Federal Budget's Boost to Research A Boon to Universities Like York; Research Centres, Social Scientists to Contribute to Careful Analysis/Knowledge Needed for Nascent Health Care Policy

TORONTO, Tues., Feb. 16, 1999 -- Universities like York have much to contribute to the opportunities for research -- particularly in health care -- presented in Federal Finance Minister Paul Martin's budget today, said York University President Dr. Lorna Marsden.

Marsden welcomed the federal government's decision -- and vision - to create the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which will draw together scientists from across the full spectrum of health research -- from biomedical research to the leading-edge work of social science researchers.

"The Finance Minister is calling on researchers from a wide range of areas to come together to explore solutions to national health challenges. York University -- with its critical mass of researchers in Health Studies and its increasing concentration on health care policy -- is superbly suited to contribute to meeting that challenge," said Marsden, adding that undergraduate and graduate students will benefit as their professors share with them the knowledge and research promoted by these new opportunities.

President Marsden said that York has the greatest concentration of social scientists and humanists of any university in the country, and its cadre of top-notch researchers in the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science is eager to pursue the research this country needs to help guide decision-making, inform policy, and answer complex questions about how to improve the health and productivity of the nation.

Marsden said she was heartened by the increase in funding to the Canada Health and Social Transfer and would be encouraging the provincial government to pass the education dollars on to the sector. She also applauded the increases to the budgets of the vitally important granting agencies -- the National Science and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council -- and endorsed the expanded commitment to the Networks of Centres of Excellence, of which York's Centre for Health Studies is a part.

York University, founded in 1959, is Canada's third largest university. It is nationally and internationally respected for its innovative research and award-winning teaching. With its combination of dedicated and talented faculty, opportunities for bright and ambitious students, dynamic curriculum and modern campuses in one of North America's most influential urban centres, York University is setting the modern standard in academic excellence.

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For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor, Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
YU/012/99