Message from the President

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former Director of NIH to Chair the International Blue-Ribbon Panel for the 2011 External Review of CIHR

As CIHR reaches its tenth anniversary, and in keeping with its legislated responsibility, CIHR's Governing Council is planning a second External Review. In this regard, Council will be establishing an International Blue-Ribbon Panel to conduct the review and complete their report in June of 2011. We are delighted that Dr. Elias Zerhouni, former Director of the US National Institutes of Health, has agreed to Chair the International Review Panel.

Parliament established CIHR to transform health research in Canada by creating a national agenda and supporting programs that: are responsive to the health needs of Canadians; embrace all relevant perspectives and disciplines; develop research capacity in neglected or emerging fields of health research; position Canada internationally as a strong participant in the global research community; and ensure that the results of research are converted more rapidly and completely into action to benefit Canadians and the global community.

CIHR strives to address its mandate by ensuring transparency and accountability to Canadians for its investments of public dollars in all its health research programs and activities and the international reviews at five year intervals help us to achieve this goal.

I look forward to the International Review Panel's advice to CIHR's Governing Council on where to stay the course and where there may be areas for improvement in order to ensure that CIHR continues to perform according to international standards of excellence.

If you have any comments or questions about the External Review, please do not hesitate to send them to Kathryn Moore, Corporate Secretary, at kathryn.moore@cihr-irsc.gc.ca. Information on the first international review of CIHR in 2006 can be found on our website.

Alain Beaudet, MD, PhD
President of CIHR and Chair CIHR Governing Council