OTTAWA (April 27, 2006) - Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), along with CIHR's Governing Council, announced today the appointment of Dr. Colleen M. Flood as incoming Scientific Director of CIHR's Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CIHR-IHSPR). This appointment is effective September 1, 2006.
"Dr. Colleen M. Flood is a welcome addition to the CIHR leadership team," said Dr. Bernstein. "Her accomplishments in health law and policy will build upon the solid foundation created by the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research over its first phase of development."
Dr. Flood is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto and a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. She completed her Master of Laws (LL.M.) in 1994 and her Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) in 1998 at the University of Toronto. Her areas of research interest include comparative health care policy, public/private financing of health care systems, health care reform, and accountability and governance issues. She was the 1999 Labelle Lecturer in Health Services Research and was appointed a Senior Fellow of Massey College in 2004 and in 2006 on to the Corporation of Massey College.
"I am thrilled to have this opportunity to serve the health services research community in Canada" said Dr. Flood. "I look forward to working with colleagues in disciplines that span the breadth of health services research across this wonderful country. Together we can build on the tremendous efforts of Dr. Morris Barer and the team at CIHR-IHSPR to create the conditions for the generation of innovative and excellent research; research that is relied on by decision-makers in Canada and internationally."
Dr. Flood is also the author of numerous health law articles in prestigious journals such as the Canadian Medical Association Journal; the Alberta Health Law Journal; the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics; the Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law; the Canadian Business Law Journal; the Health Law Review; and Policy Matters. She has also been a special guest editor on two separate editions of the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics. She is also the author of many book chapters and the author/editor of four books: 1) International Health Care Reform: A Legal, Economic and Political Analysis (London: Routledge, 2000) 2) co-editor (with Jocelyn Downie and Tim Caulfield) of Canadian Health Law and Policy (2nd ed.) (Toronto: Butterworths, 2002), 3) co-editor (with Lorne Sossin and Kent Roach) of Access to Care, Access to Justice: The Legal Debate Over Private Health Insurance in Canada (Toronto: UTP, 2005) and 4) editor of Just Medicare: What's In, What's Out, How We Decide (Toronto: UTP, April 2006). In 2005, she was appointed as an editor with the new IHSPR-supported journal, Healthcare Policy.
"I would also like to thank Dr. Morris Barer for his extraordinary leadership and vision in establishing IHSPR," added Dr. Bernstein. "Over the past five years, Dr. Barer has created a number of innovative new research programs that have demonstrated the importance of health services and policy research in strengthening the Canadian health care system and improving the health of Canadians."
"There are few opportunities in one's professional life quite like that which was granted to me back in 2000. To have had the chance to work with a group of distinguished colleagues from across all areas of health research to shape the architecture and direction of Canada's major health research funding agency has been an extraordinary privilege and pleasure," said Dr. Morris Barer, Scientific Director of CIHR-IHSPR. "I am particularly delighted to be passing the critically important work of IHSPR into Colleen's capable hands, and believe that her background and experience will bring unique strengths to the organization's management team."
CIHR is comprised of 13 Institutes, each led by a Scientific Director, responsible for championing health research at the highest levels of international excellence, establishing and nurturing partnerships, as well as fostering effective communication and knowledge dissemination.
CIHR's Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CIHR-IHSPR) is dedicated to supporting innovative research, capacity-building and knowledge translation initiatives designed to improve the way health care services are organized, regulated, managed, financed, paid for, used and delivered, in the interest of improving the health and quality of life of all Canadians.
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 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/
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For further information:
Marie-France PoirierCIHR Media RelationsTel.: (613) 941-4563mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
