CIHR, CMAJ honour five Canadians for health research excellence

CIHR-CMAJ Top Canadian Achievements in Health Research awards announced

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) today honoured five outstanding Canadian individuals and teams. They are the latest recipients of the CIHR-CMAJ Top Canadian Achievements in Health Research Awards, which celebrate Canadian health research excellence.

The winners were selected by a peer-review panel of Canadian and international experts, who looked for the discoveries and innovations that had the biggest impact on the health of people in this country and around the world.

The winners are:

• Dr. Mark Wainberg, Director of the McGill University AIDS Centre, for his research on antiviral drug resistance and his work leading to the discovery of Lamivudine (3TC). Lamivudine is one of the world's most widely used drugs in the treatment of HIV.
• Dr. Darren Warburton of the School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia, for his contributions to the field of cardiovascular physiology research. His knowledge translation work helped increase the activity levels of Canadians, especially those in poor health.
• Drs. Larry W. Chambers (Bruy-re Research Institute in Ottawa); Lisa Dolovich and Lehana Thebane (McMaster University); Janusz Kaczorowski (University of Montreal); and Michael Paterson and Karen Tu (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences) for their work in developing the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP). Designed to increase cardiovascular risk awareness at the community level, CHAP has demonstrated that primary prevention integrated with family physicians, community pharmacists, and community partners and volunteers can significantly reduce the burden of cardiovascular morbidity.
• Drs. Brenda Hemmelgarn, Braden Manns and Marcello Tonelli of the Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration (Edmonton and Calgary). Their research and knowledge translation activities helped realize great improvements in the treatments of hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and vascular disease.
• Dr. Garnette Sutherland, of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary for his contributions to the field of neurosurgery. He drastically improved surgical performance and patient outcomes with intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) surgery and the neuroArm, a robotic neurosurgical device.

"As Canada's primary funder of health research, CIHR is very proud to partner with the CMAJ in recognizing the talent, leadership and dedication to excellence of these individuals, whose work has helped position this country at the forefront of medicine and health worldwide," said Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of CIHR. "I also applaud the emphasis they have placed on translating new knowledge into meaningful measures that make a real difference in people's lives."

"Canada has a strong tradition of high-quality health research that has impact around the world," said Dr. John Fletcher, Editor-in-Chief of CMAJ. "We are pleased to celebrate, in partnership with CIHR, these talented researchers whose outstanding achievements in medicine will help make a difference in the lives of people in Canada and beyond."