World-Renowned Synchrotron Scientist to Lead Canadian Light Source Lab

Posted May 31, 2002


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 31, 2002 2002-05-40-OTHER

World-Renowned Synchrotron Scientist to Lead Canadian Light Source Lab

Following an extensive international search, Dr. Bill Thomlinson, a
world-renowned expert in synchrotron medical imaging, has been selected to
lead Canadian Light Source Inc. (CLSI) at the University of Saskatchewan,
effective Nov. 1.

The five-year appointment, a unanimous decision of the CLSI board, was
announced jointly today by CLSI board chair Dr. Arthur Carty, who is
President of the National Research Council, and Peter MacKinnon, President
of the University of Saskatchewan. Thomlinson succeeds Interim
Executive-Director Mark de Jong.

"I am delighted that Dr. Thomlinson has accepted the position of
Executive-Director of the Canadian Light Source (CLS)," said Carty. "His
scientific and managerial leadership skills will be an asset as he works
with the Canadian user community to develop the synchrotron to its full
potential. His first-hand experience at other synchrotrons will be very
important at this critical phase as we move into the start-up and operation
of the CLS."

Thomlinson will also be appointed to a tenured position in the U of S
Department of Physics.

"We are delighted to have found a synchrotron scientist of Dr. Thomlinson's
international scientific stature and administrative skills to launch this
tremendous new national facility which will be one of the most advanced
synchrotrons in the world," said MacKinnon. "With more than two decades of
distinguished synchrotron experience in the U.S. and Europe, Dr. Thomlinson
will enable CLSI to become a global leader in science and innovation."

Thomlinson is currently Head of the Medical Research Group at the European
Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France where he has led a
highly successful medical imaging beamline group for the past three years.
He helped start lung and mammography imaging, and in 2000, led the first
human angiography (blood vessel imaging) studies at the ESRF.

Thomlinson is widely published with a broad range of interests in
synchrotron science, and has made many contributions to the worldwide
synchrotron community (see attached backgrounder). He also brings to the job
a wealth of experience dealing with a large and diverse user community,
exceptional administrative skills, and expertise in safety management.

The U of S-owned CLS will be one of the world's most powerful synchrotrons
when it starts operations in January of 2004. Its brilliant light - millions
of times brighter than sunlight -- will be used by university, government
and industrial researchers for unprecedented studies in material, chemical,
and biological sciences.

Thomlinson said he is looking forward to leading the CLS through its
challenging start-up years and to working with users, funding partners, the
U of S and the Saskatoon community to develop a world-class facility.

"I am excited about joining the outstanding CLS team that has worked for so
many years to bring the facility into existence and to its present state of
construction," he said.

"The Canadian scientific community has a great need for this
state-of-the-art research facility. It will take its place among the great
synchrotrons of the world and provide a tool that will help Canada maintain
its position as one of the truly innovative technological nations. With
academic and industrial users working side by side, creativity in solving
problems in material, chemical, and biological sciences is assured. "

He stressed that all of this will depend on the Canadian synchrotron
community "making the CLS a focus for those research projects for which the
facility is designed." He added that the core group of U of S and CLS
synchrotron scientists "has to grow large enough to create the local
environment to which others from all over Canada will seek to come."

CLS funding partners include the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the
Canadian government (including Western Economic Diversification, Natural
Resources Canada, the National Research Council, NSERC, and the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research), Saskatchewan Industry and Resources, Ontario
Innovation Trust, Alberta Innovation and Science, Alberta Heritage
Foundation for Medical Research, U of S, the City of Saskatoon, SaskPower,
and Boehringer Ingelheim, University of Western Ontario, and University of
Alberta. GlaxoSmithKline has also provided funding for a U of S chair in an
area of synchrotron science.

For more information on the CLS, visit: www.cls.usask.ca

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For more information, contact:

Kathryn Warden
U of S/CLS Research Communications
(306) 966-2506
kathryn.warden@usask.ca


Backgrounder -- Dr. Bill Thomlinson, CLSI Executive-Director


Dr. Bill Thomlinson is currently Head of the Medical Research Group at the
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. He has
published more than 120 papers and has made many contributions to the
worldwide synchrotron community.

* He has led a highly successful medical imaging beamline group at the ESRF
for the past three years. He helped start lung and mammography imaging, and
in 2000, led the first human angiography (blood vessel imaging) studies at
the ESRF.

* Prior to joining the ESRF, he was from 1979 through 1998 a member of the
scientific staff and management group at the National Synchrotron Light
Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, in Upton, New York, ultimately
serving as Associate Chair for Environment, Safety and Health. At
Brookhaven, he also created and led the successful Synchrotron Medical
Research Facility, a multi-discipline facility devoted to medical research.

* In 1996, Thomlinson and three other scientists invented and patented a
diffraction-enhanced imaging technique for applications to mammography and
other medical imaging problems. There are now similar programs at Brookhaven
and major European synchrotrons.

* In 1981, he joined the Stanford University/Stanford Synchrotron Radiation
Laboratory (SSRL) angiography project as a collaborator. In 1986, he
participated in the first human coronary angiography experiments at SSRL.

* Prior to 1979, Thomlinson was a research scientist in low temperature and
solid-state physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a Department of
Energy (DOE) laboratory on Long Island, New York. During the early 70s, he
worked as a research associate at Cornell University and later as a
physicist in Germany.

* He received his doctorate from Yale University in 1970.

Thomlinson is also an avid runner who has competed in several marathons.
Although not running marathons any more, he still averages more than five
kilometres a day out on the trails. He also enjoys the outdoors by engaging
in birdwatching, hiking in the Alps, and camping. While on Long Island, he
became an experienced sailor, a pastime that he hopes to continue in
Saskatchewan.

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For more information about the CLS, visit: www.cls.usask.ca