AHFMR News

Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research launches Multi-million dollar "superstar" recruitment awards

(Provincial, AB) Wednesday, February 14, 2007... Premier Ed Stelmach joined AHFMR and university leadership today in Calgary to announce a major new award focused on recruiting a "superstar" health researcher to the province.

The ten-year, $10 million AHFMR Polaris Award, the richest award of its kind in Canada, will be used to recruit a top-level scientist in the health research arena to lead research in Alberta. The AHFMR Polaris Award requires matching funding equal to the AHFMR contribution, which will result in a $20 million award. Each of the three health research intensive universities, if successful in obtaining an AHFMR Polaris Award, will be responsible for raising the matching funding.

"This sets the stage in Canada," said Premier Stelmach. "The provincial government's investment in AHFMR over the past 27 years has led to major breakthroughs in medical knowledge and therapies. Now we are capitalizing on the strengths we have built in research in order to attract the strengths we need to improve the lives of Albertans."

Gail Surkan, the Chair of AHFMR's Board of Trustees, commented "The Provincial government's recent $500 million addition to our Endowment has enabled us to move boldly and proactively to catalyze health research in Alberta. The AHFMR Polaris Award is a signal that Alberta is ready for the world stage."

University of Calgary President Harvey Weingarten, University of Lethbridge President Bill Cade, and University of Alberta Board of Governors Chair Brian Heidecker each spoke of the potential for the AHFMR Polaris Award to galvanize research at their institutions to new heights.

Three AHFMR Polaris Awards will be offered initially. Dr. Kevin Keough, AHFMR's President and CEO, emphasized that the award will enhance the Foundation's robust programs of support for people. "The AHFMR Polaris Award responds to the need for Alberta to be competitive globally. In addition to this award, we have made significant changes and additions to our funding programs that really give Alberta researchers a distinct advantage in the field world-wide. As a total program of support, AHFMR awards are now the richest and lengthiest in Canada."

For more information please call Kathleen Thurber, AHFMR Communications, (780) 423-5727

AHFMR Polaris Award Program Information

Backgrounder

The AHFMR Polaris Award is a ten-year, $10 million dollar prize to recruit a top-level "superstar" health research scientist to lead research in Alberta. The first Polaris award will be offered in 2008 and three awards will be initially available. The Polaris Award is the richest health research award from any provincial agency in Canada.
Each Polaris Award requires matching funding equal to the AHFMR contribution, which will result in a $20 million award overall. Each of the three health research intensive universities (University of Calgary, University of Alberta, and University of Lethbridge) will be responsible for matching the AHFMR contribution if they are successful in obtaining an AHFMR Polaris Award.
AHFMR Polaris Award winners will be chosen using a collaborative process involving AHFMR, the sponsoring institution, and any major partners as appropriate. Expert reviewers will play a pivotal role in the selection process.
An AHFMR Polaris Award winner will be a mid-career investigator with an outstanding record of accomplishments in health research who is prepared to relocate to Alberta full-time for the duration of the award.
The award is intended to increase the quality of the overall health-research enterprise in Alberta, provide superior research training and mentorship, and contribute to the scientific leadership in Alberta. Polaris Investigators will catalyze existing Alberta research strengths into a position of international stature and build research strengths in priority areas of health in Alberta. Priority areas of health include health and behavior: disease prevention, food and health, maternal and child health, and health issues in rural and remote environments.
The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research currently provides funding for more than 600 researchers and researchers-in-training at the province's three main universities. AHFMR's commitment is to fund health research based on international standards of excellence and is carried out by new and established investigators and researchers-in-training. Since 1980 AHFMR has provided more than $850 million in funding to Alberta's medical research community. In 2005, the Alberta Government committed an additional $500 million to the AHFMR Endowment. For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca.