WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Location: Corbett Quad, corner of 112 Street and 82 Avenue
Food trucks: Calle Mexico, Starvin Marvin's, and Veggie Delights
Cost: FREE for Department of Medicine members, however you must confirm your attendance by registering.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Town Hall

Department of Medicine Chair Review

Excerpted message from Dr. Tom Stelfox, Deputy Dean, FoMD:

Dr. Narmin Kassam is scheduled to complete her first term as Chair of the Department of Medicine on March 31, 2025. We really appreciate her dedicated service during what has been a time of substantial change and challenge. Dr. Kassam has indicated that she is willing to serve a second term as Chair of the Department of Medicine. The Dean’s Office will therefore, as per University of Alberta Policy, initiate a review of the Department of Medicine Chair. 

We invite you to attend a town hall to learn more about the review process and how you can participate.

September 6 @ 8 – 9 a.m.
Location: TBA

What else is 100 years old?

The Department of Medicine is celebrating its 100th birthday with which of the TWO following:

A) First issue of Time magazine
B) First issue of the The Hobbit (top right)
C) Birth of Disney Animation
D) Invention of the Hula Hoop​​​​​​​

{Answer is at the bottom of this enewsletter.}​​​​​​​

Sabbatical for Academic Faculty Members

Now is the time to consider a sabbatical opportunity for the upcoming academic year. Submit an application by September 15 for a sabbatical time between July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026.  

Who is eligible: Tenure track academic staff
Who is not eligible to apply: Sabbatical does not apply to AMHSP, Clinical Faculty, TRAS or FSO teaching appointment
 

Please join us in welcoming the following new faculty member:

• Dr. Nabeela Nathoo, Assistant Professor, Division of Neurology

DoM RESEARCH

Research News

CIHR Project Grant Spring 2024 Recipients

Congratulations to the following Department of Medicine faculty members who were successful in the Spring 2024 CIHR Project Grant competition:

• Scott R Garrison, Jeffrey A Bakal, James L Silvius: MinMed: partnering with data custodians to transform pragmatic trials, and improve prescribing in older adults
   
• Padma Kaul: Evaluating Community Gathered ECGs for Survival and Adverse Event Forecasting (the ECG-SAFE Study) 
   
• Gavin Oudit: Cardiovascular Disease in Post COVID Condition: Taurine and ACE2 Probiotics as Potential Therapies
   
• Carrie Ye received Priority Announcement funding for ChatRheum: Developing and evaluating a source-verified large language model to answer rheumatology patient questions

Multi-factor authentication coming to ResearchNet on Sept 18. Learn more.

Congratulations, Recipients!

Congratulations to the following DoM students on receiving the 2024 Doctoral Recruitment Scholarship. They will be transferring to the PhD program this Fall.

• Noorossadat Seyyedi, supervised by Dr. Nadia Jahroudi and Dr. Manijeh Pasdar, Division of Hematology

• Hazel Marriott, supervised by Dr. Paige Lacy, Division of Pulmonary Medicine   

Upcoming Research Opportunities

CIHR Project Grant: Fall 2024 Competition

• CIHR Registration: Wednesday, August 14
• Researcher Home Page for RAS review: August 28, 4:30 p.m. MT
• Institutional deadline to submit in ResearchNet: Sept 10, 10 a.m. MT
• Visit RAS CIHR Project Grant for deadlines and research support.

Sloan Research Fellowships 2024 Competition

• Eligibility: Early career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise who have the potential to revolutionize their field.
• Value: US$75,000 over two years 
• U of A deadline: August 19. Submit a nomination letter, CV, and candidate statement to Priscila Magaldi Netto, Research Awards Officer, VPRI.
• Sponsor deadline: September 15

Other Research Opportunities

1. Seminar: Metabolic tales of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
   Date: August 8 @ 12 - 1 p.m., 2-193 Clinical Sciences Building, U of A
   Speaker: Dr. Francesco Roselli, Department of Neurology, University of Ulm

2. Seminar: HHT: Pulmonary AVMs to Pazopanib-An Update
   Date: August 12 @ 12 - 1 p.m., Classroom D, 2F1.04 WMC
   Speaker: Dr. Vivek Iyer, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester
   Hosted by: Alberta Respiratory Centre; Division of Pulmonary Medicine

3. Funding: 2025-2026 Heart & Stroke Research Competitions are now open.

   • GIA Program - funding increased to a maximum of 4 years ($400,000). RAS: August 22. Sponsor: August 29 @ 2 p.m. MT

   • New Investigator - RAS: August 29. Sponsor: September 5 @ 2 p.m. MT

4. Funding: New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration (NFRF-E) 2024 competition. Pre-application: August 27. RAS: October 29. Sponsor: November 5.

For more Research events, awards, and funding opportunities, see

1. DoM Research Events calendar (postings in green)

2. RAS Calendar

Research Trainee Opportunities

1. 2025-2026 Heart & Stroke Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
   RAS: August 29. Sponsor: September 5 @ 2 p.m. MT

2. 2025-2026 Heart and Stroke Women’s Personnel Awards:
   Doctoral Awards | Postdoctoral Awards
   RAS: September 3. Sponsor: September 10 @ 2 p.m. MT 

    

Members' Research Publications

Here are some recent publications by our members.

1. Mònica Pons, Jesús Rivera-Esteban, Mang M. Ma, Tracy Davyduke, Adèle Delamarre, Paul Hermabessière, Julie Dupuy, Grace Lai-Hung Wong, Terry Cheuk-Fung Yip, Grazia Pennisi, Adele Tulone, Calogero Cammà, Salvatore Petta, Victor de Lédinghen, Vincent Wai-Sun Wong, Salvador Augustin, Juan Manuel Pericàs, Juan G. Abraldes, Joan Genescà. Point-of-care noninvasive prediction of liver-related events in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2024 Aug.
    
