Message from the Scientific Director: May 2025

This past April marked one year since I stepped into the role of Scientific Director for the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH), and what a year it has been! From working towards new initiatives to building meaningful relationships with colleagues and across the research community, this first year has been all about learning, collaboration and setting the stage for impact.

I am happy to announce that the ICRH team has grown over the past few months. We are now a group of seven dedicated professionals, each bringing unique expertise and perspective to the Institute. While some of our newest members are still settling in, they are already making valuable contributions, and I look forward to working closely with them as we continue our work.

I would also like to take a moment to recognize and sincerely thank Sara Lafond, who served as Acting Assistant Director during our period of transition. Her leadership and support were instrumental in helping the Institute move forward.

Last month, we celebrated a major milestone: the official launch of ICRH at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), in Montreal. The ICRH team was thrilled to welcome our Institute Advisory Board members and to feature insightful presentations from Catherine MacLeod, CIHR's Executive Vice-President, Dr. Rhian Touyz, Executive Director of the RI-MUHC, and Dr. Leslie Fellows, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University. Thank you to everyone who joined us. It was a powerful reminder of the importance of our collective work and a great opportunity to connect with many of you in person!

The momentum continued the very next day with our first in-person Institute Advisory Board (IAB) meeting in our new Montreal RI-MUHC offices on Guy Street. While we're not quite ready to reveal what's coming next, I can say that it was a highly productive meeting. With the insight and support of our IAB members, we've started to shape a clear and exciting vision for the future of the Institute.

In late March, the ICRH team also attended the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF) Board meeting in Australia to discuss upcoming initiatives spearheaded by the group, including the International Research Challenge on Women's Cardiovascular Health that was officially launched by ICRH and their GCRFF partners at the European Congress of Cardiology (ESC) earlier in 2024.

Finally, we are in the final stages of our Knowledge Exchange Tour (KET), a vital part of developing ICRH's 2025-2030 Research Priority Plan (RPP). Since the start of our mandate, we have visited a total of 16 institutions and have only a few more stops to go. The insights gathered from these visits along with feedback from our online survey, will be essential in ensuring the RPP captures a broad range of perspectives.

As we reflect on the past year, I'm encouraged by our progress and confident we are well positioned for the next phase of our work!

Sincerely,

Dr. Ariane Marelli,
On behalf of our ICRH Team

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