OTTAWA -- June 7, 2000 -- Allan Rock, Minister of Health, today launched the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and announced Dr. Alan Bernstein, the first President and the new Governing Council. The Minister also announced more than $ 65 million in programs to build capacity and encourage health research in Canada.
"The launch of CIHR is an historic event for the health research community in Canada, and for all Canadians," said Minister Rock. "CIHR is a highly innovative and integrative approach to health research. Its emphasis on partnerships with the voluntary health care sector, other government agencies and industry will be a model to be emulated around the world. Thematic institutes linking the findings and studies of researchers from coast to coast will allow us to focus on research challenges and opportunities relevant to all Canadians."
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, first announced in the 1999 federal budget, replaces the Medical Research Council of Canada. Along with a doubling of the research budget over three years, CIHR will create a series of virtual institutes linking investigators from all four areas of health research -- biomedical research, clinical research, health systems and services research, and population health research -- to better address the health needs and priorities of Canadians.
Dr. Bernstein, the inaugural President of CIHR, is the former Director of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and an internationally- recognized researcher, teacher and scientific leader. Along with Dr. Bernstein the members of the first Governing Council include:
Dr. Denise Alcock, Dean of the Health Sciences Faculty at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Stephanie Atkinson, Director of the Nutrition and Metabolism Research Laboratory of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University.
Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai,
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Contact: Monique Renaud-Gagn
mrenaudgagne@cihr.ca
613-941-5797
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
6-Jun-2000