Dr. Wong's research interest focus on the molecular actions of hormones related to the regulation of lipoprotein expression and pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus. His clinical interest encompasses patients with thyroid disease or diabetes mellitus. Norman's most recent successes have come from elucidating the potential therapeutic opportunities for cardiovascular disease by harnessing the regulation of Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) gene expression. Norman keeps active in the academic community with speaking engagements at national and international medical conferences. Norman has been the author and co-author of more than 220 articles and abstracts and has been invited to sit on more than 35 panels and committees. Norman has also acted as a consultant to several leading pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, Merck Frost, GlaxoSmithKline, Solvay Pharmaceuticals and Abbott Laboratories.

Dr. Adams, an expert in thrombosis and vascular biology, has partnered with Baxter Healthcare, World Heart, Dupont, Corvita, Pfizer and Boston Scientific over the last 30 years to develop and commercialize medical devices. Dr. Adams obtained his Ph.D. from McMaster University and has 124 publications including 9 invited reviews, 26 full papers and 3 patents. He is a past President of the Canadian Biomaterials Society. He has been a reviewer for numerous scientific journals, national granting agencies and several national and provincial Centres of Excellence. He has been a principal investigator for over $40 million in private and publicly-funded research and development.

Dr. Chan is the Betty Rutherford Chair for Diabetes Research and is the director of the Center for Molecular Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He is also professor in the departments of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology. He is recognized as an authority in the genetics of atherosclerosis and lipid disorders. Dr. Chan was the recipient of a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health and is principal investigator of four NIH grants including a NIH Specialized Center of Research Grant on gene therapy and cardiovascular disease. He has received numerous national and international honors and awards from organizations including the American Heart Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Association. He is also an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Dr. Hans van de Sande is the Vice-Dean of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He also serves as a professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Dr. van de Sande has authored over 125 publications as an internationally recognized expert in nucleic acids, the relationship between DNA and RNA, and the molecular genetics of DNA repair. He has held chairs on the grant review committees of the Canadian Foundation of Innovation and the Medical Research Council of Canada. Dr. van de Sande is also a Scientific Officer of The Alberta Cancer Board.

Dr. Patrick Lee earned both his B. Sc. and Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Alberta. After completing postdoctoral training at Duke University, he joined the University of Calgary’s Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in 1981, where he became a full professor in 1991. Dr. Lee’s discovery and research of the cancer fighting potential of the human reovirus has earned him numerous accolades, including the University of Calgary Cochrane Research Award, the University of Alberta Alumni Award, and the University Professor Award. Dr. Lee co-founded the Alberta biotech company Oncolytics, which currently applies his innovations in cancer fighting technology. In September 2003 Dr. Lee will be the first person to accept the Cameron Chair of Cancer Research, located in the Departments of Pathology, and Microbiology & Immunology at Dalhousie University.

Dr. Liao is the Director of Vascular Research, Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has authored and participated in over 100 peer reviewed research articles in leading scientific publications and has been an Editorial Board Member and Reviewer for leading Scientific Journals such as Circulation, American Journal of Cardiology, Pharmacology Review, Nature Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Liao has won numerous awards and Honors such as The American Heart Association Junior Fellowship in 1979; The Chancellor’s Marshall Award, University of California 1981; The Cardiovascular Disease Research Prize, American Heart Association 1998; and Three Distinction for Excellence in Teaching Awards, Harvard Medical School 1999, 2003, 2004. Dr. Liao has also served as scientific consultant to world leading pharmaceutical organizations.

Dr. Victor Ling is the Vice-President of Research at the BC Cancer Agency. He is currently the Vice Dean at the University of British Columbia where he also serves as a Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. From 2000-2002, Dr. Ling was a Co-Director of the Genome Sequence Center of the BC Cancer Agency. He now serves on cancer related boards at both local and international levels, including the scientific advisory board of the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology. In 1974 Dr. Ling discovered the P-glycoprotein, the first known ATP Binding Cassette (or ABC), a membrane transport protein, which is critical in maintaining normal cell function. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Cancer Institute of Canada’s Robert L. Noble Prize and the Order of British Columbia. Dr. Ling is the only person in the world to have won both the Kettering and Steiner awards, the highest honors in cancer research.