med//E-news

Version française cliquer ici


McGILL FACULTY OF MEDICINE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER – December 2008 / Vol. 1, Issue 3
IN THIS ISSUE : 01/ Up Front: Message from the Dean - 02/Hot Topics - 03/Breakthroughs! 04/Making Headlines 05/The Honours Go To... - 06/Welcome Aboard! - 07/In the Know - 08/Mark your Calendar

01/ UP front: Message from the Dean
DEAR COLLEAGUES, As 2009 fast approaches, we can all take pride in what we have achieved over the last 12 months. We marked 175 years since McGill’s – and Canada’s – first medical graduate donned cap and gown. We learned that, over the last decade, we garnered more citations per scientific research paper than any other Canadian university. We celebrated the monumental opening of our Life Sciences Complex, and we secured critical funding that will help us move forward on our plans for the Glen Campus site and pursue several other important research projects. We also raised more money than any other faculty to date in support of Campaign McGill. From receiving well-deserved recognition for our academic and research successes to beginning the exciting process of mapping out our future, it has been an exceptional year. As you may have heard, we also welcomed a number of new faces to our administrative team over the past few months. These appointments, including the most recent announcement of a new leadership team to take the helm of health sciences research at McGill, are part of our strategy to ensure McGill remains a recognized leader in medical education, research and care in this unprecedented age of scientific advancement. Together with the faculty’s current associate deans, chairs and directors, these new appointments will help guide us on our path of “thinking dangerously” about our future and stepping up to the challenges and opportunities ahead. For all of the Faculty of Medicine’s achievements, I congratulate you, and I take this opportunity to wish each of you a wonderful holiday with family and friends. I look forward to starting the New Year just as successfully as we have ended this one. Warmest wishes, Richard I. Levin, MD Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) Dean, Faculty of Medicine McGill University
02 / Hot Topics
CFI awards $1,155,638 to McGill in support of nine research projects The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has announced that it has awarded $1,155,638 to McGill University to support nine research projects in areas such as vascular disease, cancer, dementia, amblyopia and inflammatory lung disease, to name only a few. Read More New Appointments Over the last several weeks, the Faculty of Medicine announced several strategic appointments that, together with the Faculty’s current associate deans, chairs and directors, will guide our path in “thinking dangerously” and in defining the future of this organization. New leadership team takes the helm of health sciences research at McGill: Rémi Quirion as Vice-Dean for Science and Strategic Initiatives and Senior University Advisor on Health Sciences Marianna Newkirk as Associate Dean, Research Elaine Davis as Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies Read More Additional leadership appointments in Psychiatry, Faculty Affairs, Resident Professional Affairs, and Faculty of Medicine and Health Affairs: Mimi Israël as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry Read More Mara Ludwig as Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs Read More Dr. Armand Aalamian as Assistant Dean, Resident Professional Affairs Read More April Caluori as Executive Director, Faculty of Medicine and Health Affairs Read More Also newly appointed are: Christine Dolden as Director of Administration Melissa Knock as Manager, Educational Services Melina Tondino as Manager/Senior Advisor, Human Resources Read More Congratulations to all! A follow-up to the fall Town Hall, A Year of Thinking Dangerously! To stay on top of our major strategic planning initiative, and the other topics covered during last month’s Town Hall, visit these links: Town Hall Message from Dean To view the presentation and video What’s your story? Hemingway famously wrote: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never been worn.” – and called it a six-word story. As part of a Campaign McGill initiative to reach out to McGill alumni and friends around the world, a new web site has been launched with an invitation to all to enter their own six-word story online. So what’s your story? Click Here
03 / BREAKTHROUGHS!
