(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) – Three members of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) are receiving prestigious awards for groundbreaking research and leadership in the fields of cancer and neuroscience:

• Dr. Michael McBurney is receiving the Dr. J. David Grimes Research Career Achievement Award. Dr. McBurney has played a crucial role in building the Ottawa health research community by founding and leading the Centre for Cancer Therapeutics and his research has had a major impact on our understanding of cancer and stem cells.
• Dr. Ruth Slack is receiving the Researcher of the Year Award for experiments revealing how an important factor in the brain is involved in both energy production and cell death. This work has important implications for the development of new therapies for disorders such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease.
• Kelly McClellan is receiving the inaugural Dr. Ronald G. Worton Researcher in Training Award. Kelly's research has focused on understanding how stem cells give rise to new brain tissue, with the eventual goal of developing novel stem cell-based therapies.

The awards will be formally given out on October 27th at the annual Gala for Research, presented by MDS Nordion and organized by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. The Gala, to be held at the Ottawa Congress Centre, is Ottawa’s premier social event for the health research community and a major fundraiser for the OHRI, the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa.

“These awards recognize outstanding health research in our community,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, CEO and Scientific Director of the OHRI. “Thanks to an interesting coincidence this year, the awards also reveal the crucial role of mentorship in science, since Ms. McClellan is currently training with Dr. Slack, and Dr. Slack trained with Dr. McBurney.”

“We are proud to be associated with these award recipients and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute,” said Steve West, President of MDS Nordion, the title sponsor of this Saturday’s Gala for Research. “Their research represents a commitment to excellence and innovation that we value at MDS Nordion.”

“Congratulations to our award recipients,” said Michael LeClair, Chair of the Ottawa Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. “Our Foundation is proud to act as a link between their important work and the generosity of our community.”

For more information on the award recipients, please see the accompanying profiles. For more information on the awards and their history, please see http://www.ohri.ca/corporate/honours_awards.asp.

The Ottawa Hospital is a multi-campus, academic health sciences centre, serving 1.5 million residents of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, both in English and French. It provides care for more patients than any other hospital in Canada, and boasts specialty centres in cancer, heart, kidney and vision care, as well as rehabilitation services. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Web site at www.ottawahospital.on.ca.

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s mission is to inspire and enable people to support the highest quality health care at The Ottawa Hospital and lifesaving research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Foundation Web site at www.ohfoundation.ca.

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For more information, please contact:

Stephen Blais
The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
Communications Advisor
Tel.: (613) 798-5555, ext. 18718
stblais@ottawahospital.on.ca

Jennifer Paterson
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Tel.: (613) 798-5555, ext. 19691
jpaterson@ohri.ca