Page 26 - Sphere No.27 (Sep 2010)

24 Sphere
which it has made major advances in recent years.
In recognition of the LKSF’s historic gift, one of
the newest buildings in the university’s growing
health area will be named the Li Ka Shing Centre
for Health Research Innovation. The building, with
a gross floor area of 28,000 square metres, and
home to the Alberta Diabetes Institute, is designed
as a flexible space that supports current and future
research and teaching needs.
Indira Samarasekera, President and Vice-
Chancellor of the university said, “Our researchers
have been at the forefront of virology research for
decades, including Dr Lorne Tyrrell and his work
developing a treatment for hepatitis B. The Li Ka
Shing Institute of Virology will provide a state-
of-the-art home to some of the world’s very best
researchers in virus-based diseases and will help
place the university in its rightful place among top
centres of such work.”
The University of Alberta will be able to
connect to international health science research
networks, including the Li Ka Shing Founda-
tion - Oxford Global Health Programme at the
University of Oxford, which the LKSF helped
to set up with an initial GBP2 million donation
in 2007.
This year’s GBP5 million donation to Oxford
will add to that and help build on the important
work already achieved by the Programme, which
has already established new collaborations be-
tween researchers in Asia and Oxford, scholarships
for Asian students to study for Master of Science in
Global Health Sciences, and teaching programmes
in infectious disease at Shantou University in
Guangdong, Mainland China.
The Global Health Programme is led by Oxford
University’s Professor Jeremy Farrar, a world
expert on infectious diseases. Professor Farrar
welcomed the LKSF’s latest donation, saying, “The
University of Oxford has been delighted to work
closely with the Li Ka Shing Foundation to develop
our joint programme in global health. But there is
plenty more that needs to be done, and this new
and very generous donation will allow the creation
of a true network of excellence in education and
research that links research groups from Mainland
China and across Asia to Oxford and the UK.”
The money will be used specifically to fund
The new Li Ka Shing
Centre for Health
Research Innovation
at the University of
Alberta.