Dr. James Friesen

Dr. Friesen is a senior member of Canada's biomedical research community. He has provided critical intellectual and technological leadership in the development of molecular biology in Canada mainly through his active research program and through his work with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Medical Research Council of Canada. The author of over 100 papers in leading molecular biology journals, Dr. Friesen has established an international reputation for this studies of the proteins involved in the regulation of gene expression in both bacteria and yeast. Ten years as Editor of the prestigious Journal of Bacteriology is a measure of his stature in the field, and his administrative leadership is reflected in five years as Chairman of the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Toronto followed by another five as the Director of the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Friesen is currently chairman of a committee of the Royal Society examining the impact and future of molecular biology in medicine.