THROMBOSIS PATIENTS FACE GREATER RISKS THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED: RESEARCHERS Long-term consequences of DVT aren’t cured by blood thinners, say McGill scientists. Read More MCGILL RESEARCHER ON A QUEST TO CURE DISFIGURING PARASITIC DISEASE New results may lead to targeted, less toxic treatment for dreaded Leishmania parasite. Read More
04 / MAKING HEADLINES
AUTOMATED ANESTHESIA In May, researchers at the McGill University Health Centre… announced the creation of what they call the world’s first fully automated anesthesia system, …known as McSleepy. New York Times PHILIPPE GROS RECEIVES THE WILDER-PENFIELD PRIZE, PRIX DU QUÉBEC 2008 McGill Press Release Government of Quebec Press Release HM, A MEMORABLE AMNESIAC, DIES AT 82 Henry Gustav Molaison — known worldwide only as HM, to protect his privacy — died of respiratory failure…HM was the famous patient of McGill neuroscientist Brenda Milner. Montreal Gazette New York Times More Info MORE CANADIAN DOCTORS COME HOME Carly Weeks, Globe and Mail, Tuesday, December 2, 2008 More Canadian physicians are returning from abroad to practice medicine in this country than are leaving, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Full Article DISCOVERY DAY: A GREAT SUCCESS Discovery Day 2008 was an unprecedented success! Close to 200 students and many teachers from 28 high schools across Montreal attended workshops on different themes. Through hands-on workshops, our volunteers had the opportunity to demonstrate what the health sciences are all about. In doing so, they participated in promoting the health sciences, and contributed to the efforts of the Faculty of Medicine to train tomorrow's leaders in the health sciences. [top photo: Keynote speaker, Dr. Gerald Fried, from the Department of Surgery at the McGill University Health Centre] Discovery Day primes Montreal's youth for a career in health sciences $2.4 MILLION TOWARDS GENE THERAPY FOR HUMAN DEGENERATIVE RETINAL DISEASES Read More McGILL RESEARCHER ON A QUEST TO CURE DISFIGURING PARASITIC DISEASE Read More PREDICTING THE FUTURE FOR PATIENTS WITH SEVERE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY A multidisciplinary team from the McGill University Health Centre emphasizes better predictive tools and defines major trends in patient progress. Read More MCGILL PROFESSOR AWARDED GRANT TO CONTINUE NEUROPATHY RESEARCH Dr. Gary J. Bennett studies the surprisingly common and painful problem of nervous system damage brought on by chemotherapy. Read More
05 / THE HONOURS GO TO...
CONGRATULATIONS! The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) honoured seventeen of Canada's top medical students who have career intentions in family medicine with the College's highest scholastic award, the CFPC Medical Student Scholarships. Sanjukta Basak from McGill University was among the students. Read More Dr. Nancy Feeley (Nursing), Phyllis Zelkovitz (Psychology), Ian Gold (CRC in philosophy) et al were awarded a five-year Emerging Team Grant of $1,000,000 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for projects in Perinatal Maternal Health. [photo: Dr. Nancy Feeley] Boris Bernhardt (Bernasconi lab), Katherine Horn (Kennedy lab), Christopher Kent (Fournier lab), Claire Sandoe (Hamel lab), Timothy Wai (Shoubridge lab), and Brendon Yeats (Hastings lab) received 2008 Jeanne Timmins Costello Returning Student Awards. Madhur Nayan (Med-1) is the first prize winner for the poster presentations by students of the Summer 2008 Research Bursary Program. The title was “Anti-inflammatory cytokines may play a role in cellular cardiomyoplasty using mesenchymal stem cells”. Coauthors are Guangyon Chen and Minh Duong. Amanda Cervantes, MSc(A), nursing student, received a Graduate Student award for best interactive poster presentation in the Summer 2008 Bursary Program for “The experience of mothers of very low birth weight infants requiring oxygen therapy”. Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli, Dr. Sonenberg’s Research Associate, has won the 2008 Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology. 2008 Grand Prize Winner Dr. Eduardo L. Franco was awarded the Presidential Leadership Award for a Commitment to the Elimination of Cervical Cancer by the organization Women In Government in the US. Dr. Paul R. Goodyer was awarded The Kidney Foundation of Canada’s 2008 Medal for Research Excellence. Nada Kanj, R4 in Medical Biochemistry with Dr. Brian Gilfix, has been awarded the prize for Best Resident Presentation at the Annual Congress of the Association des Médecins Biochimistes du Québec and Canadian Association of Medical Biochemists. Dr. Stéphane Laporte, Associate Professor in the Hormones and Cancer Research Unit of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Division, has been awarded the 2008 Young Investigator Award by the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM). Dr. Barry Posner, Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Anatomy and Cell Biology and Director of the Polypeptide Hormone Laboratory, has been awarded the 2008 Distinguished Service Award by the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM). Marissa Robert, a graduating student, received the Evelyn Roque Malowany Prize in Nursing. Dr. Abbas Sadikot received an award from the Huntington’s Society of Canada for his top score as a Huntington’s Disease scientist in a recent Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant competition. Mohamad Seyed Sadr, a PhD student with Dr. Rolando Del Maestro, was awarded the Christian Geada Brain Tumour Research Studentship. Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, James McGill Professor and Director of the Clinical and Health Informatics Research Group at McGill University, has been elected as a Fellow to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Christopher Thompson, who built Canada’s first PET scanner, was awarded the Edward J. Hoffman Medical Imaging Scientist Award from the IEEE, Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and Nuclear Medical and Imaging Sciences Council.
06 / WELCOME ABOARD!
