MONTREAL (November 4, 2004) - The Honourable Lucienne Robillard, President of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Dr. Michael Kramer, Scientific Director of the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), announced today that three research teams have been awarded over $6 million to study the cognitive and behavioural development of infants, children and youth.  The announcement was made at the IHDCYH official opening at the Montreal Children's Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre.

The objective of the Healthy Developmental Trajectories initiative is to investigate the interplay between biological, psychosocial, environmental, and cultural influences and how the interactions among them shape the cognitive and behavioural development of infants, children and youth.

 "Today's investment by the Government of Canada will expand our understanding of the growth and development of our children," said Minister Robillard. "The knowledge generated by the teams funded today will help to improve the developmental outcomes of infants, children and adolescents in Canada and promote the development of effective interventions and evidence-based practices and policies."

CIHR-IHDCYH leads the initiative in partnership with CIHR Institutes of Gender and Health; Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes; Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction; and, Population and Public Health, as well as the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR).

The three teams awarded funding for five years are:

• Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, from the University of Toronto, and Dr. Michael Boyle, will study the factors that affect the development of emotional well-being and social functioning in young children, particularly those from disadvantaged families ($2,003,730);
  
  
• Dr. Peter Szatmari, from McMaster University, and his teammates Drs. Susan Bryson and Eric Fombonne, will look at ways to ensure better outcomes for people with autism spectrum disorders ($2,125,435); and
  
  
• Dr. Richard Tremblay, from the Université de Montréal, with Drs. Frank Vitaro, Michel Boivin, Daniel Pérusse, Gustavo Turecki, Philippe Merrigan and Daniel Nagin, will develop ways to measure the development and impact of disruptive behaviour among youth and develop interventions to prevent it ($2,125,000).

"Infants, children and adolescents who do not realize their full developmental potential have a reduced quality of life and constitute a heavy burden of suffering," said Dr. Michael Kramer.  "The projects funded today should not only help to minimize this burden, but also provide tangible benefits to infants, children, adolescents and their families. "

"We are proud to be partnering with CIHR on the promising investigation led by Dr. Szatmari and based at McMaster University," said Andy Shih, Ph.D., chief science officer at NAAR. "We believe this project will help lead to better treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders and represents great hope for families facing this devastating disorder."

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, 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 8,000 researchers and research teams in every province of Canada.

Established in 1994, the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) is the first non-profit organization in the U.S. dedicated to funding and accelerating biomedical research for autism spectrum disorders. The organization was established by parents of children with autism concerned about the limited amount of funding for autism research. To date, NAAR has committed $21.1 million in grants for biomedical research projects worldwide that seek to find the causes, prevention, effective treatments and, ultimately, cure for autism spectrum disorders.

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Further Information:

Janet Weichel
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Tel: (613) 941-4563
Cell:  (613) 447-4794

Isabelle Mignault
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Lucienne Robillard
President of the Privy Council and
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Tel.: (613) 943-1838

Joe Guzzardo
NAAR Communications
(609) 430-9160, ext. 17