News from the ForeFront - March 2008

News from the ForeFront - March 2008

Innovation Support

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING PHASE 1, 2, AND 3 INNOVATION (PROJECT) FUNDING

At their recent quarterly meeting, AHFMR's Board of Trustees decided to wind down the project funding (phase 1, 2, and 3) component of the Forefront Program. This decision was made in response to various reports, stakeholder interactions, and Trustee input regarding the ForeFront Program and its place at AHFMR and in Alberta's medical research community.

The final three deadlines are listed below:

NO NEW APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THE OCTOBER 20 DEADLINE.

The career support and industry support components will be integrated into AHFMR's training portfolio. Tina Blake will continue to provide leadership in the further development of these programs in her new role as Acting Assistant Director of Grants and Awards.

In the fall AHFMR will host events in Edmonton and Calgary to celebrate the ForeFront program's contribution to Alberta's biotech and medical products sectors for the past 22 years. Dates will be confirmed and posted to the AHFMR website as soon as they are available.

Please contact Tina Blake at tina.blake@ahfmr.ab.ca or Carla Weyland at carla.weyland@ahfmr.ab.ca if you have any questions about the decision to wind down ForeFront project funding.

Career Support

The Internship Program supports the training of individuals with backgrounds in business and/or science in the medical products and biotechnology industries.

Effective April 1, 2008 - the stipend scale for Industrial (formerly ForeFront) Interns will be updated as follows:

Year 1 - $45,000
Year 2 - $50,000

The training allowance per year remains at $5,000.

New Awards for the 2008 fiscal year:

Mr. Farid Foroud - TEC Edmonton
Dr. Jaswinder Kaur - UTI
Ms. Sanah Jowhari - TheraCarb Inc.
Mr. Dean Zaragoza - TEC Edmonton
Mr. Christian Stinner - DriveABLE Assessment Centres Inc.
Ms. Abby Garfunkel - SemBioSys Genetics Inc.
Dr. Tanya Binette - Isotechnika Inc.

2. MBA Studentship Award:

A pilot award for 2007-2008, the MBA Studentship is designed to provide a science graduate with the opportunity to broaden his or her training and knowledge through enrolment in the University of Alberta's Master of Business Administration program with a specialization in technology commercialization.

The successful recipient of this award for 2008 is Dr. Stephanie Minnema.

For more information on the University of Alberta's MBA program, please visit http://mba.bus.ualberta.ca/Degrees/TC.htm

3. MBT Studentship Award:

This award is also being piloted in the current fiscal year. One third of the successful ForeFront Interns since 2003 hold Master of Biomedical Technology (MBT) degrees from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine. AHFMR created the MBT Studentship Award to capitalize on the natural fit between the training provided by the MBT Program and the objectives of the ForeFront Internship Program.

The four recipients of this award for 2008 are:

Mr. Paul Lam
Ms. Katarzyna Okoniewska
Ms. Jennifer Lukus
Ms. Jenna Latanville

For more information on the University of Calgary's MBT program, please visit http://www.biotech.ucalgary.ca/aboutus.html

4. Industrial Researcher Award:

This pilot award provides salary support for an individual with an academic research background (Masters/PhD level) to gain industrial research experience in a company developing and commercializing medical/health-related products.

The successful recipient of this award for 2008 is Dr. Tara Lysechko, who is training at Virexx Medical Corp.

Industry Support

1. Partnership with BioAlberta:

Through this unique partnership, AHFMR will provide $150,000 to BioAlberta over three years. This funding will be used to strengthen and promote Alberta's bioindustry nationally and internationally through various BioAlberta initiatives, including organizing a successful showcase for emerging biotechnology companies at the Biotechnology International Organization's (BIO) International Convention. BioAlberta plays a lead role in coordinating the Alberta pavilion at BIO and will help prepare representatives from emerging companies for the convention.

The BIO International Convention is the world's largest biotechnology conference featuring expert speakers from the financial and business development communities, as well as presentations from cutting-edge biotechnology companies.

Click here to read the full announcement

For more information about BioAlberta and BIO please visit:
http://www.bioalberta.com
http://www.bio.org

2. Executive-in-Residence (EIR) Awards:

AHFMR recognizes that Alberta's universities are integral to the innovation system and the creation of the medical and health industries through research, technology transfer, and spin-off company creation.

The Executive-in-Residence Award enables the technology transfer offices to recruit senior-level management who have relevant industry experience and appropriate networks to assist university spin-off companies with the commercialization of technologies. The goal is to advance technologies and build better companies that will both improve health care and diversify and contribute to the economy.

Dr. Randall Yatscoff - TEC Edmonton
Mr. David Rafter - UTI

Click here to read more about these two outstanding candidates

Because you are or have been involved with the ForeFront Program, we have included your email address in our distribution list. Should you wish to have your address removed from this list, please contact Carla Weyland at carla.weyland@ahfmr.ab.ca.

Thank you for your continued support and interest in ForeFront, AHFMR's technology commercialization program. For more information on ForeFront or any other AHFMR program, please visit our website at www.ahfmr.ab.ca