| For immediate release-- |
2007-27 |
QUEBEC CITY (July 9, 2007) - Université Laval's Laboratoire d'Organogénèse Expérimentale (LOEX), represented by researchers that include Drs. François A. Auger, Lucie Germain, Véronique Moulin, François Berthod and Francine Goulet, have become the first group to receive the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Synapse Award - Research Group.
The award, which is worth $10,000, recognizes the efforts of a group that has made exceptional efforts to promote health research among Canada's high school students. Through mentorship, the winning group regularly motivates youth to consider both the value of health research as well career opportunities that exist within various scientific fields. The winning group is nominated by someone who understands its direct scientific contributions to young people, and is chosen by the members of the CIHR Youth Outreach Advisory Board.
LOEX group representatives have encouraged youth to develop an interest in health research through regular high school and college lectures, involvement at science fairs, and public events. LOEX has also allowed students the chance to visit their laboratory.
"All health researchers should get involved in generating interest in science amongst young Canadians," says Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of CIHR. "LOEX's direct, personal engagement has encouraged high school students to consider health research as a career possibility. Conveying the exciting benefits of health research is essential if we are going to awaken young people to the potential for science to change their lives."
CIHR's Synapse - Youth Connection initiative acts as a meeting place, a scientific junction that brings together health researchers and young students. More than 2,000 CIHR-funded health researchers from across the country have already signed up to become CIHR Synapse mentors. Synapse, in collaborative partnership with national science outreach organizations, connects these mentors with high school students through hands-on training experience that will help create the next generation of Canadian health researchers.
"This prize recognizes the remarkable results and innovation generated by LOEX in the field of tissue engineering," says Mr. Raymond Leblanc, Vice-Rector of Research at Université Laval. "Université Laval is most proud of the tribute paid to this group which recognizes the caliber of research and the great interest that this laboratory has generated among young researchers."
LOEX's award is one of three related to mentorship through CIHR's Synapse initiative. Bechara Saab, from the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital (a University of Toronto-affiliated research centre), won the Synapse Award - Graduate Student / Post Doctoral Fellow and Dr. John McLean won the Synapse Award - Individual Researcher.
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About the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
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 more than 11,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca
About Laboratoire d'Organogénèse Expérimentale (LOEX)
Professors and researchers at Université Laval's Laboratoire d'Organogénèse Expérimentale (LOEX) of Hôpital Saint-Sacrement, Centre hospitalier affilié (CHA), specialize in genetic tissue engineering, which involves the reconstruction of human tissue in the laboratory for fundamental and clinical applications in the field of regenerative medicine. Skin culture for severe burn victims is one of the benefits that LOEX has produced.
For More Information:
David Coulombe
CIHR Media Relations
Tel: 613-941-4563
E-mail: mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Marielle A. Morissette
Consultant in Research Strategic Communication
Public Affairs Division
Tel.: 418-656-2131, ext. 4674
Fax: 418-656-3087
E-mail: Marielle.Morissette@dap.ulaval.ca
