Minister Aglukkaq announces new appointment to the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

For immediate release –

2013-11

Ottawa (April 16, 2013) – The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, today announced the appointment of Dr. Paul E. Garfinkel to the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a three-year term.

"I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Garfinkel to CIHR's Governing Council where he joins an already outstanding group of Canadians," said Minister Aglukkaq. "As a leader in the field of mental health care and a passionate advocate for people with mental illness, Dr. Garfinkel will bring significant expertise and an important perspective to the work of CIHR's Governing Council."

Dr. Garfinkel is an accomplished health care administrator, renowned psychiatrist and researcher, who has made landmark achievements in understanding the causes of anorexia nervosa. He is currently a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a staff psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto where he served as president and CEO from 1997 to 2009.

Among his many honours, Dr. Garfinkel has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Eating Disorders, the Pacesetter Award from the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, and a Public Service Award from the Canadian Mental Health Association. He became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009.

Biographies for the members of CIHR's Governing Council can be found on the CIHR website.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, 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 14,100 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

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Media Contacts:

Cailin Rodgers
Office of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
Minister of Health
613-957-0200

David Coulombe
Media Relations
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
613-941-4563