It’s amazing what can be accomplished over dinner: Heritage medical foundation celebrates 20 years of giving
Written By: Phoebe Dey and Terese Brasen
2001-09-21
No one could have predicted the lasting impact of a special dinner meeting where former premier Peter Lougheed candidly asked how much money was needed to create an enduring medical research establishment.The meeting, held March 20, 1978, included Dr. Harry Gunning, Dr. Walter MacKenzie, Dr. Lionel McLeod, Fred Mannix, Sr. and 10 other University of Alberta alumni. The subject was medical research.
"We simply didn't have the institutions in this province to hold top-flight people," said Eric Geddes, who attended the meeting as chair of the University of Alberta board of governors. "We didn't have the proper equipment, laboratory space, or funds to help young colleagues coming up the ladder. And the Canadian scene wasn't a great deal better. We were in a very bad mode, vis-à-vis the United States."
Along with his U of A role, Geddes was a Price Waterhouse partner responsible for the Edmonton operation. Gunning was president of the University of Alberta. MacKenzie was dean of medicine at the U of A, and McLeod University of Calgary dean of medicine. Others present included Dr. Jack Bradley, the premier's health advisor.
That evening, Lougheed considered a proposal to channel significant Heritage Savings Trust Fund investments toward an arm's length, non-profit foundation, tentatively named the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). "These people were in a position to say this funding, if provided, will cause us to take a quantum leap forward in excellence and become a centre of knowledge and learning and excellence in Canada," said Geddes.
Lougheed asked everyone present to take a piece of paper and write down how many dollars were needed. By the end of the evening, the group had agreed on $300 million. Money earned from that investment would fund medical research in Alberta.
Two years later in 1980, the Foundation began funding medical research, investing more money per capita in medical research than any other province. Since then, the fund has contributed more than $650 million to medical research in Alberta and more than $300 million to U of A research.
Said Geddes: "The notion that here we are 20 years later and the market value of the fund is a billion dollars - that was entirely outside my scope of understanding. I certainly had nothing in my personal résumé that would allow me to have that insight."
Seven U of A researchers have received continued AHFMR support, their research ranging from cancer treatments, nerve cell repair and bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the hepatitis B and C viruses.
Their cumulative funding amounts to $15.5 million over 20 years. The AHFMR recently honoured this group of seven: Drs. Carol Cass, Tessa Gordon, Robert Hodges, Michael James, Linda Reha-Krantz, Diane Taylor and Lorne Tyrrell.
"The work of these seven researchers over the course of their 20-year partnerships with AHFMR, and the work of their many Heritage colleagues at the U of A, demonstrates what results from a long-term commitment to research," said Dr. Matthew Spence, president and CEO of AHFMR.
In October, Lougheed and Bradley will be inducted to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. One main reason is their work to establish the AHFMR.
"We have been able to retain in Alberta these top-flight people who might otherwise have gone to other countries," said Geddes, explaining that the AHFMR not only attracts top researchers but also helps to reverse the brain drain. "It just happened that we had a lot of people in our province who are excellent people. The Islet transplantation team is predominantly Albertans. They took their high school in Alberta and were undergraduates at our university. They stayed at home and gained proper funding and maximized their research opportunities here.
"We were out to achieve a level of excellence that we have now achieved," added Geddes. "Excellence in turn breeds excellence on the part of others. If you get a bunch of bright minds working together, they produce the best results. That was what we wanted."
This article originally appeared in Folio News Story