No Images? Click here June 2019 Susan Gilmour will mark ten years of department success at Pediatrics Town Hall June 18Susan Gilmour will deliver her last address as chair of the department. Her 10-year leadership commitment comes to an end June 30, 2019. Below is an excerpt from a recent Message from the Chair, followed by links to previous messages that summarize some of the highlights of success in the University of Alberta's Department of Pediatrics over the last ten years. I have noted frequently that the success of an organization does not hinge on any one person, and department chairs alone do not create successful departments. The common goals and purpose of a group of many individuals enables such achievement. We create a world-class department collectively, through our diversity of strengths across the four domains that are foundational to academic medicine: dedicated teaching and learning, innovative research (both clinical and discovery), leading clinical care and strong administration. Our department supports, nurtures and encourages each other, knowing that we can never stop wanting to do even better. This includes students, residents, administrative support, faculty and of course, our patients and families. Celebrating ten years of achievements: Faculty and professional development is recognized and allows us to flourish Architecture and space enable good people to do great things Growth and leadership in education Department of Pediatrics Town Hall Working Wonders demonstrates impact of departmentGraduate students use their knowledge and experiences from different disciplines to collaborate with professor Alvaro Osornio-Vargas to study industrial emissions and adverse birth outcomes. Pictured left to right are Colin Bellinger, Jesus Serrano, Charlene Nielsen, Osnat Wine, and Alvaro Osornio-Vargas. This month, we highlight stories from Working Wonders stories to mark World Environment Day (June 5) and a summer camp for kids with heart disease (August 2-4): What's in the air? - Featuring faculty and learners from the Division of iHOPE Little Heart Heroes - Featuring Devin Chetan, pediatric resident Five learners graduate at spring convocationGraduate Noureen Ali says the MatCH program helped define her career path. Graduation is a time of endings and new beginnings. Noureen Ali is one graduate from the Department of Pediatrics who is a prime example of this experience. The following learners will be recognized at the Spring Convocation on June 7, 2019: Board and video game aim to improve neonatal resuscitation trainingGeorg Schmölzer helped design RETAIN, a board game for NICU clinicians. Imagine it’s your first night on call in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and you are summoned to attend a delivery of a newborn infant. What do you do? Georg Schmölzer hopes healthcare providers will quickly remember what steps to take if they have played a board or video game that he and his team have designed. RETAIN focuses on improving knowledge retention through gaming simulation. “The game is really stressful because it’s about real life resuscitation,” says Schmölzer, an associate professor in the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Care. Stollery Awasisak Indigenous Health Program builds bridges between patients and pediatric careHayley Turnbull became involved with the Stollery Awasisak Indigenous Health Program while she was a pediatric resident. A child returns to a northern Alberta community from the Stollery Children’s Hospital and requires specific medication immediately. However, the community pharmacy informs the family that the medication will only arrive in seven days. Another child is released from the hospital but can’t return home because their community can only be accessed by plane or boat certain times of the year. The family has limited funds and cannot afford to stay in Edmonton any longer. These stories are heard frequently by the Stollery Awasisak Indigenous Health Program. SKIP: New initiative aims to improve children's pain careBrandie Thomas is shown above with her son Mason, who received a heart transplant shortly after his sixth birthday. When Brandie Thomas was in the hospital with her young son Mason, a heart transplant recipient, she felt conflicted about holding him down during painful procedures. "I had to work very hard at staying calm so that my reaction didn't make everything worse. The ordeals would leave our whole family exhausted," she said. Solutions for Kids in Pain, SKIP for short, is a new national initiative coming to Alberta that aims to improve children's pain care by bridging the gap between current approaches and available evidence-based solutions. The unprecedented collaboration between researchers, hospitals, patients and families will tackle the 17 to 21 years it typically takes for new research findings to be put into practice and help kids. Department of Pediatrics researcher and emergency physician Samina Ali is leading the Western Canadian arm of SKIP. Read the full story in folio