Dr. Robert Peterson appointed Executive Director of CIHR's Drug Safety and
Effectiveness Network

OTTAWA , Dec. 23 /CNW Telbec/ - Dr. Alain Beaudet , President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Robert Peterson , Clinical Professor of Paediatrics at the University of British Columbia, as Executive Director, Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network (DSEN), effective January 4, 2010 .

" Dr. Peterson comes with excellent credentials to be our first Executive Director for this Network," said Dr. Beaudet . "His achievements in pharmacology research, coupled with strong government experience, make him the ideal candidate to bring together the many stakeholders involved with DSEN to generate additional post-market evidence regarding the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals."

DSEN will respond to decision-makers' drug safety and effectiveness information needs and increase capacity within Canada to undertake high-quality research in this area. New evidence generated via the Network will inform decision-making about the regulation, public reimbursement, and safe and optimal prescribing and use of drugs within the Canadian health care system.

"I hope to justify the confidence that CIHR has conveyed in this appointment as Executive Director of DSEN," said Dr. Peterson . "I enthusiastically look forward to working with the many stakeholders that will make this exciting initiative a success."

Dr. Peterson received a M.D. degree and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Yale University in 1974. He completed a Master's of Public Health at Harvard University's School of Public Health in 1996.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Peterson has been Director of the Section of Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Colorado, Professor of Paediatrics and Pharmacology and Chairman of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, and Director of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

He has also served as the Director General of the Therapeutic Products Directorate at Health Canada from 2000 to 2005, before returning to academics to become Clinical Professor of Paediatrics at the University of British Columbia and Senior Associate Clinician Scientist at the Child and Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital.

He was appointed to the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee in 2005 and assumed the role of Chair in 2008.

Dr. Peterson is a member of the World Health Organization's Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Evaluation, and Chairman of the Regulations Advisory Board of the Centre for Medicines Research, International Institute for Regulatory Science. He has authored numerous papers and chapters in paediatric clinical pharmacology and toxicology.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to enable its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health-care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to nearly 13,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada . www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca

For further information: David Coulombe, CIHR Media Relations, Telephone: [phone], Cell: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]