Dr. Michael Hayden, UBC professor, named “Researcher of the Year”
Dr. Michael Hayden, a professor of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia and director of the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, has been named Canada’s 2008 “Health Researcher of the Year” in the field of biomedical and clinical research – the highest scientific honour from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The award recognizes innovation, creativity and dedication to health research and honours Dr. Hayden’s discoveries into the way gene mutations can cause disease such as diabetes and Huntington disease. He discovered the ABCA1 gene, which is involved in the development of type 2 diabetes. He has also identified genes responsible for eight other disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and pain.
Dr. Hayden received his medal at a ceremony at the National Gallery in Ottawa on Nov. 19.
“I’m moved that my peers have given me this incredible honour,” said Dr. Hayden, who is also a Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine. “I feel like a curator – I’ve been given something to hold, but I really just reflect the environment in which I live and work. Canada’s research community is much more powerful than we look, and that’s because of the collaboration that prevails in the institutions across the country.”
The award includes a research grant of $500,000, paid over five years. Dr. Hayden plans to use the funds, in combination with matching gifts, for trainee awards in Global Health, Mental Health, Rare Diseases and Biotechnology. Dr. Hayden has named the initiative “Ripples of Hope,” a term borrowed from a 1966 speech by Robert F. Kennedy at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Hayden, a native of South Africa, attended the speech as a 15-year-old.
Pfizer has already donated $700,000 towards the Mental Health and Rare Diseases endowments.
Dr. Hayden is also leading an international fund-raising effort to build a community centre for children affected by HIV and AIDS in Cape Town that also will promote responsible sexual behaviors among at-risk youth.
Dr. Hayden graduated at the top of his medical school class at the University of Cape Town. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical genetics and was an instructor at Harvard before joining the UBC Faculty of Medicine.
Dr. Hayden is a University Killam Professor. In addition to being one of the co-founders of the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, which is part of the Child & Family Research Institute, he is the founder of three biotechnology companies: NeuroVir Therepeutics Inc., Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp.
For more information, contact:
Catherine Loiacono
UBC Public Affairs
Cell:604.209.3048
E-mail: catherine.loiacono@ubc.ca
Jennifer Kohm
Child & Family Research Institute
Tel: 604.875.2401
E-mail: jkohm@cw.bc.ca