January 17, 2003
Distinguished Spinal Cord Researcher receives Barbara Turnball Award - $50,000
SickKids' David Kaplan leading way for Canada-based researchers
Dr. David Kaplan, one of Canada's outstanding neuroscientists based at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, has been named the 2002 recipient of the Barbara Turnbull Award.
The $50,000 award supplements Dr. Kaplan's operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), awarded through peer review, for the highest ranked project for the year in this field of research.
The Barbara Turnbull Award was established in 2001 to align the efforts of three national organizations supporting spinal cord research in Canada. Barbara Turnbull is a well-known Toronto journalist and research activist who was shot and paralyzed from the neck-down during a convenience store robbery in 1983 when she was 18. She has organized this Award to increase public awareness that over four million Canadians are afflicted with neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.
This annual prize recognizes and supports an outstanding researcher who contributes to the advancement of world-leading spinal cord research conducted in Canada. Three national organizations sponsor the award: The Barbara Turnbull Foundation (BTF), NeuroScience Canada Foundation (NSCF), and the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) of the CIHR.
"I'm thrilled to be associated with this novel partnership with CIHR and NeuroScience Canada to recognize outstanding spinal cord research in Canada. We all have to work together to increase awareness of the need for collaborative efforts to achieve our goal," said Ms. Turnbull. "Dr. Kaplan's research is ground-breaking and it's crucial that Canadians in this field know that they will be able to obtain the necessary funding they need to maintain world class research."
Dr. Kaplan's co-investigator on the study is Dr. Freda Miller, another well-known Canadian neuroscientist. Their research together has identified proteins in cells that stimulate their survival, inhibit their death, and promote their growth and regeneration. The aim is to develop treatments to better treat neurodegenerative diseases and nerve injuries.
"I want to thank the organizations that have made this possible, and especially Barbara Turnbull for her tireless efforts to encourage spinal cord research in Canada," said. Dr. Kaplan. "Without this kind of support, researchers in this country wouldn't be able to push the boundaries of science, which will hopefully lead to improved therapies."
The Barbara Turnbull Award is administered by the CIHR. Awards are made annually through the regular CIHR grants competitions
"NeuroScience Canada is founded on the basic values of giving and partnering to discover new knowledge in the broad field of neuroscience that touches so profoundly and often so painfully the lives of millions around the world," said the Honourable Michael H. Wilson, National Chair of the NeuroScience Canada Foundation. "Through the Barbara Turnbull Award, we are pleased to support innovative Canadian scientists in the field of spinal cord research."
"Research is about vision and about creating partnerships," said Dr. Remi Quirion, INMHA's Scientific Director. "This award allows ground-breaking research to happen, and gives scientists the flexibility they need to think and work effectively."
Barbara Turnbull Foundation: The goal of the Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research is to provide recognition and financial support for internationally esteemed research carried out in Canada in the field of neuroscience, particularly as it relates to remediation of spinal cord injuries.
NeuroScience Canada Foundation: The goals of the neuroscience Canada Foundation and its affiliated charitable organization, the NeuroScience Canada Partnership (NCP) are to bring relief and hope to the over four million Canadians afflicted with neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders by supporting the researchers who seek to understand the mechanisms that lead to protection, repair and functional recovery of the nervous system.
The Hospital for Sick Children, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is Canada's most research-intensive hospital and the largest centre dedicated to improving children's health in the country. Its mission is to provide the best in family-centred, compassionate care, to lead in scientific and clinical advancement, and to prepare the next generation of leaders in child health.
INMHA: CIHR's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction supports research to enhance mental health, neurological health, vision, hearing and cognitive functioning and to reduce the burden of related disorders through prevention strategies, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems and palliation. Associated research will advance our understanding of human thought, emotion, behaviour, sensation, perception, learning and memory.
CIHR is Canada's premier agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened health care system.
For more information:
Gary Goldberg, Barbara Turnbull Foundation for Spinal Cord Research, (416) 920-3252
Inez Jabalpurwala, NeuroScience Canada Foundation, (514) 934-8290
Laura Greer, The Hospital for Sick Children, (416) 813-5046
Justin Kingsley, INMHA-CIHR, (613) 297-7190
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