A Canadian experiment: the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. How to link up the brain via a virtual institute.

In June 2000, the Canadian government abolished the Medical Research Council of Canada, creating the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and appointing the internationally renowned geneticist Alan Bernstein as its first president. Bernstein and the CIHR Governing Council then elaborated the novel concept of 13 'virtual' CIHR institutes (see http://www.cihr.ca for further information). These institutes are not physical entities, but virtual organizations aiming to support researchers located in universities, hospitals and research centres across Canada. Following an open competition, December 2000 saw the appointment of a scientific director to lead the development of each institute. Rémi Quirion, a neuroscientist and Professor of Psychiatry based at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre of McGill University (Montreal, Canada) is the first Scientific Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA). Here he summarizes the early developments and initiatives undertaken by his institute.