Alberta Innovates- Health Solutions

(Edmonton, April 1, 2003)... The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) today announced $27.5 million in personnel awards offered to 43 health and medical researchers in Alberta. The new funding is in addition to money committed to awards from previous years and brings AHFMR funding to a total of $94 million to be spent over the next five years. With the new awards, to be implemented July 1, 2003, AHFMR will be funding 250 senior Alberta-based researchers.

At the University of Alberta, awardees include Dr. Alan Wilman, who develops MRI techniques to detect blood vessel disease. At the University of Calgary, Dr. Anne Gillis has been offered Heritage funding for her research into heart rhythm abnormalities and treatments.

"The 2003 senior personnel awards funding is a powerful testament to AHFMR's ongoing commitment to the support of health research in this province," says Dr. Matthew Spence, President and CEO of AHFMR. "Heritage support has played a crucial role in making Alberta one of the most attractive places in the world to conduct health research."

AHFMR senior personnel awards are awarded to researchers in annual competitions and applications are peer-reviewed by scientists from around the world. Researchers must meet the very highest international standards of excellence in order to be funded.

AHFMR operates on a portion of the investment earnings from an endowment established by the Government of Alberta in 1980 for the support of medical and health research.

2003 Personnel Awards Results

Backgrounder: Heritage Research

• AHFMR's 2003 senior personnel awards have been offered to 43 researchers working in a variety of areas at the University of Alberta and University of Calgary. The awards are implemented over 5 years, beginning July 1, 2003.
• This year's competition includes successful applicants from a number of different faculties including, Medicine, Nursing, Science, Kinesiology, and Social Work.
• With the implementation of these awards, AHFMR will have contributed over $750 million to the medical research community in Alberta.
• The 2003 awards include 21 offers to researchers not previously receiving Heritage support-the 5th highest number of new awardees in AHFMR history.
• At the University of Calgary, Dr. Daniel Lai has become AHFMR's first ever awardee in the Faculty of Social Work. Dr. Lai studies multicultural health issues in the aging population.
• Other 2003 awardees at the University of Calgary include Dr. John Remmers who investigates sleep disorders; Dr. Zelma Kiss who works in the area of deep brain stimulation for the treatment of movement disorders and pain; and Dr. Cam Wild who is conducting longitudinal studies of problem drinking in Alberta.
• Awardees at the University of Alberta include Dr. Karin Olson who studies cancer related fatigue in palliative care patients; pediatrician Dr. Bernard Thebaud who studies heart and lung disease in children; and Dr. Moira Glerum, a medical geneticist who researches mitochondrial disease.
• Heritage investigators have earned international acclaim for their pioneering work in areas such as: heart attack therapy, islet transplantation for diabetics, nerve regeneration, the cell biology of cancer, drugs for viral infections, electrical therapy for paralysed people, vaccines, and better understanding and treatment of arthritis.