Canada Research Chair holders receive renewed funding

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Posted March 28, 2010

From left: James McGhee, PhD; Hon. Diane Ablonczy, who announced the Chair renewals; and David Schriemer, PhD.: photo by Mike SturkTwo Faculty of Medicine researchers have been awarded over $1.4 million in renewed funding from the Government of Canada through the Canada Research Chairs program.  David Schriemer, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology, and James McGhee, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Developmental Biology, will receive the funding through the renewal of both of their Chairs.

“The Canada Research Chair program has allowed me to take some risks and it’s given me the resources I need to establish a new research direction in chemical biology,” says Schriemer.  An associate professor in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Oncology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Schriemer seeks new ways to target cancer at the molecular level.  He is exploring existing drug targets, such as microtubules (hollow tubes in the cell that play a role in cell division), to better understand how to interfere with cell division in an effort to produce new cancer drugs.

The importance of the Canada Research Chairs program is echoed by McGhee, professor in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Medical Genetics.  McGhee’s research is focused on the development of the small nematode worm C. elegans.  More specifically, he is trying to understand how genes are regulated only in the correct tissue (the intestine) and at the correct time during development.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the Government of Canada’s strong support for research,” says Warren Veale, PhD, interim president of the University of Calgary.  “Programs such as the Canada Research Chairs program are critical to ensuring our university continues to be among the country’s leading research intensive institutions.”

Now in its 10th year, the program was established by the Government of Canada to help Canadian universities attract and retain some of the world’s most accomplished and promising researchers in all fields.