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AHFMR News

University of Lethbridge Heritage researcher investigates memory loss

AHFMR announces $48 million in new health research funding

(Lethbridge, AB) Thursday March 23, 2006... Imagine suffering a brain injury or a stroke and permanently losing the ability to remember. Heritage researcher, Dr. Robert Sutherland is conducting research which is leading to a better understanding of how changes in the brain, especially in the hippocampus, lead to memory disorders associated with stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, age-related diseases, and prenatal alcohol exposure.

Dr. Sutherland's pioneering research in this area has earned him renewed funding for nearly a million dollars from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). With the help of the Heritage Foundation, researchers like Dr. Sutherland are improving the health and quality of life of Albertans and people around the world. Dr. Sutherland is one of 63 researchers at the province's three main universities who has been offered AHFMR funding this year. AHFMR funding provides salaries, equipment, laboratory start-up, and other support for top health researchers in our province. For more than a quarter of a century AHFMR has invested $850 million in health research in Alberta.


    What: Media opportunity to interview Dr. Robert Sutherland
    When: Thursday March 23, 2006
    Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon *
    Where: University of Lethbridge - Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience

* Please call Bob Cooney, U of L Communications, at (403) 330-4609 to confirm attendance and a time

Backgrounder

  • Dr. Robert Sutherland is a Professor and Director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge.

  • Dr. Sutherland is one of 62 researchers at the province's three main universities who was successful in AHFMR's 2006 senior personnel competition. He has been offered an award as a Scientist. This year AHFMR is offering $48 million in grants to researchers at the universities of Alberta, Calgary, and Lethbridge.

  • The 2006 awards include 43 offers to researchers who have received previous Heritage support. Dr. Sutherland will receive $955,905 over the next five years.

  • This year's competition includes successful applicants from a number of different University faculties including, Medicine and Dentistry, Science, Agriculture and 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.

  • 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 more than a quarter of a century is in excess of $850 million. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca.