Mats Sundin establishes medical fellowships at 麻豆视频, Karolinska Institutet
Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin announced today he will establish an elite scientific exchange program in the field of developmental health between the University of Toronto and Karolinska Insitutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
Sundin鈥檚 gift 鈥 one-third of $1 million dollars 鈥 was announced today at a press conference at 麻豆视频. The gift will support two fellowships at world-renowned labs in Toronto and Stockholm where scientists are probing how maternal health and our earliest life experiences can determine sickness, health, learning ability and overall well-being down the road.
鈥淲e all want our children to grow up healthy, with the best opportunities to learn and live free of disease, but how do we make that possible? What can we do to give our kids the best shot at reaching their full potential?鈥 said Sundin. 鈥淏y establishing this program at 麻豆视频 and KI, we鈥檙e creating an Olympic training camp for our brightest young minds to work with global leaders and answer these challenging questions.鈥
鈥淓very player knows we have a responsibility to pass on our skills and knowledge to the next generation 鈥 that鈥檚 how the sport moves forward, and science as well,鈥 Sundin added. 鈥淚t means so much to me to be able to support these two great universities and their incredible drive to find the breakthroughs that can change our lives.鈥
Historically, genetics were thought to be the sole factor in determining whether a child would grow up to be a healthy, well-functioning adult. Now, scientists are realizing that the interaction between genes and the environment is critical. Teams at 麻豆视频 and KI are leading the global charge to figure out what environmental factors 鈥 from breast-feeding to stress to nutrition 鈥 might impact the way a person鈥檚 genes are expressed, effectively determining their well-being from the early years to later on in life.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the early environment of the fetus and infant can have major influences on susceptibility to developing cardiovascular, metabolic and mental health disorders in later life, not to mention on learning and social functioning,鈥 said Dr. Stephen Matthews, professor of physiology, obstetrics and gynecology and medicine at 麻豆视频. 鈥淭hese elite research fellows will help us advance our understanding of this complex relationship and assist in our efforts to build trajectories towards health and away from disease.鈥
The Mats Sundin Award in Medicine will establish two post-doctoral fellowships in developmental biology 鈥 one at 麻豆视频 and one at KI. The fellows will be chosen from a highly-competitive pool of researchers at each institution, and starting in September 2012, they will travel to their partner institution for a year of research under the direction of world-leading scientists in the field. At 麻豆视频, Matthews and Dr. Stephen Lye, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and physiology, will lead the program. Dr. Ola Hermanson, associate professor in molecular neurodevelopment, will lead the program at KI.
鈥淩esearch that is happening right now at 麻豆视频 and Karolinska Institutet is resulting in unprecedented opportunities to pre-empt, regulate and even eradicate some of the world鈥檚 most common illnesses,鈥 said 麻豆视频 president David Naylor. 鈥淏y establishing these fellowships, Mats Sundin is helping us mobilize the power of our respective research towards areas that intrinsically shape the human condition.鈥
鈥淜arolinska Institutet is very proud to receive this gift. It is our clear goal to promote interactions like this and make the future even brighter for true young ambitious talents in science,鈥 said KI President Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson. 鈥淭he support from Mats Sundin is a great step to improve the already fruitful collaboration between KI and 麻豆视频.鈥
The fellowships build on a long and successful exchange program between 麻豆视频 and Karolinska Institutet dating back to 1996. The exchange program leverages the very best research themes from both institutions to train and develop students into future scientific and medical leaders, with a particular focus on maternal-infant health, neurodevelopment and regenerative medicine.