President's Message
Dr. Peter Fischer,
Health Canada,
Ottawa, ON
CFBS 52nd Scientific Conference
6 th Northern Lights Summer Conference
June 17 - 20, 2008
University of Manitoba
Fort Garry Campus
Winnipeg, MB
Organized by:
Canadian Federation of Biological Societies
Organisée par le:
Fédération canadienne des sociétés de biologie
Theme:
Biology of Aging - New Answers to
Old Questions
INVITATION TO OUR ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING
As President of CFBS, and on behalf
of the Local Organizing Committee, I am pleased to welcome you to Winnipeg
and the 6th Annual Northern Lights Summer Conference. It is of note that
this is the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Federation of Biological
Societies.
This meeting is the 6th of a series of
"theme-oriented" meetings that consist of major symposia with
high profile national and international speakers. This year’s theme,
the Biology of Aging – New Answers to Old Questions, should be of
interest to many of us. Dr. Phillip Gardiner and his Organizing Committee
have put together a very informative program. The program features two
plenary lectures, ten symposia, and participant poster and oral presentations.
I am sure you will find the meeting worthwhile.
For those of you who are not familiar
with CFBS, the Federation was founded in 1957 to promote the acquisition,
facilitate the dissemination and encourage the utilization of knowledge
in the Biomedical/Life Sciences. CFBS was formed by its member societies
to strengthen the voice of the Biological Societies in Canada. Membership
is composed of researchers from university, government and industrial
laboratories. Our goal is to work towards developing a forward-looking
science and technology policy that will enable Canada to meet the challenges
of the 21st century.
The main activity of CFBS is to communicate
the benefits of biological/biomedical research to the political "decision-makers"
and increase public awareness of the life sciences in Canada, with the
aim of benefiting the research community through increased support to
the granting councils and increased support for the training of young
researchers. CFBS also organizes major scientific conference(s) each year,
such as this one. This not only provides a valuable medium to learn and
exchange scientific findings, but it also provides a significant portion
of the financial support for the advocacy activities. The CFBS office
also acts as a secretariat for societies when requested.
Your membership fees support about half
of the annual CFBS budget, allow your voice and concerns to be heard at
various levels of government and granting agencies, make you eligible
for discounted registration rates at CFBS Scientific Conferences, and
make student members eligible for CFBS' & Societies' travel awards.
If you are not currently a member of CFBS,
I urge you to join. For more information, please speak to the CFBS staff
at the meeting or consult the CFBS membership pages.
I hope that you enjoy this meeting.
Best wishes,
Peter Fischer
President, CFBS 2007-2009
