Dr. Norman Rosenblum named Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes

Dr. Rosenblum is an expert in kidney development and the causes of kidney disease in children

OTTAWA, Nov. 8, 2017 /CNW/ - Dr. Roderick McInnes, Acting President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), along with CIHR's Governing Council, announced today the appointment of Dr. Norman Rosenblum as the new Scientific Director of CIHR's Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. This appointment will be effective January 1, 2018.

A Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Nephrology, Dr. Rosenblum is one of Canada's foremost experts in kidney disease in children.  He is a professor at the University of Toronto and a pediatric nephrologist and senior scientist at the Research Institute of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). His lab studies kidney development with the goal of better understanding the causes of kidney malformation, disease and failure in children.

As Scientific Director, Dr. Rosenblum will work with his community to identify research priorities, develop funding opportunities, build partnerships and translate research evidence into policy and practice to improve the health of Canadians and people around the world. As a member of CIHR's leadership team, he will participate in setting and implementing CIHR's strategic direction.

Quotes

"On behalf of CIHR, I wish to congratulate Dr. Rosenblum on his appointment as Scientific Director of INMD. Dr. Rosenblum has not only distinguished himself as a leading researcher in this field, but has also served as an inspiration and mentor to countless clinician-scientists throughout Canada. As we welcome Dr. Rosenblum, we also express our gratitude to Dr. Phil Sherman for serving in this role over the past eight years, and wish him success in all his future endeavours."

Dr. Roderick R. McInnes, CM, O.Ont, MD, PhD, FRSC
Acting President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

"It is an honour to take on this appointment with CIHR's Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. These are critical areas of investigation in today's society and we are committed to scientific excellence, the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians."

Dr. Norman Rosenblum, MD, CRC
Incoming Scientific Director, Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes

Quick Facts

• The CIHR Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes' (CIHR-INMD) mandate supports research to enhance health in relation to diet, digestion, excretion and metabolism; and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and palliation for a wide range of conditions and problems associated with hormone, digestive system, kidney and liver function.
• Support for research into nutrition, metabolism and diabetes is more important than ever before:
• One in four adult Canadians and one in 10 children have clinical obesity.
• Diabetes is among the four most common chronic diseases and the seventh leading cause of death in Canada, and costs the Canadian economy $9 billion annually. As well, approximately 11 million Canadians are living with prediabetes, a condition that significantly increases the risk of several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• One in 10 Canadians is at risk for kidney disease.

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Biography of Dr. Norman Rosenblum

Dr. Norman Rosenblum is a professor of pediatrics, physiology, and laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto, and a pediatric nephrologist and senior scientist at the Research Institute of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). He is the recipient of a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Developmental Nephrology.

Dr. Rosenblum went to medical school at Dalhousie University. He completed a pediatric residency and a fellowship in pediatric nephrology at the Children's Hospital, Boston followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Rosenblum was recruited in 1993 as a clinician scientist at SickKids. Since then, the focus of his research has been the study of kidney development with the goal of better understanding the causes of kidney malformation, disease and failure in children. His lab has generated several models of human kidney-urinary tract malformation. He has published over 110 peer-reviewed original manuscripts and book chapters.

He is deeply engaged in developing and managing career development programs for clinician-scientists. He founded and led the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program from 2001-2012. From 2009-2017, he served as Associate Dean, Physician Scientist Training in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, he is director of both the MD/PhD and Clinician Investigator programs.

Dr. Rosenblum is a past president of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation and a current member of the Council of the American Pediatric Society. He is also a founding member of the EUREKA Institute for Translational Medicine.

Dr. Rosenblum has a strong working relationship with CIHR: a recipient of the CIHR MD/PhD grant since 2010, he is also the recipient of a 2015 Foundation Grant to study kidney disease, the co-principal investigator of the Can-Solve CKD research network on overcoming chronic kidney disease, and serves on the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research National Steering Committee.

He is the recipient of the 2004 Aventis Pasteur Research Award, the American Pediatric Society inaugural 2006 Norman J. Siegel New Member Outstanding Science Award, the Society for Pediatric Research 2010 Maureen Andrew Award in Mentoring, and the Kidney Foundation of Canada 2011 Medal for Research Excellence.

At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.

SOURCE Canadian Institutes of Health Research