{"id":779637,"date":"2026-07-04T10:53:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779637\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T10:53:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:53:39","slug":"unprecedented-gift-to-advance-pediatric-research-in-saskatchewan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779637\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Unprecedented’ gift to advance pediatric research in Saskatchewan\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A $4-million donation from the Hospitals of Regina Foundation will help the University of Saskatchewan\u2019s College of Medicine<\/a> establish a new research position to improve children\u2019s health care in Saskatchewan, officials say.<\/p>\n

The foundation\u2019s multi-million dollar donation will support the creation of a pediatric chair in the origins of health and disease. The donation, the organizations said, is \u201cunprecedented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dino Sophocleous, president and CEO of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation,<\/a> said the $4 million donation is the largest ever made by the foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis groundbreaking research chair aims to detect and prevent chronic disease in our young patients, potentially avoiding the development of chronic conditions in the future, which will give children and families across Saskatchewan greater opportunities to live their best lives,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sarah Forgie, dean of the College of Medicine, said the school is grateful for the \u201cextraordinary\u201d commitment made by the foundation. She added the research position will have a \u201cmajor\u201d impact when it comes to pediatric research and care in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n

These sentiments were echoed by Dr. Terry Klassen, provincial department head of pediatrics for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), who said the new chair position will help build research capacity and strengthen collaboration across the province. He added the new chair position would be helpful in growing Saskatchewan\u2019s presence at both national and international levels.<\/p>\n

The new chair will perform research into the early origins of health and disease, with the aim of informing clinical care and improving disease prevention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate vision is to reduce disease, lessen the demand on health care services, and increase health and quality of life for patients and their families now and into their long-term futures,\u201d the organizations said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

The research chair will actively study \u201cearly life.\u201d A variety of factors in early life can play a role in development of chronic diseases, ranging from genetics to environmental exposure.<\/p>\n

With the financial contribution in place, work will begin to recruit an \u201caccomplished\u201d clinical researcher to lead the new program. The researcher will be a faculty member of the U of S College of Medicine and will also be a practising pediatrician with the SHA, where they will help care for patients across the province.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the donation shows a \u201ccommitment to putting patients first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an\u00a0Afternoon Headlines\u00a0newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day.\u00a0Click here<\/a> to subscribe.<\/p>\n

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com<\/a> and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here<\/a> to subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A $4-million donation from the Hospitals of Regina Foundation will help the University of Saskatchewan\u2019s College of Medicine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392,55796,24088],"class_list":["post-779637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-saskatchewan-health-authority","tag-university-of-saskatchewan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}