$8.2 million for local science geeks

By Adam Booth
Gazette Staff

Thanks to several new research grants, 17 Western professors will be able to pursue a range of medical advancements more easily.

The Canadian Institute of Health Research visited Western yesterday to announce it would be giving out generous grants to 17 London-area researchers, all of whom are Western professors.

A total of $8.2 million was doled out to the professors said Alan Weedon, Western's acting VP-research.

CIHR has granted a total of $18 million in funding to various research efforts across the country.

These financial gifts not only benefit Western research, but also affiliated research institutes including the Lawson Health Research Institute, London Regional Cancer Centre and the Robarts Research Institute, he said.

"The city of London is a Canadian leader in health research," Weedon said.

"Scientists at Western and our affiliated research institutions are working collaboratively towards various advancements in medicine that affect all of us. Thanks to the commitment of the CIHR, this work will continue to reach new heights," he said.

"This is a time of convergence in scientific research," said CIHR president Alan Berstein. Along with donating funds to various projects, CIHR has also established 13 new research institutes in Canada, each dealing with different aspects of medicine and science in order to support and promote inter-disciplinary research, he explained. Some of the fields include genetics, psychology and cancer research.

"We are committed to embracing all areas of health research," Bernstein said, adding if they did not have all the varied institutes, it would defeat the point of CIHR's mandate for broad health research.

Western biochemistry professor Eric Ball will be receiving $206,860 over three years. Ball will be conducting research on the role of the protein vinculin in cell adhesion – research that has the potential to be helpful in the treatment of cancer, he said.

"I am delighted – this is great news," Ball said, explaining the difficulty in conducting such research without proper funding.

Currently, the CIHR has approved funding for 996 research projects across Canada, an increase of 20 per cent of the number of grants from last year, Bernstien said.