D. Lorne Tyrrell is the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)/Glaxo SmithKline Chair in Virology in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta. Since 1986, he has focused his research on viral hepatitis. Supported by CIHR and Glaxo Canada, Dr. Tyrrell's work on the development of antiviral therapy resulted in the licensing of the first oral antiviral agent to treat chronic hepatitis B infection - lamivudine - in 1998. Today, lamivudine is licensed in over 200 countries worldwide for the treatment of Hepatitis B Virus.

Dr. Tyrrell was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry from 1994-2004 at the University of Alberta. Since leaving the Deanship in 2004, Dr. Tyrrell has taken on a number of important positions in healthcare in Alberta and in Canada. These include the Chair of the Board of the Institute of Health Economics and the Chair of the Board of the Health Quality Council of Alberta. He served seven years on the Medical Advisory Board of the Canada Gairdner International Awards and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Gairdner Foundation. The Canada Gairdner International Awards recognizes excellence in medical science research globally. Of the previous Gairdner Foundation awardees, 73 subsequently won the Nobel Prize. Dr. Tyrrell is a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research - Research Council. He has served on the Alberta Life Sciences Institute and Alberta Sciences Advisory Authority. He is currently on the Advisory Council for the University of Alberta, Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences. This latter appointment evolved from his background and interests in agriculture, nutrition and health.

For his studies on viral hepatitis, Dr. Tyrrell holds 22 international patents. He has received numerous prestigious awards including the Gold Medal of the Canadian Liver Foundation (2000), the Alberta Order of Excellence (2000), Officer of the Order of Canada (2002), Fellow of the Royal Society (2004), FNG Starr Award of the Canadian Medical Association (2004), and the Principal Award of the Manning Foundation (2005). He has served on the boards of several biotech companies and has experience with integrating a company's intellectual property with product research and development, and commercialization.

Dr. Allan Yap, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Burcon said, "We are very pleased to have Dr.