Canada's Top Health Researchers Recognized at Fourth Canadian Health Research Awards

OTTAWA (November 22, 2005) - Canada's top health researchers will be recognized tonight at the fourth Canadian Health Research Awards. These awards are amongst the Canadian health research community's highest honours and are given every year to Canada's foremost health researchers.

This year, Dr. Janet Rossant, Chief of Research at the Hospital for Sick Children and a professor at the University of Toronto, won the prestigious CIHR Michael Smith Prize for her research as a world-leading developmental biologist. Former Trudeau-era Health and Welfare Minister, the Honourable Marc Lalonde received the CIHR Distinguished Leadership Award for his lifetime of dedication to the health and health research in Canada. Awards were also given out to health researchers whose work focuses on a broad range such as outcomes in the treatment and care of cardiovascular patients, work on the development of a SARS vaccine, as well as the bioethics of genetic testing.

This event, which will be held tonight in Ottawa, will be hosted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in collaboration with the Health Charities Coalition of Canada (HCCC), Research Canada - An Alliance for Health Discovery (formerly the Council for Health Research in Canada) and Canada's provincial health research organizations. The event was attended by Canada's leading health researchers as well as the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health and Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of CIHR.

"The Government of Canada is proud to acknowledge the exceptional, internationally-recognized work of these award-winning health researchers," said Minister Dosanjh. "Each recipient has demonstrated exceptional creativity, a willingness to overcome challenges and the ability to embrace new concepts, all in the pursuit of new knowledge. Collectively, they are making Canada a healthier, more prosperous nation and their work will have a direct impact on Canadians and people around the world."

The following individuals and organizations were among those recognized for their outstanding contributions to improving the health of Canadians:

• Dr. Janet Rossant (Chief of Research, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto) is the recipient of the CIHR Michael Smith Prize in Health Research. This award recognizes innovation, creativity, leadership and dedication to health research. Dr. Rossant is a world-leading developmental biologist who has made major contributions to our understanding of how embryos develop, how genes control development and how embryonic and other stem cells arise.

• The Honourable Marc Lalonde (Senior Counsel, Stikeman, Elliot LLP) is the recipient of the CIHR Distinguished Leadership Award. This award recognizes outstanding leadership qualities and support by individuals for health research. Mr. Lalonde has played an important role for more than 30 years in engaging and challenging the health research community in Canada.

• Dr. Frédéric Charron (Lab Director, Molecular Biology of Neural Development - Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal and Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal) is the recipient of the Peter Lougheed/CIHR New Investigator Award. This award is given to Canada's brightest young health researchers at the beginning of their careers. Dr. Charron is recognized as an extremely gifted young scientist noted for his expertise in developmental neurobiology and cell signalling.

• The Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team (CCORT), (Dr. Jack Tu, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, University of Toronto) is the national recipient of the CIHR Knowledge Translation Award. This award recognizes an exceptional individual or team currently involved in a collaborative health research or development project that aims to advance and expand the understanding of knowledge translation. The important research results generated by CCORT will help physicians provide better care to their patients as well as provide policy makers with the information needed to ensure consistent quality of care for people with cardiovascular disease.

• SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative (SAVI), (Dr. Brett Finlay, Scientific Director - SAVI, UBC Peter Wall Distinguished Professor, Michael Smith Laboratories and Dr. Robert Brunham, Associate Director - SAVI, Medical Director, University of British Columbia) are the recipients of the CIHR Partnership Award. This award recognizes partnerships that bring health research communities together to create innovative approaches to important research questions. SAVI represents a national effort to develop a human vaccine against SARS as quickly as possible and is a model for partnerships that produce needed results in the face of emerging health threats.
  
  
• Ms. Meredith Schwartz (Doctoral Fellow, CIHR Training Program in the Ethics of Health Research and Policy, Dalhousie University) is the recipient of the CIHR Douglas Kinsella Doctoral Award for Research in Bioethics. This award honours the accomplishments of Dr. T. Douglas Kinsella in bioethics and his lifelong promotion of the ethical treatment of humans in research. In her research, Ms. Schwartz focuses on the ethics of genetic testing, in particular, the question of responsibility among those identified as being genetically "at risk" of a disease or disorder.

"Health research is fundamental to strengthening our health care system and improving the health of Canadians," says Dr. Bernstein. "The excellence and commitment of the recipients of tonight's awards attest to the significant contributions Canadian health researchers are making to both advancing and applying new scientific knowledge - something Canadians can take great pride in."

For a complete list of award recipients, please visit the CIHR website.

CIHR is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to close to 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

Canadian Health Research Awards - Our Partners

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For media assistance contact:

Marie-France Poirier
CIHR Media Specialist
(613) 941-4563
cell: (613) 447-4794