The Canada Research Chairs program stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development.

In 2000, the Government of Canada created a permanent program to establish 2000 research professorships—Canada Research Chairs—in eligible degree-granting institutions across the country.

Memorial University's Faculty of Medicine is home to 3 Canada Research Chairs in Viral Hepatitis/Immunology, Neuroscience and Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Neuroplasticity and Brain Recovery.

Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence. They improve our depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen Canada's international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of highly skilled people through student supervision, teaching, and the coordination of other researchers' work. 

Canada Research Chairs are divided into two tiers

Tier 1 Senior Chair:  tenable for seven years and renewable, are for outstanding researchers acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their fields. For each Tier 1 Chair, the university receives $200,000 annually for seven years.

Tier 2 Junior Chairs, tenable for five years and renewable once, are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field. For each Tier 2 Chair, the university receives $100,000 annually for five years.

Current Tier 1 Awardees

Dr. Michael Leitges- Cell Signaling and Translation Medicine

Current Tier 2 Awardees

Dr. Craig S. Moore - Neuroscience and Brain Repair

Dr. Michelle Ploughman - Rehabilitation, Neuroplasticity and Brain Recovery

Dr. Benjamin Zendel - Aging and Auditory Neuroscience

Dr. Touati Benoukraf - Bioinformatics for Personalized Medicine

Previous Tier 2 awardees

Dr. Ann M. Dorward - Molecular Signaling in Human Health and Disease

Dr. Martha Traverso-Yépez - Health Promotion and Community Development

Dr. Wendy Young - Healthy Aging