OTTAWA (November 25, 2004)  -- The Honourable Robert G. Thibault, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, on behalf of the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health and Dr. Rémi Quirion, Scientific Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA), one of thirteen Institutes of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), will present tonight  the Brain Star of the Year Award.  The Award will be presented to a promising young researcher from Ontario, on the eve of the opening of INMHA's Third Annual Meeting.

The yearly Award recognizes the excellence of research conducted in Canada by graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and residents in all fields and disciplines within the INMHA mandate.   This year's winner is Dr. Jeffrey Coull, a Queen's University graduate, for his work, which was published in Nature.  Dr. Coull's research demonstrates that an imbalance of anions in spinal cord neurons may be the cause of hypersensitivity to pain, thereby setting the stage for the development of new analgesics. 

Mr. Thibault congratulates Dr. Coull; "The recipients of the Brain Star of the Year Award are the stars of our future. In order to build on Canada's excellent record, and to continue to uncover medical breakthroughs in brain research, it is essential that we acknowledge and encourage our young researchers."

"The excellence of Jeff's research and its interdisciplinary nature has the potential to positively impact the health of many Canadians," says Dr. Rémi Quirion.  "The investments being made by INMHA in today's young researchers will help to put Canada at the forefront of brain research in the world." 

One of the first and perhaps most successful programs established by INMHA, the Brain Star Program is aimed at recognizing outstanding young researchers in Canada.

The Brain Star of the Year Award is given to the Brain Star recipient whose work is judged, by a peer review panel, to have the greatest impact in the field of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction.  The Brain Star of the Year award recipient is selected from among all of the previous year's Brain Star winners, emerging scientists currently enrolled in their studies who have published their research findings in prominent scientific journals.  Brain Star awards, presented every two weeks, have gone to researchers who have contributed to the expansion of research in neurosciences, vision, hearing, pain, mental health and addiction in Canada and around the world.   INMHA has presented 90 Brain Star Awards since it launched the award in April 2001.

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 9,000 researchers and research teams in every province of Canada.

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 (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell), perception, learning and memory.

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For more information, please contact:

Janet Weichel McKenzie
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
(613) 941-4563

Adèle Blanchard,
Office of the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh
(613) 957-0200