In May 2001, Dr. Greg Kawchuk, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary, became the first doctor of chiropractic awarded a chiropractic research chair in Canada. Following on the heels of his success, a second chiropractic research chair has been created at the University of Toronto, with Mark Erwin, DC, named the winner of the CIHR/CCRF Senior Research Fellowship Award.
The award, which amounts to $300,000 in salary and operating expenses, will be distributed to Dr. Erwin in two phases. The first phase provides a salary of $50,000 per year for the first two years, plus an additional $10,000 for attending conferences, travel and related expenses. Once Dr. Erwin receives a university appointment, he will be able to enter the second phase of the award program, at which time he will receive a salary and an additional $40,000 per year for two years, to be used as operating costs and to purchase lab equipment for independent research.
The research fellowship is one of only two positions in Canada devoted specifically to chiropractic research that is supported directly by the federal government. It is the result of a joint venture between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation (CCRF), with additional funding provided by the Ontario Chiropractic Association. Dr. Erwin officially assumed the position of chiropractic research chair June 1.
Dr. Erwin is a 1984 graduate of the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC). He enrolled in a master's of science program at the University of Toronto's Institute for Medical Science in 1997, then passed a series of rigorous transfer examinations that allowed him to proceed directly to the university's PhD program.
In June 2000, Dr. Erwin was profiled in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association as one of the country's top chiropractic researchers. His current PhD work, which focuses on intervertebral disc chondrocyte biology and proteoglycan synthesis, recently received additional funding from the Canadian Arthritis Network.
Dr. Erwin outlined what he hopes to accomplish as research chair:
"Once I get an appointment, I would be able to supervise other students, which I think would be one of the best things I could do. As a DC/PhD, I would be acutely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the DC, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the graduate school experience. Hopefully, I would be able to lend some experience and insight to other students who wish to pursue graduate training in research. Also, I would like to continue to help to build bridges between the various professions involved in health care and to dispel some myths."
Dr. Erwin may also collaborate with Dr. Kawchuk and other DCs on research projects at a later date.
The appointment of Dr. Erwin gives the chiropractic profession research chair positions in two of Canada's four most populous provinces. CCRF and CIHR are in the planning stages of creating a third research chair in the Maritime Provinces (encompassing New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island).
Editor's note: Thanks to Jessica Whiteside of the University of Toronto for her assistance in gathering information for this article.
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