AHFMR News
Heritage researcher investigates causes of heart disease
AHFMR announces $48 million in new health research funding
(Edmonton, AB) Thursday March 23, 2006... Heritage researcher, Dr. Jason Dyck investigates heart diseases in children and adults. Dr. Dyck examines abnormal heart muscle cell size known as cardiac hypertrophy. He also researches how cardiac injury occurs during a heart attack. These conditions are major risk factors for the development of a number of heart related illnesses and can lead to heart failure. Dr. Dyck wants to understand the underlying causes of cardiac hypertrophy as well as the mechanisms involved in injury of the heart during heart attacks; this research could lead to drugs that stop the development of hypertrophy or protect the heart from damage after a heart attack.
Dr. Dyck's ground-breaking research has earned him funding from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). With the help of the Heritage Foundation, researchers like Dr. Dyck are improving the health and quality of life of Albertans and people around the world. Dr. Dyck is one of 34 researchers in five faculties at the University of Alberta who have been offered AHFMR funding this year. AHFMR funding provides salaries, equipment, laboratory start-up, and other support for top health researchers in our province. Over the past quarter century AHFMR has invested $850 million in health research in Alberta.
- University of Calgary 2006 Award Story
- University of Lethbridge 2006 Award Story
- Complete list of awards
*** A Photo Opportunity with a Researcher in a Lab will be Available ***
| What: | Media opportunity: A brief presentation to Dr. Jason Dyck by Dr. Kevin Keough, AHFMR CEO & President, and Dr. Bill McBlain, U of A - Senior Associate, VP (Research) (interviews with Dr. Dyck to follow) | |
| When: | Thursday March 23, 2006 | |
| Time: | 09:45 AM * | |
| Where: |
U of A - Heritage Medical Research Bldg. - Lab 474 87th Ave and 113th St. (South side of 87th Ave.) |
* Please call Janet Harvey, AHFMR Communications, at (780) 423-5727 in order to arrange an interview
Backgrounder
Dr. Jason Dyck is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics within the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Dyck is one of six personnel receiving AHFMR support who works in the department of Pediatrics. He is one of 34 researchers at the University of Alberta who was successful in AHFMR's 2006 senior personnel competition. He has been offered an award as a Senior Scholar. This year AHFMR is offering $48 million in grants to researchers at the universities of Alberta, Calgary, and Lethbridge.
Funding at the University of Alberta is approximately $24.5 million.
This year's competition includes successful applicants from a number of different university faculties including, Medicine and Dentistry; Science; Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics; Nursing; Kinesiology; and Physical Education. With the implementation of these awards, AHFMR will have contributed in excess of $850 million to the medical research community in Alberta.
With the implementation of these awards, AHFMR will have contributed in excess of $850 million to the medical research community in Alberta.
The 2006 awards include 43 offers to researchers who have received previous Heritage support.
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.
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) currently provides funding for over 600 researchers and researchers in training at the province's three main universities. The foundation supports a community of researchers who generate knowledge that improves the health and quality of life of Albertans and people throughout the world. AHFMR's commitment is to fund health research based on international standards of excellence and carried out by new and established investigators and researchers in training. Total AHFMR funding for more than a quarter of a century is in excess of $850 million. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca.