Toronto (Nov. 10, 2005) - This week University Health Network hosted a two-day symposium celebrating the official launch of UHN research programs in the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, a new fifteen-floor state-of-the-art facility located in the heart of the city's "Discovery District".
The "Converging on Cures" symposium welcomed nearly 300 donors, investors and staff to a full program of speakers and presentations showcasing the breadth of UHN Research. Speaking during the opening ceremonies, UHN President and CEO Dr. Bob Bell said, "UHN's vision for achieving global impact is best represented in the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower." Noting that Ontario's health care system is an economic asset which can attract international companies to Ontario, Dr. Bell stressed the importance of supporting biomedical and health care research by creating developments like the research tower. UHN research programs to be located in the tower include some of Toronto's most advanced programs in genomics, proteomics, integrative biology, infectious disease, image-guided therapy, structural biology, regenerative medicine, stem cell research and drug discovery.
Says Dr. Christopher J. Paige, UHN's Vice President, Research:
"This opening is the culmination of years of planning on behalf of many across Ontario, across Toronto, across UHN and across Research. A large number of talented people from diverse disciplines have come together to make this happen." Dr. Paige joined the proceedings by video hook-up from Shanghai, where he was part of an Ontario delegation opening a joint Chinese-UHN research facility. This week's symposium was sponsored by UHN Global Ventures, headed by Dr. Brian Barber.
"The Global Ventures mandate is to increase commercialization and extend the global outreach of UHN Research. The symposium allowed us to highlight the many opportunities for partnership at UHN, as well as to celebrate the achievement of launching the programs in their new space," says Dr. Barber, The Toronto Medical Discovery Tower is located at 101 College St, Toronto, and is part of the MaRS Innovation Convergence Centre, a $450M, 1.5 million sq ft development supported by a not-for-profit corporation founded by leaders from the business and public sectors in Ontario. The MaRS Centre was created to connect and foster collaboration between the communities of science, business and capital.
About Research at University Health Network
UHN Research (www.uhnresearch.ca) is a leading-edge biomedical and healthcare research organization with international stature, and is a teaching partner of the University of Toronto. Our research institutes (Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto General Research Institute and Toronto Western Research Institute) are home to 465 scientists and clinician scientists, and more than 1900 staff and trainees. In 2004/2005 UHN Research had a research budget of $161M. Our researchers lead programs in cancer, cardiology, transplantation, immunology and autoimmunity, infectious diseases, tissue injury, diabetes, neural and visual sciences, musculoskeletal disease, and urban and community health. UHN Research brings together the innovation, talent and resources to achieve global impact in basic, translational and clinical research.
