The Faculty of Medicine welcomes new stem cell research report and alliance
A new workshop report, Building on Canada’s Strengths in Regenerative Medicine, released recently by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), confirms that Canadian researchers continue to be recognized as scientific leaders in the field of regenerative medicine and stem cell science.
The report brings together perspectives from academia, medicine, funding agencies, industry, and patients and was informed by a workshop, literature review and bibliometric research.
Several researchers from The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa played a role in developing the report, including Dr. Michael Rudnicki, Dr. Duncan Stewart and Dr. Harold Atkins. In addition to their roles in Ottawa, Dr. Rudnicki also leads Canada’s Stem Cell Network, while Dr. Stewart leads the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Tina Ceroni, a patient advocate who benefited from stem cell transplantation at The Ottawa Hospital, also participated in the workshop.
The exercise has also resulted in the formation of the new Regenerative Medicine Alliance of Canada (RMAC), with Dr. Rudnicki as Interim Chair.
“I’m delighted to lead this Alliance, which is bringing national, provincial and regional organizations together to build a robust regenerative medicine sector in Canada,” said Dr. Rudnicki. “On behalf of RMAC members, I would like to welcome the Council’s report, which shows that Canada continues to punch above its weight in stem cell research and that Canadian researchers are producing high impact work.”
“Stem cell research has tremendous potential to transform lives and cure devastating diseases,” said Dr. Stewart. “I would like to thank the people of Ottawa for their support, which has allowed us to launch several world-first clinical trials and participate in the important initiatives announced recently.”
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