November 8, 2005 Source: University of Toronto:
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/051108-1784.asp Studying human disease in unlikely ways Canada Foundation for Innovation supports unique research, draws new talent to U of T
Nov 8/05
by Althea Blackburn-Evans Can zebrafish offer clues to human disease? Brian Ciruna thinks so -- and the Canada Foundation for Innovation is banking on it, providing Ciruna with $843,449 to test his theories. The foundation’s New Opportunities Fund (NOF) -- the latest and final round of which was announced Nov. 7 at the University of Manitoba -- played a large part in drawing Ciruna back to Canada, and to U of T, with funding to develop a zebrafish aquaculture facility. One of seven U of T initiatives that received a total of $1.6 million from the opportunities fund, Ciruna’s zebrafish facility will allow him and his colleagues to conduct extensive studies with this unique fish, which is an excellent model for identifying genes that play important roles in the development of human disease Ciruna, who completed his PhD in U of T’s collaborative program in developmental biology and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at New York University’s School of Medicine, returns to Canada -- and to U of T -- this December to join the faculty of medical genetics and microbiology, with a cross-appointment to the Hospital for Sick Children. "The CFI New Opportunities Fund has been an excellent resource for attracting talented researchers like Brian Ciruna to the University of Toronto and for encouraging them to conduct their world-class research programs here in Canada," said Professor John Challis, vice-president (research) and associate provost. "The new [Leaders Opportunity Fund] program will no doubt continue that legacy, creating exciting research possibilities across the country and here, on U of T’s three campuses, in the years to come." The announcement marks the completion of the New Opportunities Fund program, which has helped recruit over 3,000 researchers to Canada since its inception in 1998. The program will be replaced by CFI’s $300-million Leaders Opportunity Fund, which aims to build on the successes of the NOF, the Canada Research Chairs Infrastructure Fund and the CFI Career Awards. U of T recipients of this last round of NOF funding are: Christopher Beck (mechanical and industrial engineering, computer science), Brian Ciruna (medical genetics and microbiology; Hospital for Sick Children), Tenley Conway (geography, U of T at Mississauga), Kate Mclean (psychology, UTM), Helen McNeill (medical genetics and microbiology, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute), Yu Sun (mechanical and industrial engineering, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering) and Kevin Truong (electrical and computer engineering, IBBME).
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