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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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July 12, 2006
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Canadian Neuroscientist Wins International Prize For Research and
Innovation in the Delivery of Health Care
TORONTO- Internationally renowned Canadian, Dr. Joseph B.
Martin, Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine, was named the inaugural winner
of The Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research today
and will deliver a public lecture scheduled for September 26 at the National
Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
The new annual Prize offers a
significant cash award and is a joint initiative of Friends of Canadian
Institutes of Health Research (FCIHR) and the Canadian Academy of Health
Sciences (CAHS). The Prize
recognizes exceptional innovation and vision by health leaders from around the
world; traits exemplified by Dr. Henry Friesen, a renowned Canadian
endocrinologist, medical scientist, and visionary in health research planning.
Dr. Martin, who was chosen for his creativity throughout his career, was
selected from among a number of the world's most accomplished health research
and health policy leaders. His contributions have included the fostering of new
health service models that significantly enhance research and improve access to
quality care.
"I am deeply honoured by this recognition
from my colleagues in Canada," said Dr. Martin, who as a neurologist and
neuroscientist led the field in pituitary hormone research at McGill University
and the Montreal Neurological Institute before becoming Professor at Harvard
Medical School and Chief of Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In
1989, he was appointed Dean of Medicine, and then Chancellor, at the University
of California at San Francisco. "The universal Canadian health care system, and
the many visionary pioneers who helped build it, including Dr. Henry Friesen,
have been an ongoing source of inspiration, direction and motivation for me."
In 1997, Dr. Martin was recruited
from San Francisco back to Harvard as Dean of Medicine where he led the
unprecedented integration of seven Harvard institutions that created a new
paradigm in the approach to cancer research, diagnosis, prevention and
treatment. He also established at Harvard a cohesive virtual institute of over
500 scientists and clinicians, many in diverse disciplines of research and
clinical care, but all networked to advance teaching, research, and treatment
in the area of brain disease.
"Achieving this complex
collaboration among many competing agencies and health organizations was an
extraordinary feat," said Dr. Aubie Angel, President of FCIHR. "We are
recognizing Joe Martin for his ability to map out new and effective systems of
health research and health care delivery, but as well, his inordinate capacity
to bring together the best and the brightest to work for a common goal. This
collaborative model is similar to the approach taken by Dr. Friesen who was the
creative force that led to the establishment of the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research as well as Genome Canada."
Dr. Martin was born in Bassano,
Alberta and received his early medical education at the University of Alberta
in Edmonton. He earned his PhD from the University of Rochester in 1971. Six
years later he became Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at
McGill University in Montréal.
Dr. Martin's public address in
September is entitled "Brain Disease: Health Research Policy for the Public
Good". He is expected to speak on the overwhelming burden of mental
illness and other debilitating brain diseases, and his vision of the shift in
health care policy and practice needed to mitigate this burden. His talk will
be aired subsequently on CBC Radio One.
FCIHR and CAHS established the
Prize to engage public discourse and promote visionary changes in the delivery
of health research policy as it relates to health care, economic opportunity,
and social well being, as well as to recognize the distinguished leadership of
Dr. Henry G. Friesen. "Henry Friesen's pioneering contribution to medical
research in this country is unparalleled," said Dr. Paul Armstrong, President
CAHS. "Perhaps no other individual has had such impact on health research and
health policy in Canada since Tommy Douglas. It is fitting to recognize Dr.
Martin among these Canadian icons as the inaugural Prize winner" continued
Armstrong. "We are delighted that he also will enrich the annual meeting of
CAHS in Ottawa with an address."
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Contact:
Marilyn Williams, (204) 787-3794
A new resource for Canada
Canadians
are cared for in a health care system that is multidisciplinary in
its composition and increasingly collaborative. This is well
reflected in its interdisciplinary decision-making where physicians,
nurses, pharmacists, dentists, physical, occupational and speech
therapists, and those from other disciplines all contribute to the
care patients receive. This teamwork also characterizes the health
promotion and prevention activities required to enhance the health of
current and future generations of Canadians. Whereas Canadians are
well served by their clinicians and scientists operating in their
respective domains, Canada is facing complex and challenging
health-related questions requiring resourceful solutions that can be
best developed through the combined expertise of clinicians,
scientists, and policy and planning experts.
Until
the creation of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2005 there
was no forum in Canada that brought together experts from the full
range of health disciplines and scientific endeavors to address the
questions, dilemmas and challenges confronting the country about its
health and its health care system. The Canadian Academy of Health
Sciences (CAHS) is one of three founding academies of the new Council
of Canadian Academies (formerly the Canadian Academies of Science)
that was established by the federal government in late 2004. The
other two academies are the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian
Academy of Engineering.
The
CAHS membership comprises over 200 Fellows with diverse backgrounds
important to fostering a healthy society. They have attained the
highest levels of accomplishment in their respective fields and have
joined together to combine their expertise and provide the best
possible analysis of complex health related issues. CAHS is not an
advocacy group but rather an organization comprised of individuals
who have agreed to volunteer their time and expertise to participate
in assessments of crucial health related topics affecting the lives
of all Canadians.
Remarkably
Canada has been unique in not having this type of resource as
compared with many other countries such as the United States, France,
the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Both the American Institute
of Medicine and the British Academy of Medical Sciences are
interdisciplinary organizations that respond to questions and issues
put to them from a variety of sources: government, national
non-governmental organizations, industry, academia and major research
organizations. Consider some of the reports that the Institute of
Medicine in the U.S. has been able to produce after careful study and
analysis:
To
Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System (1999)
Stem
Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine (2001)
Who
will Keep the Public Healthy?: Educating Public Health Professionals
for the 21st Century (2002)
Preventing
Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance (2004)
Crossing
the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st
Century (2001)
What
will the CAHS be in a position to provide? Most importantly it can
serve as an independent, arms-length, credible body of experts who
will undertake major strategic assessments. These will result in
highly focused reports that contain the analysis of issues, and the
reporting of facts and their interpretation for implications on
future planning and policies. The experts required to undertake these
assessments can be mobilized quickly and their reports prepared in a
timely way. Furthermore, it can enhance Canada’s global
position by providing international connectivity and an increased
state of readiness relating to global health issues likely also to
influence Canada.
There
are many important health-related topics which confront Canada and
have not received adequate attention and therefore leave Canadians
vulnerable or performing at a level below their true potential. For
example, how can the health of our disadvantaged populations be
enhanced; how do we set public funding priorities to make the right
choices for expenditures in the last 100 days of life; how do we best
plan for the right quantity, character and integration of health
professionals in the future? Importantly, CAHS brings the expertise
and neutral space that facilitates the undertaking of assessments
that will answer these questions and inform potential directions for
governments, health care facilities, voluntary organizations,
academic institutions and research centres.
Contact
information for Dr. Paul Armstrong, University of Alberta, 2-51
Medical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H7, Phone:
(780) 492-0591 Fax: (780) 492-9486 e-mail:
paul.armstrong@ualberta.ca
774
Echo Drive | Ottawa, ON | Canada K1S 5N8
Tel/Tél
613 260 4174 | Fax/Téléc 613 730 1116 |
ciam@rcpsc.edu | www.cahs-acss.ca
