IMHA On The Move - July 2010

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Table of Contents

A Message from the Scientific Director

Jane AubinWelcome to the July Issue of IMHA On The Move. I would like to thank our readers for participating in our on-line poll, and offering positive feedback and input for improvement on our new newsletter.

May was a busy and important month for IMHA. Members of our Institute Advisory Board (IAB) gathered with staff at Chateau Montebello in Quebec to review our progress and plan for the future. The timing was perfect, as it was three years ago in May that the strategic plan for the Institute was developed, and it is still informing our activities as a living document. Several important things have happened over these last three years. CIHR's new president, Dr. Alain Beaudet, has been working with the 13 Scientific Directors to develop a new vision for CIHR. The resulting document, called "Roadmap," was the product of widespread consultations across Canada, and the Montebello retreat provided an excellent opportunity for the IAB to look at IMHA's strategic directions in the context of "RoadMap." The retreat also allowed the IAB to offer input on the Institute's report that is being drafted for CIHR's International Review Panel that will meet in early 2011. In the next issue, IMHA will provide our readers with Geoffrey Hynes' article on the objectives of CIHR's second International Review.

Richard Ellen, Lois Cohen and Richard SingletonThe retreat was also a significant event for IMHA as three of our two-term IAB members will be retiring in August from the IAB. They are Lois Cohen (Consultant, National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, NIH), Richard Singleton (Director of Pastoral Care and Ethics, Memorial University), and Richard Ellen (Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto). I would personally like to thank each of them for their outstanding insights and dedication as volunteers, where their exceptional work, respect and integrity are a true credit to IMHA and the health communities they serve. In this issue, I am also pleased to provide our readers with a special tribute to Richard Ellen, who is also outgoing Chair of the IAB. In this latter role, Richard proactively encouraged all IAB members to offer their opinions and ideas, and was an excellent source of advice to me as Scientific Director. On behalf of all IMHA stakeholders, I thank him sincerely.

Jane E. Aubin, PhD, Scientific Director
Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis

Richard Ellen and Jane AubinDid you know?

IMHA's "Studentships in mobility, musculoskeletal, oral, and skin health program" and other awards for undergraduate students to do research during the summer has funded 125 students between 2000 and 2009. Since then 65% of the trainees we surveyed have gone on to further research and/or professional training in IMHA-related fields.

 

Recognizing Dr. Richard Ellen's Contribution to IMHA's IAB

IMHA is pleased to recognize Dr. Richard Ellen's international excellence in oral health research. He has served as a member of the Institute Advisory Board (IAB) from 2004 and as its Chair from 2007-2010. On the eve of his retirement from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Dr. Ellen reflected upon his tenure with the IAB in an interview with IHMA's Projects Officer, Gail Lush.

Dr. Ellen was first appointed to IMHA's IAB in 2004. As President of the Canadian Association for Dental Research, he was motivated, like many of his colleagues, to give oral health research a priority within the CIHR advisory stream. "When I joined the IAB," stated Dr. Ellen, "it was more fragmented into entrenched views that were focused on the 6 individual focus areas, and oral health (like the others) had to promote itself for its portion of activity. What Oral Health really needed was to articulate its needs, strengths, and shortcomings, and explain how oral health affected general health and wellbeing."

"Over the years, the IMHA IAB has shifted significantly to concentrate on its three strategic priority areas and oral health spans those areas very well. Because investigators in the oral health community often have research programs in pain, connective (especially mineralized) tissue biology, oral microbiology, inflammation, and craniofacial biology, many of them have drawn strategic support from IMHA through its investments in arthritis, bone, pain, human microbiome, and other research directions." Dr. Ellen has seen real growth in CIHR investment in oral health research over the last ten years. "IMHA has invested generously, particularly in capacity building."

Dr. Ellen has personally valued IMHA for the positive, mutual respect and cooperation among IAB members and between the IAB and Scientific Director (SD). "Though the name IAB has the key word 'advisory,' " stated Dr. Ellen, "in IMHA we serve both as a major source of advice to the SD and Assistant Director but also as a quasi-board of directors, since we are given quite a lot of responsibility for decisions regarding how IMHA budgets are spent on RFAs and other activities. We also help the SD choose among options for engaging stakeholders, and at times we serve as ambassadors for IMHA among those stakeholders and particularly the research community. This relationship is clearly helpful to the SD and it is truly appreciated by the members of the IAB, who see that their major investment in time and advice actually influences and helps the operational decisions of the IMHA Executive and staff."

