William Smith has been appointed executive director of BioMed City, a collaborative venture devoted to enhancing the critical mass of public health research and innovation in Winnipeg in the areas of infectious chronic diseases (R$, November 22/04). Smith joins the International Centre for Infectious Diseases, which spearheaded the creation of BioMed City and is providing initial space and operating support. He is tasked with moving forward on BioMed City’s implementation, finalizing its organizational structure and generating a blueprint plan. Smith is on a six-month assignment from the National Research Council, where he was executive director for the western region of the Industrial Research Assistance Program for the past six years. Prior to that, he worked at NRC corporate services division reporting the the VP research. At the end of his six-month term at ICID, Smith will decide whether to continue on at BioMed City or return to IRAP….