The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada have initiated a new funding program under the Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research (STIHR) to foster trans-disciplinary health research and build capacity within Canada's health research community. The University of Saskatchewan in collaboration with the University of Calgary, Université de Montréal and Queen's University, received funding under this program for the Gasotransmitter REsearch And Training (GREAT) program headed by Professor Rui Wang of the Department of Physiology at the University of Saskatchewan. The GREAT program was launched in September 2003.
Gasotransmitters, which include nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide, are gaseous molecules synthesized in the body. They play a major role in physiological and pathological processes such as blood pressure regulation, neurotransmission, inflammatory processes etc. To our knowledge this is the first training program on gasotransmitters in the world. The training program covers the basic biology of gasotransmitters, their role in cardiovascular and respiratory health, behaviour and animal cognition, their genomic manipulation and therapeutic applications, community health related issues, environmental and toxicological aspects and drug discovery. 
Graduate students of the GREAT program