Welcome to CHR’s 35th anniversary edition!

If the passage of 35 years marks a full generation, then Canadians for Health Research is pleased to visit this milestone as an organization that has withstood the passage of time.  In some respects, little has changed. People in this country certainly value the principles and the promise of health care as much as they did a generation ago. But the everyday discussion of research material has taken on a sophistication that many of us could scarcely have imagined in the 1970s. Much of what we will read in this issue of Future Health reflects medical progress that is all too easy to take for granted; a generation ago, some of these same stories would have been the stuff of science fiction. And it is crucial to note that the process does not stop here. If you are fortunate enough to read a comparable collection 35 years from now, it would not be surprising if those stories looked incredible and fantastic. Nevertheless, your astonishment is not guaranteed; progress is neither inevitable or automatic. It will not happen without the kind of attention and commitment that has carried Canadians for Health Research through the last 35 years. It is with that thought in mind, then, that we invite you to share in some stories from the current frontier in this field. Enjoy them, then please consider how far we have come – and how far we may go.
Tim Lougheed, Chair, CHR