CCFC and AHFMR join forces to step up research on inflammatory bowel disease
Toronto and Edmonton, December 11, 2008 - The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada (CCFC) and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) have signed a partnership agreement aimed at stepping up research on inflammatory bowel disease.
The agreement will enable support of more doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in the field of inflammatory bowel research. CCFC and AHFMR are teaming up to offer four training awards over the next two years. The awards are intended to attract high quality students and fellows to Alberta.
The stipend for doctoral training awards is $20,000. Postdoctoral fellowships stipends range from $35,000 for new PhD graduates to $45,000 for health professionals.
"The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research welcomes this new partnership with CCFC that focuses on the next generation of research leaders. Research is fundamental to the development of new knowledge about, and new treatments for, inflammatory bowel disease which strikes an inordinate number of Albertans and more than 200,000 Canadians," says Dr. Jacques Magnan, AHFMR Interim President and CEO.
"Alberta has been a magnet for researchers joining stellar research groups that have advanced both basic and clinical science underlying Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis nationally and internationally. CCFC's mission is to find cures for these diseases and we are confident that this new partnership will help make progress in this direction," adds Dr. Kevin Glasgow, CCFC CEO.
Inflammatory bowel diseaseOver 200,000 Canadians, children and adults alike, have inflammatory bowel disease, the most common forms of which are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The incidence of these diseases in Canada is said to be among the highest in the world.
About the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical ResearchThe Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) currently provides funding for more than 600 researchers and researchers-in-training at Alberta'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 since its establishment in 1980 is in excess of $1 billion. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca
About CCFCThe Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada (CCFC) is a national not-for-profit voluntary medical research Foundation. Its mission is to find the cure for inflammatory bowel disease. To achieve its mission, the Foundation is committed to raising increasing funds for basic and medical research. The CCFC is one of the world's leaders in non-governmental, per capita funding of IBD research. To date, the Foundation has invested nearly $56 million in major medical research projects.
Education is also a part of CCFC's mandate. The Foundation provides information on IBD to patients, their families, health professionals and the general public through education brochures, its national member publication The Journal and local Education events. The CCFC was started in 1974 by a group of concerned parents who saw the need to raise funds for research into inflammatory bowel disease and to educate patients and their families about these diseases. www.ccfc.ca
For more information:
Karen Thomas
AHFMR
403.651-1112
John Branton
CCFC
416.920.5036, extension 223