July 15, 1998
SickKids invests in tomorrow's health researchers
TORONTO - A $10-million investment by SickKids Foundation will help provide financial assistance to University of Toronto (U of T) graduate students who are in training at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). The Foundation's investment is matched equally by the University of Toronto and the provincial government's Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund program to create the $30-million Hospital for Sick Children Foundation Studentships program at the U of T.
The new program will provide approximately $1.2 million in the first year and will increase in subsequent years as the endowment fund grows.
"This program represents a strategic investment for the Foundation," explains SickKids Foundation Chairman Richard M. Thomson. "We want to help ensure that promising young men and women acquire the training they need to develop and continue careers as successful researchers and health care professionals. This program will help develop a pool of highly trained and skilled men and women who will in turn contribute to Canada's future success and economic prosperity."
The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation Studentships will support full-time students enrolled in a Masters or Doctoral degree program at the U of T whose research or professional work occurs at SickKids. Also eligible are SickKids staff members who are part-time students at U of T in Masters or Doctoral degree programs in areas of strategic interest to SickKids. Undergraduate medical students will not be eligible unless they are also pursuing a Masters or Doctoral degree. The program is expected to attract applicants from a wide range of professional faculties. All applicants must demonstrate financial need, and will be selected on the basis of excellence in a semi-annual competition.
"The establishment of this studentship program will enable SickKids to more than double the number of graduate students we fund, not only in the basic sciences, but in such professions as nursing, social work and rehabilitation," explains Dr. Amira Klip, Director of the Hospital's Research Training Centre and Professor of Paediatrics and Biochemistry at U of T. "It also gives a huge boost to our research activities, because graduate students carry out a significant proportion of the work in any research program."
Through its Research Training Centre, students receive research training in a broad range of Hospital for Sick Children programs, including genetics, cell biology, cardiovascular research, developmental biology, population health sciences, and brain and behaviour research. SickKids currently trains 201 graduate students from the University of Toronto. At present, the majority of students are funded through the research grants of individual SickKids scientists.
"The Hospital for Sick Children is a U of T teaching hospital and an internationally recognized leader in paediatric health care," says U of T vice-president and provost Adel Sedra. "The SickKids Foundation's generous investment in the education of U of T graduate students training at the SickKids will enable the university and the Hospital to continue to play a vital role in advancing research and patient care for children throughout the world."
In the first competition for funding under the new program, 45 students were awarded an SickKids Foundation Studentship. The Studentships take effect this month. Additional studentships will be awarded in the fall.
For more information, please contact:
Public Affairs
The Hospital for Sick Children
555 University Avenue
Suite 1742, Public Affairs, First floor Atrium
Toronto,
ON
M5G 1X8
Canada
Phone: 416-813-5058
Fax: 416-813-5328