After working in health research for four decades, Dr. Ellen personally values the refreshing attitude that IMHA's two SDs, Cy Frank and Jane Aubin, have brought to the issue of oral health research. "Indeed, I have been incredibly impressed by their keen sense of wanting to help the community, which they have proved by their willingness to travel and participate personally by engaging the research investigators and stakeholders directly. IMHA has gone a long way in convincing the oral health community that we are an important part of the research engine. I see this as a major advancement." Dr. Ellen, whose two-term appointment with IMHA ends in August, anticipates that IMHA will continue to help the oral health community address its strategic research needs in the context of the Institutes' three strategic research priorities.

Good News Stories

The World Health Organization (WHO) fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX®) was released in March 2008. Since then, over 20 countries have had their FRAX® tools added to the website, which allows for the incorporation of country specific fracture data in order to calibrate the model to the specific population being assessed. Osteoporosis Canada (OC) assembled a FRAX® Working Group. With the assistance of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), OC was able to obtain the fracture data required to create a Canadian FRAX® model. The 2010 Osteoporosis Canada Best Practices Guidelines are scheduled for release in October 2010 at the ASBMR, and will incorporate the Canadian FRAX® tool as well as an updated version of the bone densitometry reporting and fracture risk assessment system developed by the Canadian Association of Radiologists and Osteoporosis Canada (referred to as the CAROC system). For more information on the Canadian FRAX® model, please visit Osteoporosis Canada's website.

IMHA wishes its partner the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) success in the launch of its new journal website, JCDA. The JCDA is the authoritative written voice of the Canadian Dental Association, providing dialogue between the national association and the dental community. It is dedicated to publishing worthy scientific and clinical articles and informing dentists of issues significant to the profession.

IMHA wishes to congratulate its staff members, Elizabeth Robson and Liz Stirling, for their nominations for the People's Choice Award and President's Award for Team Excellence respectively. They were amongst the honourees at CIHR's 10th Anniversary Employee Recognition Event in Ottawa on June 18, 2010. We value their dedication and contributions to our positive work environment. Congratulations to all nominees and winners!

Upcoming CIHR Events

  1. August 31, 2010
    IMHA will host a CIHR 10th Anniversary Café to coincide with the 13th World Pain Congress.
    Location: Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in the Les Voyageurs Lounge at 900 Rene Levesques Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec
  2. November 3, 2010
    IMHA and the Canadian Arthritis Network will co-host a Café Scientifique on ethical issues and workplace disability.
    Location: Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario

For more information on these upcoming Cafés, please visit the CIHR Café Scientifique website.

Meetings of Interest

13th World Congress on Pain

Aug. 29 - Sept. 2, 2010
Montréal, Québec, Canada

The International Association for the Study of Pain invites you to register for the world's premier Congress devoted to research and treatment of pain. To register, please visit the World Congress on Pain registration website.

The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting

Oct. 15 - Oct. 19, 2010
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mark your calendars for the ASBMR 2010 Annual Meeting, the premier scientific meeting discussing the latest concepts and innovations in bone and mineral research. To register now, please visit the ASBMR registration website.

The 12th Meeting on the Combined Orthopaedic Associations

Sept. 13 - Sept. 17, 2010
Glasgow, Scotland

To register, visit the COMOC 2010 registration website.

Canadian Arthritis Network Annual Scientific Conference

Oct. 28 - Oct. 30, 2010
Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, Québec

For more details about the conference, please visit the Canadian Arthritis Network website.

IMHA Funding Opportunities

For information on current funding opportunities, please visit IMHA's Funding Opportunities.

Contact IMHA

CIHR - Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
Department of Molecular Genetics
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
The Banting Institute
100 College St., Room 207B
Toronto, ON, M5G 1L5
Tel: 416-978-4220
Email: IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Contact IMHA

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