Two health researchers earn national chairs
May 2, 2002 - Dr. James Shapiro and Dr. Norman Kneteman are busy these days. Wednesday morning Shapiro was in Washington D.C. to present to the American Transplantation Society. He flew to New York City for an afternoon meeting before heading to meet Kneteman in Ottawa, where the two are principals in the announcement this morning of $3.3 million for transplantation research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Wyeth-Ayerst, a pharmaceutical company.
Shapiro, Kneteman and Dr. Li Zhang of the University of Toronto were each named Clinical Research Chairs in Transplantation and will each receive $1.1 million over five years.
"This provides an unprecedented level of support not only for our islet transplantation efforts but also for our basic science laboratory," Shapiro said. "There will definitely be coordination of research between myself and Dr. Kneteman, and I'm sure he feels as I do, that we want to take any advances we make in our basic science laboratories and rapidly translate them to the clinic."
Shapiro, director of the Edmonton Protocol islet cell transplantation team, will conduct research in pancreatic islet transplantation with a goal of reducing or eliminating the need for people with Type 1 diabetes to take insulin. Kneteman will conduct research to reduce the toxicity of immunosuppressive therapies and develop prevention models for recurring hepatitis C. Zhang will investigate the mechanisms involved in donor-specific transplant tolerance.
"Not only will these chairs in transplantation advance the work of these talented researchers, they will allow the universities to build upon their strengths and develop world class research programs," said Dr. Alan Bernstein, president of the CIHR.
Selection of the chair recipients was based on the scientific excellence of the research proposals processed by CIHR's peer reviewers. A total of 13 applications were received for the three available positions.
"This announcement is a tremendous show of confidence in the research conducted by Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Kneteman and their research teams," said Dr. Roderick Fraser, president of the U of A. "It underlies the leadership role of the University of Alberta in this critical area of health research."
Funding for the chairs will also be provided by the host institutions of the recipients.
"I think this announcement is a reflection of the support we receive at the University of Alberta," Shapiro said. "We have an excellent work environment here, and I'm proud and excited not only for myself but also for the team of individuals I work along side of."
Related story
Hepatitis C researchers give mice human cells (ExpressNews, July 31, 2001): http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/expressnews/articles/news.cfm?p_ID=460
Related links – internal
The U of A Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Web site: http://www.med.ualberta.ca/
The U of A Clinical Islet Transplant Program Web site: http://www.med.ualberta.ca/islet/
Related links – external
The CIHR Web site: http://www.cihr.ca/
The Wyeth-Ayerst Canada Inc. and CIHR/Rxand D Research Program Web site: http://www.irsc.gc.ca/services/partnerships/rxd/wyeth_ayerst/index_e.shtml
