada, the Canadian Dairy Network, and provincial dairy farmer associations from Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Alberta – will provide more than $1,000,000. Pfizer Animal Health is also providing additional financing, and the Université de Montréal is providing funds and facilities support.
“Research networks like this one, with such a broad array of talent and experience, take us forward towards our goal of making Canada a country of discoverers and innovators,” commented Dr. Fortier. “Not only will this network deliver tangible research results that will greatly assist farmers across Canada, but it will create an important cadre of young researchers and other highly qualified personnel to continue its work and harness the results of its research.”
The Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network is one of 18 networks that NSERC supports through its Strategic Network Grants program. This program funds large-scale, complex research proposals that involve multisectoral collaborations in targeted areas that will strongly enhance Canada's economy, society and environment.
NSERC is a federal agency whose role is to make investments in people, discovery and innovation for the benefit of all Canadians. The agency supports some 22,000 university students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 10,000 university professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging more than 800 Canadian companies to participate and invest in university research projects.
For further information, please contact:
Michael Dwyer
Media and Public Affairs Officer
NSERC Public Affairs
Tel.: 613-992-9001
Cell: 613-794-9170
E-mail: michael.dwyer@nserc.ca
Marc-André Plouffe
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry
Tel.: 613-995-9001
