Dr. Yves Joanette Appointed Scientific Director of CIHR’s Institute of Aging

For immediate release -

2011-18

OTTAWA (July 13, 2011) – Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), along with CIHR's Governing Council, announced today the appointment of Dr. Yves Joanette, as incoming Scientific Director (SD) of CIHR's Institute of Aging (CIHR-IA). This appointment is effective August 1, 2011.

"Dr. Joanette is a welcome addition to the CIHR leadership team," said Dr. Beaudet. "His accomplishments in research, namely on the impact of right hemisphere brain injuries on human communication and the cognitive dimensions of dementia in Alzheimer's disease, as well as his leadership skills as president of the FRSQ, will make him the ideal candidate to take geriatric research and CIHR-IA forward. I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Joanette will serve as the new Executive Director for the CIHR International Collaborative Research Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease."

Dr. Joanette is currently a professor at Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine and was the Director of the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM) between 1997 and 2009. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec as well as Chair of the agency's Board of Directors from 2009 to 2011. For five years, he was also the Director of Université de Montréal's School of Speech Therapy and Audiology and CRIUGM's Associate Director of Clinical Research. Following his doctorate in neurological sciences from Université de Montréal (1980), Dr. Joanette went on to postdoctoral training in neuropsychology and behavioural neurology in Marseille, where he was a founding member of the Human Neuropsychology Laboratory at École des hautes études en sciences sociales (1982).

"I am honoured and delighted to have this opportunity to serve the aging research community," said Dr. Joanette. "I look forward to working with the other Scientific Directors, the CIHR team, and all the Institute of Aging stakeholders and partners to drive forward the programs that will allow Canada to advance its research and innovation agenda for the benefit of Canadians. By working together, we can build upon the outstanding foundations set by the Institute's inaugural Scientific Director Réjean Hébert and current Scientific Director Dr. Anne Martin-Matthews."

"The nomination of Dr. Joanette as Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Aging is good news," said Dr. Hélène Boisjoly, Dean of Medicine at Université de Montréal (UdeM). "At UdeM, his leadership has significantly contributed to the consolidation of the geriatric domain, through his accomplishment in research and his directorship of the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. I have no doubt that, in his new appointment, Dr. Joanette will bring the same commitment toward the advancement of Canadian research in the aging field."

"Dr. Joanette's abilities are perfectly suited to the Institute of Aging's mandate. We know that he is the perfect leader to foster a better understanding of the various factors that contribute to healthy aging. It will be an honour for us to help him by hosting the Institute of Aging's headquarters," said Mrs. Marie-France Simard, Director General and Chief Executive Officer at Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM).

For his outstanding professional achievements, Dr. Joanette has earned numerous distinctions, including the Club de recherches cliniques du Québec André-Dupont prize and an honorary doctorate from Université Lumière de Lyon, France.

"I would also like to thank Dr. Anne Martin-Matthews for her outstanding leadership and her exceptional vision and tenacity in championing the development and launch of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, one of CIHR's Major Strategic Initiatives," said Dr. Beaudet.

"It has been a tremendous privilege and an honour to lead the Institute of Aging since 2004," said Dr. Anne Martin-Matthews, Scientific Director of CIHR-IA. "I am just delighted by the appointment of Yves Joanette, an outstanding researcher and acknowledged scientific leader. As a member of the inaugural Institute Advisory Board (IAB), he knows IA well. He co-hosted our inaugural Summer Program in Aging in 2006. Dr. Joanette's expertise and experience will significantly enhance IA's strategic priorities in research on cognitive impairment, mobility, health services, in research capacity building, and in championing the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. His dynamic leadership will be enabled by committed stakeholders, a mature and growing research community in aging, and secure national and international partners. At this time, I extend my deepest appreciation to the dedicated IA staff in Vancouver and Ottawa, our IAB members, and to the three IAB Chairs who supported me so capably: Dorothy Pringle, Howard Bergman, and Jane Rylett. I am especially grateful to Jane for agreeing to an extension of her term as Chair, in order to facilitate this leadership transition."

CIHR is comprised of 13 Institutes, each led by a Scientific Director, responsible for championing health research at the highest levels of international excellence, establishing and nurturing partnerships, as well as fostering effective communication and knowledge dissemination. CIHR-IA champions and supports research that promotes healthy aging and addresses causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions associated with aging. Its goal is to improve the quality of life and health of older Canadians by understanding and addressing or preventing the consequences of a wide range of factors associated with aging.

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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 13,600 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

For further information:

David Coulombe
CIHR Media Relations
Phone: 613-941-4563
Cell: 613-808-7526
E-mail: mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca