Hmmm -- this sounds like there might even be some room for CNF -- particularly if it includes some "path-breaking health technologies" as a selling point.... At a news conference yesterday, Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said Ottawa will invest more than $179 million [....] Canada now ranks 15th for research and development among the world's industrialized nations. Pettigrew said Ottawa is determined to push Canada into the top five countries for R&D by 2010. "We want a Canada that is a world leader in developing and applying the path-breaking health technologies of the 21st century, <end quote> ....bets anyone ? Jaro ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/columnists/story.asp?id=A486A 4A8-33A4-43C3-888E-BFBCED1C1BA2 Ottawa pledges cash for big-ticket research PEGGY CURRAN The Gazette, Saturday, February 28, 2004 Cancer researcher Nicole Beauchemin pulls a small jug of amber-coloured liquid from a fridge in her no-frills laboratory on the seventh floor of McGill University's McIntyre medical building. The potion looks about as exciting as apple juice, but Fetal Bovine Serum is a vital ingredient in Beauchemin's experiments that study how proteins interact in healthy and cancerous cells. She and her research team at the McGill Cancer Centre go through about 20 bottles of the stuff a year. Before the recent mad cow scare, a bottle of the growth hormone, imported from the United States, cost $249. Then the U.S. government closed the borders, cattle stocks were culled and more tightly screened - and the price soared to $400. Beauchemin is a professor of medicine, oncology and biochemistry at McGill whose research into colon cancer centres on cell cultures and genetically altered mice. She said the serum is only one example of the high - and not always predictable or glamorous - costs of leading-edge medical research. In a quick glance around the room, she points out three big-ticket items - the $8,000 climate-controlled incubators, the $30,000 protective hoods and the new $15,000 microscope they were waiting on for more than five years. As Paul Martin's Liberals gear up for a federal election that threatens to be a lot closer than they'd expected, the handouts are beginning to flow - with health researchers reaping early rewards. At a news conference yesterday, Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said Ottawa will invest more than $179 million to fund the kind of advanced research already being conducted by Beauchemin and her colleagues at McGill. In Quebec, $51 million will go to 127 projects at 18 research facilities. A total of 437 projects across Canada will receive funding for one to five years. Canada now ranks 15th for research and development among the world's industrialized nations. Pettigrew said Ottawa is determined to push Canada into the top five countries for R&D by 2010. "We want a Canada that is a world leader in developing and applying the path-breaking health technologies of the 21st century, creating high-quality jobs to keep our bright young people in Canada," he said. Pettigrew and Sarah Stobo Pritchard of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research highlighted the work of three Montreal-based researchers: S Maxime Bouchard of McGill University, who is studying the genetic causes of developmental defects and tumours in kidneys. S Yves Giguère of Université Laval, who is trying to identify the genetic causes of high blood pressure in pregnant women, a condition that has been linked to heart disease later in life. S Sylvie Perreault, at Université de Montréal, is examining the health and economic costs that result when patients with heart disease fail to follow their doctor's advice. It's hoped her work will help physicians, patients and policymakers address the importance of medical check-ups, follow-up and prevention. pcurran@thegazette.canwest.com
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