Michael Hayden, professor in the Departments of Medicine and Medical Genetics, is the latest addition to the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR). Widely known and highly regarded in the health research community, he will provide MSFHR with a wealth of expertise as the Foundation moves towards year two of their five-year Strategic Direction 2009 – 2015.
Hayden’s involvement with MSFHR dates back to its inception. Since 2001, he has supervised 23 trainees — the highest number of any MSFHR supervisor. He was also leader of the 2003 MSFHR research unit Fundamental Innovative Neurogenerative Diseases, and is currently co-leader of the 2007 Technology/Methodology Platform BC Clinical Genomics Network (BCCGN). He credits the birth of BCCGN and its successes to MSFHR’s funding.
“This was a dream and the Michael Smith Foundation helped make it a reality,” he says. “They saw the potential and invested appropriately — and without them, this wouldn’t have happened.”
In 2008, Hayden was named Canada’s Health Researcher of the Year by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for his biomedical and clinical research. He will join two other faculty members on the board– Asst. Prof. Nadine Caron (Surgery), Prof. Emerita Judith Hall (Pediatrics and Medical Genetics), and Prof. Bruce Verchere (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine).
For more information, visit http://www.med.ubc.ca/about_us/Awards_and_Honours.htm#hayden