Message from Norman Rosenblum, INMD Scientific Director
December 2019

As Scientific Director of INMD, one of my main priorities is training and capacity development, and last month I had the opportunity to lead my first INMD Early Career Investigator (ECI) Meeting in Canmore, Alberta. This meeting was attended by 37 ECIs and almost a dozen mentors and representatives of INMD partner organizations from across Canada.

The goal of this meeting was to provide practical information to ECIs that would help them to strengthen their research careers. Highlights of the meeting included an opening from an Elder from the local Stoney Nakoda First Nation who explained the history of the Canmore area and his First Nation, who were known as “keepers of the mountains”. The plenary presentation was provided by Dr. Kathy McCoy from the University of Calgary, who was extremely generous in sharing her experience and the journey she has taken in her research career. We were also fortunate to have Craig Settee, Coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples’ Engagement and Research Council of the Can-SOLVE CKD Network, share his knowledge on engaging Indigenous People in health research.

We covered a variety of topics in sessions including a brief introduction to CIHR, how to manage a research program, grant writing and a mock grant review exercise, and how to manage personal and professional lives. There was also time allotted to provide an opportunity for the ECIs to network and meet with the mentors one-on-one. Overall, the meeting was a success and Canmore provided beautiful scenery that inspired all the attendees of this meeting, myself included!

I would like to thank all the mentors who served as members of the program advisory committee in helping to plan the meeting: Eric Benchimol, Catherine Field, Nicola Jones, Chris Kennedy, Erin Mulvihill and Chris Rose, as well as partner representatives Andrea Grantham (Canadian Nutrition Society) and Jeff LaPlante (National Indigenous Diabetes Association). I would also like to thank all of the ECIs who enthusiastically participated in the meeting – it was inspiring to meet so many dedicated young scientists.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and all the best for 2020!

Norman Rosenblum, MD, FRCPC
Scientific Director, CIHR-INMD

Date modified:

2019-12-11