Brandon716
Senior Member
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/05/04/sekaly-aids.html
Top AIDS researcher to leave Montreal for U.S. institute
One of the top AIDS researchers in Canada is moving to the United States because of cuts in funding, he says.
Rafick-Pierre Sékaly has extensive expertise in vaccine research, including new approaches for HIV and cancer vaccines.
"I am truly excited about the opportunity to develop an outstanding institute for immunotherapy," Sékaly said in a release announcing his appointment as scientific director of the new Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Florida.
Sékaly said he is leaving because of cuts in science funding. He is taking a group of more than 30 scientists with him to Florida to continue their vaccine research, the institute said.
Jay Nelson, director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Portland, Ore., who will co-direct the facility in Florida, called it a coup to recruit a scientist of Sékaly's calibre.
Sékaly's lab in Montreal has received research grants from the federal government, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sékaly has published more than 200 articles in scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine and the Journal of Experimental Medicine. His work has resulted in 20 patents.
In January, the federal budget called for $147.9 million in cuts over three years to the three agencies that grant research funds to universities.
In March, a group of scientists, many working in fields of basic research such as mathematics, signed a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to reverse the funding cuts. That letter has since attracted more than 2,200 signatures.
Top AIDS researcher to leave Montreal for U.S. institute
One of the top AIDS researchers in Canada is moving to the United States because of cuts in funding, he says.
Rafick-Pierre Sékaly has extensive expertise in vaccine research, including new approaches for HIV and cancer vaccines.
"I am truly excited about the opportunity to develop an outstanding institute for immunotherapy," Sékaly said in a release announcing his appointment as scientific director of the new Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Florida.
Sékaly said he is leaving because of cuts in science funding. He is taking a group of more than 30 scientists with him to Florida to continue their vaccine research, the institute said.
Jay Nelson, director of the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Portland, Ore., who will co-direct the facility in Florida, called it a coup to recruit a scientist of Sékaly's calibre.
Sékaly's lab in Montreal has received research grants from the federal government, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sékaly has published more than 200 articles in scientific journals including Nature, Nature Medicine and the Journal of Experimental Medicine. His work has resulted in 20 patents.
In January, the federal budget called for $147.9 million in cuts over three years to the three agencies that grant research funds to universities.
In March, a group of scientists, many working in fields of basic research such as mathematics, signed a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to reverse the funding cuts. That letter has since attracted more than 2,200 signatures.
