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McGILL FACULTY OF MEDICINE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER – January 2009 / Vol. 2, Issue 1
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, We stepped boldly into 2009 in excellent form with the news that three of our colleagues have been honoured by Québec Science magazine for having produced one of the “Top Ten Discoveries of 2008.” They are Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Alain Brunet, and leading cancer researchers, Morag Park and Janusz Rak. These, in fact, are the most recent in a series of awards received by our colleagues and highlighted in this issue. Kudos to our colleagues! On the heels of this news and the awarding of the Prix du Québec to Philippe Gros, we have just received word that the University has approved the establishment of a Family Medicine research master’s option within the Experimental Medicine program. Not only does this visionary program represent a major step forward for Family Medicine in this province, it marks yet another “first” in the pioneering history of the McGill Faculty of Medicine in Canada. Congratulations to the exceptionally dedicated team behind this success! More news about the master’s option will follow in an upcoming communication. Also this month, we announced the strategic cross-appointment of Philippe Couillard to the faculties of Medicine and Law. Dr. Couillard joins McGill as Senior Fellow in Health Law to encourage an academic exchange on health policy, where all views are welcomed and debated, in keeping with the great, open tradition of the University. Philippe Couillard’s profound knowledge of Quebec’s health care system, together with his experience as a renowned neurosurgeon, will be invaluable in expanding this conversation. You will remember that, prior to the holidays, we communicated a handful of new arrivals to our leadership team. In this issue of Med E-News, we are introducing a feature called “In Your Words” consisting of interviews with these and other individuals who make up our exceptional faculty. This month, we spoke with Dr. Mimi Israël, our new Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, to share her vision of the field of psychiatry, the challenges and the opportunities with you. A belated Happy New Year to you all. Richard I. Levin, MD Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) Dean, Faculty of Medicine McGill University
02 / Hot Topics
McGILL, MUHC AND DOUGLAS RESEARCHERS GET TOP MARKS FROM QUÉBEC SCIENCE Alain Brunet, Morag Park and Janusz Rak earn top marks in Québec Science's Top Ten Discoveries of 2008 for their groundbreaking work. Un test prédit l’évolution du cancer du sein. (Morag Park) Le cancer voyage dans l’organisme à bord de bulles. (Janusk Rak) Il existe un médicament qui guérit le trouble de stress post-traumatique. (Alain Brunet) Read More McGill Advertisement published in the Québec Science magazine AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. ISRAËL – THE NEW CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY As you know, over the past few months, the McGill University Faculty of Medicine has welcomed a number of new faces to its leadership team to guide us as we step up to the challenges and opportunities ahead. This interview is the first in a series entitled In Your Words profiling the extraordinary scholars, researchers and administrators that make up this Faculty. Read More Photo by: Romuald Barillaro
03 / BREAKTHROUGHS!
RESEARCHERS DISCOVER THREE GENES THAT INCREASE RISK OF SEVERE OBESITY IN KIDS AND ADULTS Rob Sladek, Constantin Polychronakos and Alexandre Montpetit are part of the European and Canadian team of researchers who have drawn a map of genetic risk factors that can lead to two forms of severe obesity… Read More IMPORTANT ADVANCE IN THE TREATMENT OF CANCER AND VIRAL INFECTIONS: MONTREAL-BASED SCIENTISTS UNCOVER A NEW ANTI-CANCER, ANTI-INFECTION RESPONSE CONTROL MECHANISM Dr. André Veillette and his team led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mario-Ernesto Cruz-Munoz will publish in the upcoming issue of the journal Nature Immunology of Nature Publishing Group. Read More SCIENTISTS AT THE MUHC AND McGILL UNIVERSITY EXPLAIN GENETIC DISEASE FIRST DISCOVERED IN QUEBEC 24 YEARS AGO Scientists at the MUHC and McGill University have identified a gene essential for the uptake of vitamin B12 in human cells. Isabelle R. Miousse, a graduate student of Dr. David Rosenblatt, conducted research… Read More NEW DRUG HOLDS OUT PROMISE OF NORMAL DIET FOR SUFFERERS OF DEVASTATING PKU GENETIC DISEASE Imagine being forced to say no to a child crying for more food at supper…Study first-author Dr. Christineh Sarkissian…offering PKU sufferers the hope of being able to eat a normal, protein-rich diet… Read More MUHC SURGEON PERFORMS FIRST-OF-ITS KIND PROCEDURE IN QUEBEC Surgeons, including Dr. Ari Meguerditchian, have successfully carried out the first Isolated Limb Infusion (ILI) procedure ever performed in Quebec… Read More McGILL RESEARCHERS DISCOVER GENE THAT INCREASES SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CROHN'S DISEASE Researchers at McGill University, the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) and the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre … The study was led by McGill PhD candidate Alexandra-Chloé Villani under the supervision of Dr. Denis Franchimont and Dr. Thomas Hudson. Read More KEY TO ‘CURING’ OBESITY MAY LIE IN WORMS THAT DESTROY THEIR OWN FAT: McGILL RESEARCHERS A previously unknown mutation discovered in a common roundworm holds the promise of new treatments for obesity in humans… Dr. Richard Roy, a cancer researcher at McGill's Department of Biology specializing in the control of cell division…. Read More
04 / MAKING HEADLINES
UNDERSTANDING THE GENOMICS OF BRAIN DISEASES McGill neurologist Guy Rouleau looks to DNA in his quest to better identify the causes of neurological disorders. Read More IN McGILL'S HEADWAY Found in Translation For 30 years, biochemist Nahum Sonenberg has been probing healing powers hidden within human cells. Now that he’s won one of the world’s most coveted scientific prizes…he has no intention of slowing down. Read More Mission: Regeneration Neurologists, biologists, biomedical engineers and pharmacologists are banding together to answer a tough question: How can we repair damaged body parts? Sal Carbonetto, Kathleen Cullen and Janet Henderson were interviewed. Read More The Diabetes Code In their quest to identify new genes associated with type 2 diabetes, Dr. Rob Sladek and Dr. Constantin Polychronakos coordinated a team effort that included Johan Rung, a bioinformatician who did much of the statistical analysis of the genomic data, and Alexandre Montpetit, assistant scientific director of the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre. Read More SLEEP DISORDERS: A WARNING SIGN FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE? According to the latest study by Dr. Ronald Postuma…, 52.4 per cent of patients with REM sleep behaviour disorder develop a neurodegenerative disease within 12 years following their initial diagnosis. Read More HEALTH IMPACT OF LATE PREEMIE BIRTHS STILL NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD: MUHC/ McGILL EXPERT While late preterm deliveries have become more common in the industrialized world… Recent evidence indicates that these consequences are far from negligible, according to an editorial by Dr. Michael Kramer. Read More
05 / THE HONOURS GO TO...
