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BURNABY
– The Province is providing $2.25
million for research that will lead to better treatments for children affected
by disabilities such as Down syndrome, autism, and dyslexia and other
illnesses, Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell announced today.
World-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Urs Ribary has been
appointed as the B.C. Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in Early Childhood
Health and Development at Simon Fraser University. Ribary is a leading
researcher in magnetoencephalography (MEG) and its application for brain
diagnosis and treatment. MEG uses a state-of-the-art brain imaging
scanner that measures magnetic fields from the brain. Ribary will use the new
SFU-Down Syndrome Research Foundation MEG Facility, the only one in Western
Canada, to gather data that will lead to a better understanding of the normal
and altered human brain.
“This
government has an ongoing commitment to build the best system of support in
Canada for children with special needs and persons with disabilities,” said
Coell. “Dr. Ribary’s research will not only help children everywhere but it
will also contribute to the growing body of innovative research taking place in
our province.”
The
B.C. Leadership Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in Early Childhood Health and
Development will provide a research
network that will encompass numerous institutions at the provincial, national,
and international level. The principal aim of this network is to develop a
research program and brain imaging infrastructure that will place British
Columbia at the leading edge in this discipline. This
co-operative approach is vital because different brain imaging techniques provide
complementary information and are essential to study the brain’s underlying
structure and function.
“I
am very honoured to accept this B.C. Leadership Chair and I want to thank the
government of British Columbia, personally and on behalf of many children with
brain abnormalities and illnesses, for providing this enormous opportunity to
better understand the developing human brain in health and disease,” said
Ribary.
Funding for B.C. Leadership Chairs was established
with an initial provincial commitment of $45 million for the Province’s Leading
Edge Endowment Fund. Twenty leadership chairs will each receive a total
endowment of up to $4.5 million, which is cost-shared between the government
and the private sector. This is the
province’s eighth B.C. Leadership Chair. Twelve more B.C. Leadership Chairs
will be announced by the end of 2008.
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Communications Manager 250 952-6400 250 812-7977 (cell) |
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