Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal: Renewal of Dr. Tarik Möröy's<br>term of office as President and Scientific Director

MONTREAL, June 10 /CNW Telbec/ - On the occasion of the annual general assembly of its members, held earlier this week (June 8th), for the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), the Chairman of the IRCM Board of Directors, Gérard A. Limoges, was pleased to announce the Board's unanimous decision to renew Dr. Tarik Möröy's term of office as President and Scientific Director of the IRCM.

Dr. Möröy has been IRCM's President and Scientific Director since March 1st, 2006. The renewal of his five-year term will be effective as of March 1st, 2011. He is the fourth person to take on this function since the Institut's foundation in 1967. He is also the director of the hematopoiesis and cancer research unit at the institute.

"We are proud to renew Dr. Möröy's mandate and to continue benefitting from his scientific expertise and outstanding administrative skills," says Mr. Limoges. "Over the past five years, the IRCM has known a considerable success in recruiting renowned local and international researchers, as well as in obtaining important grants for new and innovative research projects. We wish to thank him for his excellent work and look forward to collaborating with him for the length of his second term here at IRCM."

About IRCM's Board of Directors

The IRCM Board of Directors is elected each year at the annual general assembly of its members. All Board members are volunteers.

The Chairman of the IRCM Board of Directors is Gérard A. Limoges, C.M., FCA. The members are: Guy Breton, MD; Raymond Chrétien; Hélène Desmarais, C.M., LLD; Claude A. Garcia, FSA, FICA; Louise Lambert-Lagacé, C.M., C.Q, Dt.P.; W. Robert Laurier, FCA; Paule Leduc, PhD; Christine Le Jeune CMA, CFA; Camille Limoges, PhD, FRSC; Alain Mayrand, IAS, A; Pierre Shooner; Yvon Turcot; Michael L. Turcotte; and Tarik Möröy, PhD.

About the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM)

Founded in 1967, the IRCM (www.ircm.qc.ca) is currently comprised of 37 research units in various fields, namely immunity and viral infections, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cancer, neurobiology and development, systems biology and medicinal chemistry, and clinical research and bioethics. It also houses three specialized research clinics, as well as eight core facilities and two research platforms with state-of-the-art equipment. The IRCM employs 450 people and is an independent institution affiliated with the Université de Montréal. The IRCM clinic is associated to the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM). The IRCM also maintains a long-standing association with McGill University.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Jean-Benoît Houde. Dr. Tarik Möröy's biographical notes can be found on the following page.

    
    Fact Sheet
    Biographical notes


    Dr. Tarik Möröy

    PhD
    President and Scientific Director, IRCM
    Full Research Professor at the IRCM and in the Department of Microbiology
    and Immunology, associate member of the Department of Biochemistry,
    Université de Montréal
    Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and associate member
    of the Division of Experimental Medicine, McGill University
    Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Hematopoiesis and Immune Cell
    Differentiation

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Dr. Tarik Möröy is IRCM's President and Scientific Director since March 1st, 2006. He is the fourth person to take on this function since the Institute's foundation in 1967. He is also director of the Laboratory on Hematopoiesis and Cancer at the institute.

Dr. Möröy's research projects aim to better understand the molecular basis of the physiology, ontogeny and the differentiation of all blood cells including blood stem cells, as well as to reveal the mechanisms leading to leukemia and lymphoma; two types of blood cancer.

Prior to his arrival at the IRCM, Dr. Möröy was a full professor of molecular cell biology at the Institute for Cell Biology (Institut für Zellbiologie, IFZ) at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen, Germany. He was also Executive Director of the IFZ for two mandates (1996-1999, 2002-2005). He is one of the founders of the Centre for Medical Biotechnology (ZMB) of the University Duisburg-Essen and was the Chairman of the Board of this institution from 2003-2005 in Essen, Germany.

Dr. Möröy obtained his PhD in biochemistry from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany in 1987. He did the experimental work for his doctoral thesis at the Institut Pasteur in Paris (1984-1987) as a European Community fellow, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University in New York (1988-1991). In 1994, he obtained his accreditation to teach and supervise research (Habilitation) in molecular biology and immunology from the Philipps University in Marburg, Germany.

For further information: Jean-Benoît Houde, 514-286-2145 (ext. 224), 514-652-4344, [email protected]; Source: Lucette Thériault, Communications Director, IRCM