CONGRATULATIONS! Tommy Alain is awarded the CIHR 2008 Jean-François St-Denis Fellowship in Cancer Research. Read More Farhan Bhanji is chosen to be a co-recipient of the 2009 CAME New Educator Award. Franco Carnevale is awarded the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing Outstanding Contribution to European Nursing 2009 and will be made a lifelong member. Read More Mostafa Elhilali receives the 2009 American Urological Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Michael Kramer receives the Earle W. Crampton Award for Distinguished Service in Nutrition. Michael J. Meaney is the Seventy-Fifth Annual Salmon Lecturer at the New York Academy of Medicine. Read More
06 / WELCOME ABOARD!
Joint Appointment between the Faculties of Medicine and Law Philippe Couillard appointed Senior Fellow in Health Law Read More NEW COLLEAGUES: Hervé Jean Arma Barrière, Research Associate, Physiology Lucie Bouvrette, Faculty Lecturer, Physical & Occupational Therapy Kenny Cabral, Professional Associate, Montreal Neurological Institute Clinical Research Group Mélanie Chagnon, Administrator, Quebec Transgenic Research Network, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Centre Brian Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Pierre Duquette, Adjunct Professor, Neurology & Neurosurgery Sherif Galal Shoukry Emil, Associate Professor, General Surgery Vladimir Fonov, Research Associate, Brain Imaging Centre Maryam Fotouhi, Laboratory Technician, Montreal Neurological Institute Paul Steven Giacomini, Adjunct Professor, Neurology & Neurosurgery Shakir Ladha, Human Resources Advisor, Human Resources Veronique Lajoie, Accounts Administrator, Physical & Occupational Therapy Ioana Medrea, Laboratory Technician, Physiology Dao Nguyen, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Tobias Rees, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Studies of Medicine Patrick Ritchie, Administrative Assistant, Family Medicine Francis Robert, Research Associate, Biochemistry Babette Schade, Research Associate, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Centre Xiang Zhou, Research Technician, Pharmacology and Therapeutics
07 / IN THE KNOW
CHECK OUT ROBERT’S BLOG ABOUT HIS CaRMS EXPERIENCE ON THE MUHC MEDIA PORTAL! (Cont’d) A Medical Leap of Faith: Finding Someone to Catch You *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 THE PRIX FIERTÉ AWARDED TO GATINEAU CSSS FAMILY MEDICINE UNIT The Gatineau Health and Social Services Foundation has awarded the 18th Prix Fierté. Read More ATTENTION NEW ACADEMICS! You are invited to attend an Orientation Workshop for new faculty. February 19, 2009 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon Faculty Club, 3450, McTavish St. Info & registration CALL FOR PROPOSALS The International Conference on the Use of the Internet in the Mental Health Field May 14-16, 2009 The Scientific Committee invites you to submit oral or poster presentations related to the theme of the conference. Important Date: February 16, 2009: Notice of proposal acceptance to be issued. McGILL AT A GLANCE PUBLICATION FOR THE YEAR 2008-2009 IS NOW ONLINE Read More JEWISH GENERAL HOSPITAL LAUNCHES NEW BRANDING On Monday, January 19, the Jewish General Hospital launched its new branding, along with the 75th anniversary year tagline. Read More Style Guide
08 / Mark Your calendar...
Faculty Development Office Next Medical Education Round February 5, 2009, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. The Future of Academic Medicine Dr. Joseph Martin Harvard University Info & registration Student Colloquium on Health and Law Saturday, February 7, 2009, 10:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. McIntyre Medical Building, 3655 Promenade Sir William Osler 09 Students: $12 Non-students: $20 Registration includes full-day access for all events, a free lunch and a wine-and-cheese at the end of the day. Registration Excellence in Research Exhibition 2009 Thursday, February 12, 2009, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Info Faculty Development Office Workshop Participatory Research: A New Research Paradigm? March 12, 2009, 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon Registration
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 Mental Health University Institute Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital St. Mary's Hospital Center	Faculty of Medicine MUHC Montreal Neurological Institute Douglas Mental Health University Institute Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital