McGill University Proposals

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia:
From Prevention to Cure
Alzheimer's disease is a growing national health issue. The costs associated with treatment and caretaking are staggering for the economy, societies and families. McGill University is a world leader in Alzheimer's research, and our scientists have made groundbreaking contributions in genetic, molecular and clinical aspects of the disease. The recruitment of this Chair should lead to major discoveries in Alzheimer's research. Implementing the results of these discoveries should dramatically change the way we treat Alzheimer's and related dementia, not only in Canada but around the world.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Broadband Convergence:
Building the Intelligent Networks of Tomorrow
The past few decades have seen explosive growth in the use of broadband communication networks to meet the demand for information and services anytime, anywhere. The networks of the future, mainly optical and wireless, have so far been assembled ad hoc, without much oversight or interconnection. This proposed Chair program would drive a new research initiative setting out to create a paradigm shift in the evolution of broadband networking. The resulting "intelligent network" would not only be faster, but also more power-efficient, cost-effective and highly adaptable to the needs of the end user.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Green Chemistry and Green Chemicals
Given the widespread use of chemicals in everyday life, how do we ensure that society's need for innovation and prosperity are properly balanced against the environmental and health impacts of these chemicals? Concerns about the release of chemicals into the environment, their fate and their impacts on our health demand innovative solutions to ensure the sustainability of chemical synthesis and use. Green chemistry involves making chemical reactions environmentally acceptable in solvent, energy and resource terms. This requires a complete re-assessment, and often re-invention, of how chemicals are made. New molecule and reaction design has to be guided by an understanding of how chemicals are introduced to and transformed by the environment. This Chair will look at all of these questions, as well as at how these chemicals and their (eco)metabolites become toxic to lifeforms. The resulting green chemical profiles would be used to inform policy and industry as to certain chemicals' potential problems.

Canada Excellence Research Chair in Pain Research: From Mechanisms to Therapies
McGill University and its partners propose a Chair to develop effective therapies for chronic pain and related neurological pathologies. Half of all Canadians suffer chronic pain at some point during their lives. Pain is associated with neural degeneration, which may also lead to depression, anxiety, poor memory and cognition, and reduced mobility. It also has enormous social and economic costs (more than $1 billion per year). The role of this Chair would be to rapidly speed up efforts to discover and validate new therapies for chronic pain and associated neurological disabilities. These discoveries would help Canadians, our health-care system and the Canadian pharmaceutical industry.

For more information, contact:

McGill University
c/o Professor Anthony C. Masi
Provost
Montréal, Québec
Canada H3A 2T5
Telephone: 514-398-5891
Email: anthony.masi@mcgill.ca
www.mcgill.ca