Dr. Hani El-Gabalawy appointed Scientific Director of CIHR's Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA)

OTTAWA, April 2, 2013 /CNW/ - Dr. Alain Beaudet, President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), along with CIHR's Governing Council, announced today the appointment of Dr. Hani El-Gabalawy as incoming Scientific Director (SD) of CIHR's Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (CIHR-IMHA). This appointment will be effective April 15, 2013.

"I'm pleased to welcome Dr. El-Gabalawy to the CIHR leadership team," said Dr. Beaudet. "His outstanding work in joint inflammation and arthritis, coupled with his proven experience and leadership working with health charities, research institutions and professional health organizations will be instrumental in taking the Institute and CIHR's Inflammation in Chronic Disease Signature Initiative forward. His experience working with Aboriginal communities on health issues will also be invaluable."

"I would also like to thank Dr. Phillip Gardiner who has served as Interim Scientific Director of the Institute since July 2011," added Dr. Beaudet. "Thanks to his dedication and professionalism, the Institute continued to play a strong leadership role for its community and partners during this transition period."

Dr. El-Gabalawy, an internationally recognized rheumatologist, is Professor of Medicine and Immunology, and senior clinician scientist at the University of Manitoba. He also holds the Endowed Rheumatology Research Chair at that institution. He holds a medical degree from the University of Calgary and has completed postdoctoral fellowships in both internal medicine and rheumatology at McGill University.

His research interests have focused on the mechanisms initiating and sustaining joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Between 1997-2000, as a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, he and his colleagues studied a large cohort of patients with early inflammatory arthritis in order to determine the pathological features seen in the inflamed joints, and to better understand prognosis. A number of seminal observations were made from these studies that have helped clinicians and researchers focus investigative and therapeutic strategies on the early stages of joint inflammation, before permanent progressive damage occurs. Dr. El-Gabalawy has published landmark studies on synovial biology, the pathogenesis of early arthritis, and has recently established a unique First Nations cohort to study gene-environment interactions in the pre-clinical phase of arthritis.

Dr. El-Gabalawy feels privileged to lead the Institute at this time as "there has never been a better opportunity to develop effective strategies for detecting and preventing lifelong progressive diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis at their earliest stages"

Dr. El-Gabalawy has held a number of administrative positions at the University of Manitoba, including serving as an academic Division Head of Rheumatology and Arthritis Centre Director for 3 terms, Clinical Director of the Rheumatology Research Laboratory, Residency Program Director, and Chair of the Grants and Allocations Committee for the Health Sciences Centre Foundation in Winnipeg. He has served as a member and Chair of CIHR peer review committees, and has held key leadership positions in The Arthritis Society, the Canadian Arthritis Network Centres of Excellence, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is also a former member of the CIHR-IMHA Institute Advisory Board.

Over the span of his career, Dr. El-Gabalawy has published more than 100 peer reviewed papers, as well as multiple book chapters and editorials. He has received academic awards and recognitions including an NIH Bench to Bedside Award, fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award for service to the arthritis community.

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-IMHA supports research to enhance active living, mobility and movement, and oral health; and addresses causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions related to bones, joints, muscles, connective tissue, skin and teeth.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's health research investment agency. 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 14,100 health researchers and trainees across Canada.

SOURCE: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

David Coulombe
CIHR Media Relations
Phone: [phone], Cell: 613-808-7526
E-mail: [email protected]