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| THIS PAST MARCH, THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO HELD SPECIAL EVENTS TO MARK two important celebrations - the 25th anniversaries of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Investment from NSERC, SSHRC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the lifeblood of
university research in this country. Much of U of T's research and scholarship is made possible because of the support from our granting councils.
But the celebrations weren't only about the past. In fact, the opposite is true. There are very positive changes
taking place in all three councils which promise to improve the Canadian research landscape.
CIHR led the way five years ago when it re-invented itself from
the Medical Research Council into
an organization composed of 13 virtual institutes that could more effectively address the wider aspects of health research (before my appointment to Vice-President, Research and Associate Provost at U of T, I was director one
of those groups - the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health). NSERC underwent a similar major
re-visioning process last year and is now launching exciting new programs dealing with themes such as math and science education. Now, SSHRC is conducting its "transformation" process, through which
it seeks to move from being simply
a granting council to a knowledge council that has a tangible impact on society.
We know from the management gurus that the desire and ability to change is essential in any organization, public or private. As both an administrator and a researcher, I am heartened by our granting councils' initiatives to reflect changing research agendas. It is this desire to move forward and improve that drives research at universities and hospitals across the country. We encourage the steps our granting councils are taking to re-shape their roles in creating knowledge and promoting research capacity and innovation in Canada and look forward to working with them to implement change.
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NEW LECTURE SERIES CELEBRATES
WOMEN'S IMPACT AT U of T
In celebration of the 120th anniversary of the official admission of women students to the University of Toronto, the Status of Women Office and the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Associate Provost have launched a lecture series entitled, "Women Changing the World: Outstanding Women Scholars at the University of Toronto."
 Free and open to the public, the lectures aim to educate a broad audience, in an informal and accessible way, about the remarkable impact U of T's women researchers and scholars are having on the world.
The inaugural lecture, held on March 12, was given by Freda Miller of molecular and medical genetics, who discussed the promise of adult stem cell research. The next lecture is planned for later this fall.
For information about upcoming lectures,
visit the Status of Women website at http://status-women.utoronto.ca/.
INSULIN PIONEERS INDUCTED INTO U.S. HALL OF FAME
Three Canadian research giants have received important recognition south of the border. The National Inventors Hall of Fame in Ohio - whose list of honoured inventors includes just a handful of Canadians - has inducted U of T's Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip for their discovery of insulin in 1922.
Before insulin, diabetes was a painful and deadly disease. Through Banting and Best's groundbreaking work in locating and isolating insulin - a secretion of the pancreas - and Collip's research into refining the treatment, diabetes sufferers were given the chance to live long and healthy lives. While insulin is not a cure for diabetes, it continues to save the lives of millions of people.
The discovery brought Banting and his supervisor, J.R.R. MacLeod, Nobel Prizes in Medicine in 1923. Both chose to share their prizes - Banting with Best and MacLeod with Collip. Banting, Best and Collip, the only Canadians to be inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2004, join past inductees Alexander Graham Bell and U of T alumnus James Hillier, co-inventor of the first electron microscope.
U of T HELPS SSHRC, NSERC MARK 25-YEAR MILESTONES
This past March, the University of Toronto opened its doors to celebrate the 25th anniversaries of two of Canada's granting councils, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
During their 25-year histories, SSHRC and NSERC together have invested over $1 billion in U of T research. "We are delighted to help SSHRC and NSERC mark these important milestones," says John Challis, vice-president, research and associate provost. "The University of Toronto has benefited enormously from federal granting council funding - investments which have made possible countless innovations across a range of disciplines."
The day-long events, which took place on March 9 for NSERC and March 29 for SSHRC, included tours of research facilities funded by the councils, formal presentations and dinner at U of T President Robert Birgeneau's residence.
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 Two OISE/UT professors have been recognized by the City of Toronto for the impact their research and activism has on the community. George Dei of sociology and equity studies won the 2003 William F. Hubbard Race Relations Award for his work on anti-racism education and his extensive involvement in community groups. Bonnie Burstow, a senior lecturer in adult education and counselling psychology and associate director of OISE/UT's Transformative Learning Centre, won the 2003 Constance E. Hamilton Award for her efforts to support, advocate for and empower women on the margins of Toronto's society, including women who are refugees, psychiatric survivors, homeless, imprisoned or drug-addicted.
Paul Downes of English was awarded the Modern Language Association of America's Prize for a First Book for Democracy, Revolution, and Monarchism in Early American Literature.
Joan Saary, postdoctoral fellow in medicine, received the Royal Society of Canada's Alice Wilson Award. Given to a woman of outstanding academic qualifications who is entering a career in scholarship or research at the postdoctoral level, the award celebrates Saary's work in the relatively new area of occupational medicine.
James Arthur of mathematics is the new president-elect of the American Mathematical Society, the largest and most renowned organization of its kind in the world.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's highly respected Technology Review magazine included two U of T researchers in its 2003 list of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators. Edward Sargent, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was chosen for his groundbreaking research in nanotechnology and the development of an agile optical network. Alex Vasilescu, a PhD candidate in computer science, was selected for her innovative research on anti-terrorism technologies, including face recognition and human motion analysis.
 Stephen Scherer of molecular and medical genetics and the Hospital for Sick Children, won the 2003 Steacie Prize in the Natural Sciences. Considered one of Canada's most prestigious research prizes, the Steacie Prize is given annually to a scientist or engineer under 40 years of age. Scherer was honoured for his outstanding contributions to the field of genomics.
Eliot Phillipson, chair of medicine, has been appointed the new president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), effective July 1, 2004. Succeeding David Strangway, Phillipson will oversee CFI's $3.65 billion budget and work to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and other non-profit research organizations to carry out world-class research and technology development.
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 Aled Edwards (left) and Cheryl Arrowsmith (right), pictured with research team members Sujata Sharma (foreground), Alexander Plotnikov (background left) and Raymond Hui (background right), are leaders in an international initiative that may transform the world of medical science.
Called the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), the
$100 million, three-year project brings together researchers from U of T and the University of Oxford, with Edwards acting as chief executive officer and Arrowsmith as the Canadian team's scientific director, to determine the structure of over 350 protein structures that play a significant role in human disease.
The SGC's work is made possible by funding from UK-based Wellcome Trust, GlaxoSmithKline, Genome Canada, the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Innovation Trust and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Results will be placed in a public database, giving scientists around the world access to this groundbreaking information and speeding up the development of new treatments for disease.
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