Donations to children’s telethon help fund Dan Offord Chair in Child Studies

The campaign to raise $2 million for the new Dan Offord Research Chair in Child Studies has passed the halfway point thanks to a commitment of $1 million from the 2005 McMaster Children’s Hospital Celebration.

The funds were raised from individual donations made during the annual Celebration held the first weekend of May.  A minimum $1 million more is needed to fund the Chair, which will support the research activities of a leading child development scientist.

Dan Offord’s death in April of 2004 stunned friends and colleagues around the world.  The founding director of the Offord Centre for Child Studies was an outstanding scholar, a devoted clinician and a passionate advocate of children and youth whose life and work had a huge impact on the field of child development and child psychiatry.

Created to honour the legacy of founding director Dan Offord, the Chair will focus on research near and dear to Dr. Offord’s heart.

“Dan was committed to improving the life opportunities of children who, through no fault of their own, are marginalized and disadvantaged,” says Offord Centre director Peter Szatmari. 

“This new Chair will continue his efforts to level the playing field for children whose life circumstances put them at a disadvantage, children who come from low-income families, who are living in public housing or unsafe neighbourhoods, who are failing in Grade 1, or who have been abused or neglected.”