$20 million investment at McMaster will improve life for people with allergies
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/judahdenburg.jpg” caption=”Judah Denburg”]
The Honourable Tony Valeri, Government House Leader, on behalf of the Honourable
David L. Emerson, Minister of Industry, today announced a more than $20 million
investment in a new Network of Centres of Excellence, AllerGen, at McMaster
University.
The McMaster-based network, which will focus on allergy and asthma research,
will receive $20,865,000 from 2005 to 2009. It will be led by scientific director
Dr. Judah Denburg, Professor of Medicine at the Michael G. DeGroote School of
Medicine, McMaster University.
Denburg noted, Allergy and allergic diseases such as hayfever, asthma,
and anaphylaxis are affecting children and their families in truly epidemic
proportions. This has led to loss of productivity in the school and workplace,
and places a tremendous burden on Canada's economy.
Peter George, President and Vice Chancellor of McMaster said, AllerGen
fits well into McMaster's research-intensive culture, particularly sharing
its emphasis on innovation and multidisciplinary collaborations. This NCE builds
on our existing strengths in allergy/ immunology, infectious disease, pediatrics
and genomics, and McMaster University is proud to lead it.
Valeri also announced an additional $16 million investment for the Canadian
Arthritis Network, an established Network of Centres of Excellence hosted by
Mt. Sinai Hospital.
With this major investment, the Government of Canada will enable these
Ontario-based Networks of Centres of Excellence to mobilize intellectual and
financial resources from across the country and focus them on issues critical
to our health, industry and society, said Emerson.
Valeri said, “With today's announcement, the Networks of Centres
of Excellence are putting the best Canada has to offer into networks that serve
as powerful agents for accelerating the commercialization of promising ideas,
contributing to national innovation and improved productivity.”
