A Message from CIHR's New President

It is an honour and a privilege to begin my term as President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). It is humbling to do so in the footsteps of Dr. Alan Bernstein, who successfully transformed this institution from a traditional granting agency into a unique and successful model of research encompassing 13 thematic research Institutes.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Dr. Pierre Chartrand as Acting President. The scientific community is extremely grateful to him for the effective and selfless way in which he fulfilled this difficult role.

CIHR is a highly successful and internationally respected agency. It has moved boldly to foster meaningful collaborations between disciplines, creating new economic opportunities for Canada and helping address important health-care challenges. This success rests entirely with the quality, competence and dedication of its staff.

We are collectively ultimately responsible for the success, the reputation and the impact of CIHR. We are at the service of the public and of the scientific community. Let's never forget that our primary role is to support health researchers in creating original knowledge and in translating this knowledge into benefits for Canadians.

CIHR has become a must-watch organization in the world of health research. The structure of its organization and the breadth of its mandate, which now encompasses fields such as population health and health services and policy research, have served as a model for research organizations around the world.

The challenge now facing CIHR is to continue to foster excellence in health research while responding to the new challenges facing our society (an aging population, environmental and infectious threats, the sustainability of our health-care system, to name a few) and the increasing demands from both the government and the public for short-term social and economic impacts of health research. To fully accomplish this task, CIHR will have to focus on clearly defined priorities and work in collaboration with partners from both the private and public sectors.

I look forward to leading CIHR into the next phase of its growth and to working closely with you all in what promises to be very exciting times ahead.

Dr. Alain Beaudet
President
Canadian Institutes of Health Research