OTTAWA (June 24, 2008) - Today, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) proudly recognizes the efforts of four mentors who stimulate the scientific minds of Canada's youth.
Through its Synapse - Youth Connection initiative, the following people receive 2008 Synapse Awards: Mr. Anteneh Argaw (Graduate/Postdoctoral Fellow), (tie) Dr. Lisa Robinson and Dr. Jane Roskams (Individual Researcher) and the Toronto Teen Survey research team (Group).
CIHR's Synapse initiative acts as a scientific junction that brings together health researchers and young students across Canada. More than 4,000 CIHR-funded health researchers have already signed up to become CIHR Synapse mentors - and the number increases on a daily basis. Synapse, in collaborative partnership with national science outreach organizations, connects these mentors with high school students through hands-on training experience that will help create the next generation of Canadian health researchers.
This represents the second year that all three of these awards have been presented. One award, in the Graduate/Postdoctoral Fellow category, is worth $5,000, another award in the Individual Researcher category is also worth $5,000, and another award, in the Research Group category, is worth $10,000. They all recognize the exceptional efforts of each recipient to promote health research among Canada's high school students. Through mentorship, each recipient regularly motivates young Canadians to consider both the value of health research as well career opportunities that exist within various scientific fields. The recipient is nominated by someone who understands its direct scientific contributions to young people, and is ultimately chosen by the members of the CIHR Youth Outreach Advisory Board.
"It is important for health researchers to motivate youth to appreciate the values of both science and health research," says Dr. Pierre Chartrand, Acting President of CIHR. "These mentors being honored today deserve the Synapse award commendation for their efforts. The junction of scientific one-on-one collaboration they are voluntarily creating with high school students will lead to positive outcomes for the health and well-being of all citizens. Today's students could become tomorrow's scientific leaders and collaborators, which could also mean better treatments and cures for various diseases."
Synapse Award - Graduate/Postdoctoral Fellow
Mr. Anteneh Argaw, a PhD candidate at Université de Montréal (U de M), passes on his knowledge of science to elementary and high school students in a variety of ways. He is one of the primary organizers of the Montreal chapter of the Brain Awareness Week (BAW), which teaches Canadian youth about the value of the brain, its role and its function. He also delivers accessible lectures regarding celebrated scientific African-Americans at McGill's Black Student Network's Children's Day. He has provided homework assistance for students at a Montreal community center called Maison d'Haiti, and has tutored student-athletes in the U de M football program for science/math.
Synapse Award - Individual Researcher (tie)
Dr. Lisa Robinson, a staff physician and scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), an associate professor at University of Toronto and a Canada Research Chair, co-created the Kids Science program as a way to make science an understandable, entertaining and hands-on educational subject for 'at risk' young Canadians who do not have equal exposure to science and technology awareness experiences. This youth, which include patients with chronic illness at SickKids and elementary/high school students from Toronto and Northeastern Ontario regions, experience accessible one-to-one scientific conferences with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and established researchers and also have the chance to visit different laboratories around the SickKids Research Institute.
Dr. Jane Roskams, an associate professor in the department of zoology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and member of the Brain Research Centre, encourages youth to both develop an appreciation of science and excel with their creativity. She is founder of the UBC Mentor Centre that encourages the BC-based research community to speak in elementary/high school classrooms, organizer of conferences that demonstrate how people of different backgrounds can become established researchers, keynote speaker for conferences that offer teaching advice for elementary/high school teachers, and facilitator for high school students to both visit and help in various research laboratories.
Synapse Award - Research Group
Drs. Sarah Flicker, an assistant professor at York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies, and June Larkin, principal investigator of Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention (GAAP) at the University of Toronto (U of T), created the Toronto Teen Survey (TTS) research team, made up of professionals who trained members of Toronto's youth community to collectively develop a survey tool that evaluates the assets, gaps and barriers that exist in sexual health education among Toronto's youth. The team has since developed the survey, gathered information from 1,200 participants and hopes to turn it into a strategy that will increase positive sexual health outcomes among the affected youth.
About the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
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 more than 11,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca
About the Brain Research Centre
The Brain Research Centre is a unique partnership between Vancouver COAStal Health and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. The Brain Research Centre, located at UBC Hospital, has combined forces with broad, multi-disciplinary research expertise at the University of British Columbia to advance our knowledge of the brain and to explore new discoveries and technologies which have the potential to reduce the suffering and cost associated with disease and injuries of the brain.www.brain.ubc.ca
About The Toronto Hospital for Sick Children
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), 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. As innovators in child health, SickKids improves the health of children by integrating care, research and teaching. Our mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized care by creating scientific and clinical advancements, sharing our knowledge and expertise and championing the development of an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. For more information, please visit www.sickkids.ca. SickKids is committed to healthier children for a better world.
About the Université de Montréal
Deeply rooted in Montreal and dedicated to its international mission, the Université de Montréal is one of the top universities in the French-speaking world. Founded in 1878, the Université de Montréal today has 13 faculties and together with its two affiliated schools, HEC Montréal and École Polytechnique, constitutes the largest centre of higher education and research in Québec, the second largest in Canada, and one of the major centres in North America. It brings together 2,500 professors and researchers, accommodates more than 56,000 students, offers some 650 programs at all academic levels, and awards about 3,000 masters and doctorate diplomas each year. http://www.umontreal.ca/ (only in French)
About York University
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada's most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York's 11 faculties and 24 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
For More Information:
Attached Biographies
Media Contacts:
David Coulombe
CIHR Media Specialist
Tel. (Office): 613-941-4563
Tel. (Mobile): 613-808-7526
E-mail: mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Julie Gazaille
Attachée de presse
Relations avec les médias
Université de Montréal
Tel.: 514-343-6796
E-mail: www.umontreal.ca/medias (only in French)
Catherine Loiacono
Senior Communications Coordinator
UBC Public Affairs
Tel.: 604-822-2644
E-mail: loiacono@exchange.ubc.ca
Janice Nicholson
Manager
Research & Strategic Communications
Public Affairs
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)
Tel.: 416-813-6684
E-mail: janice.nicholson@sickkids.ca
Janice Walls
Media Relations Coordinator
York University
Tel.: 416-736-2100, ext. 22101
fax: 416-736-5681
E-mail: wallsj@yorku.ca
