• Awardees include three Canadians.
  
  
• 73 Gairdner Awardees have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
  
  
• HPV virus, microRNAs, stem cells and protein synthesis the subjects of breakthrough research.
  
  
• Presentation by 2008 Gairdner Awardees, Dr Victor Ambros of Boston and Dr. Samuel Weiss of Calgary, in Toronto on Tuesday, April 15th.
  
  

[TORONTO – April 10, 2008] – Dr. John Dirks, President of the Gairdner Foundation, today announced the 2008 winners of the Gairdner International Awards, which are one of the most prestigious awards in all of science. Of the 288 Gairdner Awardees over the past 49 years, 73 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

The importance of the Gairdners to Canada’s future as a world leader in scientific research was underscored when the Government of Canada announced in its February budget a $20 million endowment to the Gairdner Foundation to increase its awards to $100,000 each and to create the world’s first individual award for Global Health. In 2009, they will be named the Canada Gairdner International Awards and the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award.

Established by Toronto businessman, James Gairdner, the Gairdner Foundation [ www.gairdner.org] first recognized achievement in medical science in 1959. Since then, the Gairdners have recognized outstanding contributions by medical scientists worldwide whose work will significantly improve the quality of life.

Said Dr. Dirks: “The 2008 awards honour outstanding achievements in some of the most promising areas of medical discovery. The work of the 2008 Awardees has significant implications for how we treat everything from cancer, heart disease and diabetes, to obesity, memory impairment, brain function and HIV.”

The Awardees are:

Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry and
McGill Cancer Centre, McGill University
Montreal, QC

Dr. Sonenberg discovered important mechanisms that control the synthesis of proteins in human cells. This led to the possibility of developing cures for diseases including cancer, obesity, memory impairment and virus infections.

Dr. Samuel Weiss, PhD
Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy and
Pharmacology and Therapeutics
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB

Dr. Weiss discovered that the adult brain produces stem cells that can be used to re-grow damaged neural tissue. This opens the possibility that areas of the brain or spinal cord damaged by accident or disease can be repaired by stem cells created by your own brain.

Professor Harald zur Hausen, DSc., MD
Nobel Laureate 2008, Professor Emeritus and recent Chairman and Scientific Director
German Cancer Research Centre
Heidelberg, Germany
Professor zur Hausen discovered that the human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer. This led directly to the development of the HPV vaccine.

Dr. Victor Ambros, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Worcester, MA

and

Dr. Gary Ruvkun, PhD
Professor of Genetics
Harvard Medical School
Worcester, MA

Dr. Ambros and Dr. Ruvkun, discoveredmicroRNAs. AsSciencereported last month: "A flood of studies show that microRNAs may offer a window into the development of various ailments, including cancer, diabetes, and heart failure, and provide a chance to strike disease targets that until now were unreachable."

Dr. Alan Bernstein, OC, PhD
Executive Director
Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
New York, N.Y.

Dr. Bernstein is the 2008 Gairdner Wightman Awardee. He has made an outstanding contribution to Canadian health research as a scientist, a research institute director and as the inaugural President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

On Tuesday, April 15th, Dr. Samuel Weiss of Calgary and Dr. Victor Ambros of Boston will speak about their work at a Gairdner Luncheon at the Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto, from 11:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Gairdner Awards are just one of the programs carried out by the Gairdner Foundation. Each October, Gairdner awardees present academic lectures in over 15 cities across Canada. The Gairdners also present a two-day scientific symposium at the University of Toronto, as well as a series of Gairdner Lectures for the public and for high school students across Canada.
In 2009, the Gairdner Foundation will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with a series of major international symposia in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. It will be the largest celebration of health science ever held in Canada.

Since 2003, the lead national sponsor of the Gairdner awards has been the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). “CIHR is proud to support the Gairdner Foundation and its efforts to recognize scientific excellence and share world-class science with Canadians”, said Dr. Pierre Chartrand, Acting President of CIHR. “We congratulate all the 2008 Gairdner awardees, and in particular CIHR-funded researchers Drs. Weiss and Sonenberg, as well as Dr. Alan Bernstein on winning the Wightman award in recognition of his scientific achievements and his outstanding contribution to Canada’s health research community as the inaugural President of CIHR.”

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada’s agency for health research. CIHR’s mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to close to 11,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

For interviews with Dr. John Dirks, President of the Gairdner Foundation, or with Dr. Samuel Weiss or Dr. Victor Ambros during their Toronto visit, please contact: Bob Ramsay, 4l6-598-3970, or bob@ramsayinc.com

Gairdner Media Contact
Bob Ramsay
416-598-3970

CIHR Media Contact
David Coulombe
613-941-4563 or
David.coulombe@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Sponsored nationally by: