News

Health Research to be Studied

Published: 11 July 2002

Research that explores such diverse scientific areas as cancer, heart disease, human reproduction, medical genetics, mental illness, musculoskeletal disorders, neuroscience, and public health will be conducted at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) through funding from Canada's leading federal funding agency. The federal Minister of Health, Ann McLellan, recently announced that twenty-five scientists from the MUHC research institute will receive awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding program.

"I am extremely pleased with the achievements of our researchers. This funding will help to maintain the robust health research environment of our institute; it will enable us to launch several new projects, and support new recruits. Results of this national competition strengthen our position as the premier university health research establishment in Canada," said Dr. Emil Skamene, the scientific director of the MUHC Research Institute.

Thirty-five percent of the grant applications from MUHC Research Institute will be funded. This success ratio is greater than the national average. Among the successful recipients are: Dr. David Goltzman, who will study the role of hormones on bone growth and development, Dr. Ann Clarke, who will investigate characteristics of the disease lupus, and Dr. Marcel Behr, who will examine the efficacy of tuberculosis vaccines.

The mandate of the CIHR is to "excel, according to the internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system."

"Our research programs," says Skamene, "which are closely linked to the clinical practices of the MUHC, are our contribution to the alleviation of suffering, and to the discovery of medical inventions, which are the cornerstone of a new, knowledge-based economy."

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