NEW EMPLOYEES: Séverine Audusseau, Chief Research Technician, Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Department of Medicine Melanie Benard, Communications Officer, Institute for Health and Social Policy Fern Charles, Secretary, Office of the VP Health Affairs and Dean Josh Deszca, Student Records Coordinator Vi Hoang, Laboratory Technician, Endocrine Research Laboratory Emily Kingsland, Development and Alumni Associate, Development and Alumni Relations (Replacing Melanie Lane) Anna Lee, Senior Administrative Coordinator (BOM Units/Examinations) Nouhade Naggiar, Administrative Coordinator, Postgraduate Medical Education Andre Pearce, Research Technician, Biomedical Engineering Claudia Regier, Secretary, Office of the VP Health Affairs and Dean Angelica Todireanu, Administrative and Student Affairs Coordinator, Oncology, Whole Person Care WARMEST WISHES TO OUR RECENTLY RETIRED EMPLOYEE! Jocelyne Lamontagne-Kirby, Administrative Coordinator, Department of Family Medicine
07 / IN THE KNOW
CHECK OUT ROBERT’S BLOG ABOUT HIS CaRMS EXPERIENCE ON THE MUHC MEDIA PORTAL! A Medical Leap of Faith: Making the Right Career Choice Robert Sternszus is applying for a residency in pediatric medicine. He agreed to write a blog about the experience, partly to relieve the stress and also as a meditation on what he has learned as a medical student and his aspirations as a physician. Read More TOP CANADIAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN HEALTH RESEARCH: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS Applications must be submitted to CIHR by December 31, 2008. For more information about the competition or the application process, please refer to the Top Canadian Achievements in Health Research Info: 613-952-8965 or geoffrey.hynes@cihr-irsc.gc.ca. APPOINTMENTS Dr. Nandini Dendukuri has been named Director of the McGill University Health Centre Technology Assessment Unit (TAU). Alain Dudoit was appointed to the newly created position of McGill Associate Vice-Principal, Strategic Innovation Partnerships. Dr. Nadine Larente has been appointed as the new Service Chief of the Acute Geriatrics Clinical Teaching Unit 13 East at the Montreal General Hospital. Dr. David Ragsdale was appointed as new CIHR University Delegate Read More ABOUT WILLIAM OSLER The William Osler Photo Collection The McGill Library has launched The William Osler Photo Collection, a website of 384 images drawn from the Osler Library’s collection of photographs of Sir William Osler (1849-1919), who graduated from Medicine at McGill University in 1872 and, after a brief interval, taught there for ten years. He became one of the most famous doctors in his time. You can find photographs from all stages of his life, along with pictures of Lady Osler, his son Edward Revere Osler and other family members. The site was made possible by a generous donation from the John P. McGovern Foundation. Click to see the collection Contact: christopher.lyons@mcgill.ca NEWS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF OTOLARYNGOLOGY Dr. Sam Daniel - New Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology Inauguration of Mendelsohn Temporal Bone Drilling Laboratory New Department of Otolaryngology Website: http://www.mcgill.ca/ent Newsletter
08 / Mark Your calendar...
Teaching Scholars Program for Educators in the Health Sciences The Teaching Scholars Program is designed to enable health care professionals and basic scientists to improve their educational skills through monthly seminars, independent study, university courses, and more. Info Deadline for application: January 23, 2009 The Inaugural Professor Edith Aston-McCrimmon Lecture Presented by the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy Leadership and Vision Dr. Martha C. Piper, PhD79, DSc88 (honoris causa), past president and vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia and a member of the Trilateral Commission Sunday, January 25, 2009, 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Palmer Amphitheatre, McIntyre Medical Sciences Building Reception will follow at 11:00 a.m. 6th Floor lobby of McIntyre Medical Sciences Building Info McGill Open House Sunday, January 25, 2009, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Activities Schedule Faculty Honour List for Educational Excellence The goal of this program is to recognize outstanding contributions to education in the Faculty of Medicine, in the areas of teaching, educational leadership and innovation, faculty development, and research and scholarly activity. To nominate a colleague, Click Here Deadline for submission of nominations: February 2, 2009 Medical Education Rounds – Winter 2009 The Future of Academic Medicine Dr. Joseph Martin February 5, 2009, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. Flyer 38th Annual International Conference Orthomolecular Medicine Today May 1-3, 2009 Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Montreal, Canada Info: The International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine Info
McGILL TEACHING HOSPITALS	PUBLICATIONS
McGill University Health Centre The Montreal Children's Hospital The Montreal General Hospital Royal Victoria Hospital Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital Douglas Hospital Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital St. Mary's Hospital Center	Faculty of Medicine MUHC Montreal Neurological Institute Douglas Hospital Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital