Alberta Innovates announces $43 million for outstanding research across Alberta
(Edmonton, Alberta) Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions has awarded $43 million in funding support to 37 outstanding health researchers across Alberta. These awards, 34 of which are seven years in length, are among the richest health research awards in Canada.
"We have such a diverse and talented community of scientists, physicians, and population health researchers throughout Alberta. I want to recognize and thank all of the applicants for their substantial efforts," says Alberta Innovates Health Solutions CEO Jacques Magnan, PhD. "My sincere congratulations go out to the researchers at the universities of Alberta and Calgary who were awarded funding to support their exceptional work."
Zamaneh Kassiri, PhD, is one of 19 researchers at the University of Alberta who was successful in the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research's 2009 independent investigator competition, which included 130 applications. The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research is now Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions.
Funding support at the University of Alberta is being awarded to researchers in the faculties of agricultural, life & environmental sciences, medicine & dentistry, nursing, and the school of public health.
An assistant professor of physiology at the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Kassiri, PhD, is a scientist who investigates the muscles in the heart, and how best to heal the heart after it is damaged by clogged arteries, or a heart attack. Her research in mice explores the matrix that acts as a framework to hold together the muscle cells and blood vessels in the heart. Her team is looking at how best to protect this matrix when it breaks down after a heart attack.
"It is critical that we protect the matrix that enables the heart to pump efficiently," says Kassiri, PhD. "Our research has shown us that optimal heart function requires a fine balance between the good proteins in the heart, TIMPs, and the bad proteins, known as MMP's."
Kassiri's approach, a new kind of gene therapy, is to replenish the heart with the good proteins, TIMPs, just after a heart attack, to see whether they can protect and heal the heart. "We are currently investigating if this approach works in animals, and my hope is that within my lifetime, and with the help of my colleagues at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, we will be able to introduce this therapy for people with life-threatening heart conditions," says Kassiri, PhD.
Every seven minutes in Canada, someone dies from heart disease or stroke, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Statistics Canada reports that in 2005 cardiovascular disease accounted for 71,338 deaths, 31% of all deaths in Canada, costing the Canadian economy more than $22.2 billion each year in physician services, hospital costs, lost wages and decreased productivity.
Kassiri, PhD, recruited to Alberta from the University of Toronto three years ago, is funded by Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and a New Investigator award from the Heart & Stroke Foundation.
Since 1980, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (now Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions) has committed more than $1.2 billion to researchers at Athabasca University, the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, and the University of Lethbridge.
For more information about the September 2009 Independent Investigator Awards please visit:
2009 Investigator Awards
For more information, please contact Karen Thomas, Media Relations Specialist, Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions, 1.877.423.5727 x225, 403.651.1112 (cell),
Still image available for download: Zam Kassiri, PhD, a researcher at the University of Alberta, who's just received funding from Alberta Innovates Health Solutions. Photo credit: Dustin Delfs
June 1, 2010
Alberta Innovates announces $43 million for outstanding research across Alberta
(Edmonton, Alberta) Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions has awarded $43 million in funding support to 37 outstanding health researchers across Alberta. These awards, 34 of which are seven years in length, are among the richest health research awards in Canada.
Media are invited to attend a media availability on Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 10 a.m. in the laboratory of Zamaneh Kassiri, PhD, a new Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Scholar, and an assistant professor of physiology at the University of Alberta. Kassiri, PhD, is a scientist who studies the heart, and how best to heal the heart after it is damaged by clogged arteries, or a heart attack.
Every seven minutes in Canada, someone dies from heart disease or stroke, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Statistics Canada reports that in 2005 cardiovascular disease accounted for 71,338 deaths, 31% of all deaths in Canada, costing the Canadian economy more than $22.2 billion each year in physician services, hospital costs, lost wages and decreased productivity.
| WHAT: | Alberta Innovates announces $43 million for outstanding research |
| WHO: | Alberta Innovates Health Solutions CEO Jacques Magnan, PhD Alberta Innovates Health Solutions Scholar Zamaneh Kassiri, PhD |
| WHERE: | Room 474 Heritage Medical Research Centre, 4th floor University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry 87 Avenue and 113 Street, HMRC is on the south side of 87 Avenue Please park in the Education car park at 87 Ave and 114 St. |
| WHEN: | Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 10 a.m. |
For more information about the September 2009 Independent Investigator Awards please visit:
2009 Investigator Awards
For more information, please contact Karen Thomas, Media Relations Specialist, Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions, 1.877.423.5727 x225, 403.651.1112 (cell),