Hello. I am here today representing BIOTECanada. We're a national organization dedicated to the sustainable commercial development of biotechnology in Canada. We're governed by a volunteer board of directors and we serve a membership of over 250 companies and institutions and research organizations all working to build the bio-based economy in Canada.
Our 20-member board comprises representatives from all sectors in biotechnology, as well as knowledge and service providers and an academic representative. Pfizer and CIHR are both represented on our board.
But we asked to appear here today for one important reason. We fundamentally believe in the mandate of CIHR and support the recent appointment of Dr. Prigent to the governing council of CIHR. The appointment serves as an excellent example of the collaborative nature that discovery and development play in the pursuit of improving the overall health of Canadians.
The mandate of CIHR is very clear. It specifically outlines a commitment to improve the health of Canadians and to strengthen the health care system here in Canada. But to realize this goal we have to be globally aware, globally connected, and globally capable. Research does not translate into treatments in a vacuum. In fact, very little research ever gets transferred into practice. The life cycle of development has partnerships with academia, research institutions, governments, and industry throughout the entire process in order to reach the hands of doctors and their patients.
As other witnesses have indicated to you, other national and provincial research-based organizations have pursued this collaborative approach to their governance. The simple fact is that Canada cannot afford to do anything less.
I have the privilege, in my role, of helping to promote the remarkable calibre of scientific research and discovery Canada offers to the world. We have long earned a reputation for excellent science and research capacity throughout the world. National organizations such as the NRC, Agriculture Canada, and Health Canada, combined with dozens of Canadian academic institutions, have helped foster our world-class reputation for scientific excellence. We have a lot to be proud of and we have a lot to protect.
The creation of CIHR in 2000 was lauded as a milestone for Canada, and while it certainly was, we were in fact simply catching up to what other nations had done years and years before. Remember that the NIH, which we have heard mentioned already, was officially created in 1948. And in fact, there are industry representatives on some of the NIH institutes. The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936. And in France the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research was created in 1964. The creation of CIHR served as a catalyst for inspiring research and inspiring an industry, for building a network of leadership in human health, and it placed Canada in the global agenda of championing better health for its citizens.
One of our key focuses as an organization is to work to present policy recommendations to help Canada remain a leader in the global race in research and development. Every day I see examples of how the cycle of discovery and development is changing. The key trend, or I should say the key to success, lies in collaboration and partnership.
Genome Canada struck a partnership on stem cell research for Canada with California. The Michael Smith Foundation, in British Columbia, in October announced that the first-ever decoding of the genetic evolution of a breast cancer tumour was developed by the BC Cancer Agency.
We see the work of a number of other groups, like the University of Calgary researchers in the faculty of medicine, who are part of a seven-city program looking at early detection techniques for lung cancer, Canada's leading cause of cancer death.
The reason I mention these achievements and why it's relevant to the hearing is that each and every one of these was achieved by an organization whose leadership within their board included representation from Canada's private sector. Building a modern nation to care for its citizens in the 21st century means setting an agenda respectful of the environment needed to achieve its goal.
BIOTECanada itself has joined a coalition of other national organizations, including the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, the Health Charities Coalition of Canada, Canada's medical device companies, Research Canada, and the Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations. As a group, we collectively called on the Prime Minister earlier this year to help with policy engagement, setting an unprecedented global competition for state-of-the-art research capacity-building. Our research is in a global game, trying to sustain and build our capabilities. But we know that research alone will never offer the treatments, the diagnostics, or the medical technologies needed to improve our health outcomes. We need to collaborate. We need to understand the full ecosystem of taking research from bench to bedside.
Let's remember, who did we turn to as we built the global response to H1N1? Industry was the primary partner that governments around the world sought out in order to help develop a vaccine to protect their citizens.
This reminds me of a statement made a couple of years ago by Alex Azar, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, that when people hear of the next health threat or urgent need, they will demand quick results.