HEROES highlights the work of faculty membersNatalie Anton stands in a patient room within the brand-new PICU at the Stollery Children's Hospital, made possible in part with $1.2 million from foundation donors. Photo by Cooper & O'Hara. Natalie Anton believes she has the best job in the world. Anton, associate clinical professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care, is thrilled to be working in the brand new pediatric intensive care unit at the Stollery Children's Hospital. Read the full story in HEROES Pediatric Research Day celebrates creative learners and facultyGary Lopaschuk, associate chair research, left, congratulates the 2019 winners of Pediatric Research Day. The sixth annual Pediatric Research Day took place Wednesday, May 15, 2019. Nearly 90 abstracts were submitted. Faculty and learners presented their research throughout the day at ECHA. The keynote speaker was Donald Mabbott of The Hospital for Sick Children/University of Toronto. Mabbott spoke about Saving Time in a Bottle: White Matter Plasticity; Neural Communication and Cognition. A big thank you to the organizing committee and additional department staff for working hard to put the event together. View the list of winners Achievements highlighted at the Faculty Appreciation and Recognition DinnerLeigh Wincott, Jessica Foulds, Karen Forbes and Hasu Rajani enjoy the evening at the Faculty Appreciation and Recognition Dinner. Faculty members and their guests gathered May 29, 2019 at the University of Alberta Faculty Club to toast accomplishments in the Department of Pediatrics in the past year. Congratulations to all the awardees! View the list of awardees Huge turnout for FoMD Festival of HealthInterim Dean Dennis Kunimoto welcomes attendees to the Festival of Health. The Ask the Expert panel included Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Simon Urchel and Joanna McLean. Over 500 people attended the third Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry's Festival of Health on May 25, 2019. The public had a chance to participate in interactive booths and ask an expert on hot health topics. The Department of Pediatrics was represented, including the Stollery Cardiac Outcomes Research and Evaluation team, Pediatric Neurology, Symbiota and pediatric residents. Connecting Through Research focuses on limiting the metastatic potential of cancer: June 17Sujata Persad, associate professor in the Division of iHOPE, and PhD candidate Alaa Zare will be presenting on their work on the metastatic potential of cancer. Connecting Through Research Visit the leadership wall on ECHA's fourth floorThere's a new feature wall on the fourth floor in the Department of Pediatrics. The Department of Pediatrics supports leadership development in all aspects of academia, and a quote on a new feature wall installed on the fourth floor emphasizes this. The wall illustrates the history of department chairs, and others who have filled those shoes in interim positions. Leaving a lasting impact on pediatric mental health careMandi Newton (left) and Bruce Wright are part of PediAtriC Emergency Mental Health and AddictioNs Care (PACMAN). A team of over 50 health care professionals is working to change standards of care for pediatric patients who need acute mental health and/or addiction treatment in an emergency setting. The team, called the “PediAtriC Emergency Mental Health and AddictioNs Care (PACMAN),” is composed of experts from across Alberta who are focused on improving care in the emergency departments of the Stollery Children’s Hospital and Alberta Children’s Hospital. 2019 WCHRI Innovation Grants awardedFour applicants from the department were successful in receiving up to $50,000 for 24 months from the Women & Children's Health Research Institute 2019 Innovation Grant Program Competition. Congratulations to: A total of 52 applicants submitted and 19 grant applications were awarded. Nine applications were from the Department of Pediatrics. PublicationsThe Department of Pediatrics is proud to share the published works of its members. Awards and announcementsFaculty and learners are earning accolades for their work. Upcoming Department EventsJune 17: Connecting Through Research June 18: Pediatrics Town Hall June 19: Trainee Farewell and Awards Thursdays: Pediatric Grand Rounds Upcoming Partner EventsWorklife ResourcesThe University of Alberta is a great place to work, with access to many programs, services and resources for faculty and staff. Please visit Human Resource Services Learning and Development for more information or the Learning Shop Calendar for upcoming courses and workshops.
For human resources service in the Department of Pediatrics, please contact Kevin Meleskie at 780.248.5413. Submit your story to the PulsePediatric Pulse is an internal publication for faculty, staff and learners in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta. It is published the first Tuesday of every month by department communications staff. The deadline to submit to the July newsletter is June 21, 2019. |