| For immediate release - |
2006-31 |
OTTAWA ( July 17, 2006) - The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, today announced the appointment of Dr. Brett Finlay to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Governing Council for a three-year term. In addition to this appointment, Dr. Nancy Edwards was re-appointed for a second three-year term.
"The CIHR's Governing Council will greatly benefit from the health backgrounds that Dr. Finlay and Dr. Edwards bring to the Council," said Minister Clement. "Their knowledge and experience from working in the university and health research communities will contribute to meeting CIHR's mandate of improving the health of Canadians."
Dr. Finlay is a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Finlay has demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities as the Founding Director of the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative, co-founder of Inimex Pharmaceutical, Inc. and founder of a National Food and Water Safety Coalition. Dr. Finlay is best known for his work with Salmonella and Escherichia coli - he was the first to discover, for example, that in addition to attaching to existing proteins on the cell membrane, E. coli creates its own receptor and injects that into the host cell. He also serves on several editorial and advisory boards and is internationally known for his work.
Dr. Edwards enjoys a national and international reputation in epidemiology, community medicine and public health. She holds a Canadian Health Services Research Foundation/Canadian Institutes of Health Research Nursing Chair at the University of Ottawa. Her extensive experience will contribute greatly to the CIHR's work on population health, which is an important part of CIHR's mandate. Dr. Edwards is being reappointed as a valuable and contributing member to the CIHR Governing Council, as well as Chair of the Knowledge Translation Working Committee of CIHR.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (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.
The biographies for the members of the CIHR Governing Council.
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For media assistance contact:
Marie-France Poirier
CIHR Media Relations
Tel.: (613) 941-4563
mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Erik Waddell
Office of the Minister of Health
Tel: (613) 957-0200
