The year 2009 marked a milestone in the history of the CIHR - Quebec Respiratory Health Training Program since it was a year of renewal from the Institutes.
Dr François Maltais, professor of medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University
and a world-renowned researcher in COPD will serve as principal applicant for this renewal.
He will be assisted by Dr. Y Berthiaume, scientific director of the Respiratory Health Network of the FRSQ, professor of medicine at Université de Montréal and in cystic fibrosis and lung injury, and by Dr. Kevin Schwartzman, associate professor of medicine at McGill University and clinical epidemiologist with expertise in tuberculosis. Completing the team are Dr. James Martin, professor of medicine at McGill University, a world-renowned researcher in airway inflammation and asthma, and Dr. Éric Rousseau, professor of physiology at the Université de Sherbrooke, whose research area is airway smooth muscle (and who chairs the scientific committee of the Quebec Respiratory Health Network). The large group of co-applicants includes both senior and junior mentors, ensuring the stability of the program as well as its development and renewal over the coming years.
Respiratory diseases now represent the third most important burden to the health system in terms of cost, quality of life and mortality.
The need for qualified respiratory researchers is increasingly being felt across Canada.