Dean Marlene Reimer

It is with great sadness that I heard about the passing of my dear friend, colleague and Institute Advisory Board Member, Dr. Marlene Reimer, Dean, Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba.

I have known Marlene for almost five years. I invited her in the winter of 2001 to join the advisory board of the newly created Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. In choosing her as one of the 15 inaugural board members (over 200 nominees), I was most impressed by her Vitae and commitment to innovative nursing research.

What I had read on paper was only a small reflection of Marlene's commitments and eagerness to promote research, not only among her peers, but on all aspects covered by the broad mandate of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. Marlene was a key member of my IAB and was particularly involved in programs related to the training of the next generation of researchers and in knowledge translation and best clinical practices. I had asked her to chair our focus group on training and education and she did a wonderful job promoting our young trainees with a program known as "Brain Star". She is now one of them!

I have learned a lot from Marlene. Her humanistic approach to all aspects of life greatly impressed me and has left an indelible mark on the way I now do things. I already miss her very dearly. All of us at INMHA and particularly I have lost not only a mentor and a colleague but more importantly a dear friend and can even say a family member in her capacity as founding member of our Institute Advisory Board. My most sincere sympathy to her family, friends, and colleagues at the University of Manitoba and University of Calgary.

Rémi Quirion
Scientific Director
Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction.