Message from Norman Rosenblum, INMD Scientific Director
December 2018

At the end of November, I had the pleasure of co-hosting a mid-term meeting for the Environments and Health Signature Initiative (EHSI), in collaboration with the CIHR Institutes of Population and Public Health, Infection and Immunity, Circulatory and Respiratory Health and Human Development, Child and Youth Health.

INMD has participated in the EHSI by leading the etiological research component on environment-gene interactions. The aim of this component is to advance our understanding of how environment-gene interactions affect disease patterns and human health across the life course. I would encourage you to read more about this funded research on the CIHR website.

Each meeting participant provided a very short overview of their research as an introduction to their project and research team. Keynote presentations were provided by Dr. Rick Woychik, Deputy Director of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and Dr. Bernard Robaire (McGill Univ.) who provided high-level perspectives on environmental health research. Plenary sessions that followed included a focus on data, both big data and small data, and how the various EHSI-funded researchers are handling issues such as the inter-operability and data sharing. There was also an interesting panel on knowledge translation for maximizing impact that included perspectives on how research impacts regulatory processes and urban planning policies, and how two of the National Collaborating Centres funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) are engaging with communities, including Indigenous communities, to address environmental health research issues.

I wish to thank the researchers who participated in this meeting, and wish them continued success with their programs of research.

Wishing all of you a happy holiday season, and all the best for a healthy and productive 2019!

Norman Rosenblum, MD, FRCPC
Scientific Director, CIHR-INMD

Date modified:

2018-12-19