2. Russo M, Amboni M, Volzone A, Cuoco S, Camicioli R, Di Filippo F, Barone P, Romano M, Amato F, Ricciardi C. Kinematic and Kinetic Gait Features Associated with Mild Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. 2024 Jul 19.
    
3. Marriott H, Duchesne M, Moitra S, Okoye I, Gerla L, Mayers I, Moolji J, Adatia A, Lacy P. Upper Airway Alarmin Cytokine Expression in Asthma of Different Severities. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2024 Jun 26;13(13):3721.

See DoM Publications for a complete list of all our division members' research in peer-reviewed journals.

DoM IN THE NEWS

A study by Michéle DuVal, Neurology Resident, and team reveals a chemotherapy drug might help treat ALS.

Congratulations to Dr. Aminu Bello (Professor, Division of Nephrology) on receiving the 2024 Killam Annual Professorship!

Congratulations to Dr. David Collister (Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiology) on receiving the 2024 CSN New Investigator Lectureship Award from the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN) in May of this year.

Congratulations to Dr. Michelle Graham (Professor, Division of Cardiology) on receiving the 2024 May Cohen Award for Women Mentors from the Canadian Medical Association.

• Dr. Monty Ghosh (Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine)
  • Alberta opioid fatalities down to lowest toll in four years (Calgary Herald)
• Dr. Paolo Raggi (Professor, Division of Cardiology)
  • Salt restriction in heart failure may not impact morbidity or mortality, reveals research (Medical Dialogues)
• Dr. Jaggi Rao (Professor, Division of Dermatology)
  • Do higher temperatures increase your risk of sunburn? (CBC Radio)
• Dr. Lynora Saxinger (Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases)
  • Paxlovid pricey for Alberta pharmacies to stock and tougher for patients to find (CBC News)
  • Shigella outbreak hits Calgary shelters and encampments, sending 16 to hospital (CBC News)
• Dr. Peter Senior (Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine and Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism)
  • Once-a-week insulin injection successfully trialed at U of A (CTV News)

DoM EQUITY, DIVERSITY
AND INCLUSION

Why Representation Matters

There are mixed sentiments to initiatives that call for increased workplace diversity. This may be due to a common misperception that increasing representation and diversifying the workforce is about meeting specific targets or quotas.

However, there are many reasons why increasing diversity is important.  

• Varied life experiences can lead to different talents and viewpoints, which then lead to better decision-making and improved outcomes.  
• Being part of a diverse workforce encourages learning and personal growth, as well as enhances creativity and innovation.
• In the medical profession, it is essential that our workforce reflects and serves the needs of diverse populations.

One way to ensure adequate representation is to reflect on who is missing at the table. You might consider asking yourself this question the next time you are in a meeting or at a work function.

Dr. Lindsay Bridgland

Read other EDI definitions and topics on the DoM EDI site.

HAPPENINGS IN DoM

The Department of Medicine is enrolled in AAIM.

Take advantage of the professional development opportunities.

The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) provides professional development opportunities for faculty and staff.

DoM's membership in AAIM provides access to high-quality educational programs, offers resources and guidance for the challenges in UME and GME education, and ensures the academic internal medicine voice is heard on key policy issues. Learn more about AAIM's Resources (pdf).

Presented by the Division of Pulmonary Medicine in partnership with the Alberta Respiratory Centre

Want to see more events?  Visit the DoM Events web page to see what else is upcoming.

FACULTY OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY

Faculty Annual Report (FAR)

Important reminder: The FAR submission deadline is September 30.

Call for Interest: Committee Member Vacancies, Education Awards Subcommittee

The Education Awards Subcommittee (EAS) is seeking faculty members to fill various vacancies on this important subcommittee of the FoMD's Faculty Learning Committee:

• Basic Science Department Representative
• Clinical Faculty Member, Urban
• Clinical Faculty Member, Rural
• Postgraduate Education Representative
• Graduate Education Representative

The time contribution for members of this subcommittee is anticipated to be relatively marginal. For more information, see the EAS Terms of Reference.

If you have any questions or are interested, contact Kristi Lew, EAS Chair.

• FoMD Town Hall - Oct. 17 | 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. (Save the Date)
  Dean Hemmelgarn and Deputy Dean Stelfox will share faculty updates and provide opportunity for input and questions from all faculty and staff. RSVP link will be shared in the coming weeks. This will be a hybrid event. 
   
• Burnout: Why we should move away from this popularity-based concept, by Dr. Quentin Durand-Moreau (Professor, Division of Preventive Medicine, DoM), Aug. 28, 3 - 4:15 p.m., ECHA 2-190, hosted by Faculty of Nursing

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA NEWS

• Campus'Air. WestJet Cargo's new shipping service is designed to provide students and university staff with cost-effective shipping solutions, by providing a 50 per cent discount on published freight rates applicable to domestic shipments of personal effects. 

• Primary-affirmed Name Initiative. Faculty, staff and students can now self-declare their name by which they wish to be recognized in university systems (vs. their legal name). Individuals can update their primary-affirmed name in the primary name field in Bear Tracks. 

• Order your U of A swag. Before the new school year begins, order your custom apparel, branded gifts and U of A swag from the U of A Bookstore. Their team will work to find quality goods within your budget that adhere to U of A brand guidelines. 

ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES NEWS

• Read the July & August 2024 MD Culture Shift, an AHS publication created by physicians for physicians.
   
• As of Aug. 20, 2024, all Edmonton Zone physicians will be required to use their AHS email for all AHS business. That means they will not be able to use other email addresses, including the ualberta.ca email, while conducting AHS business or transmitting patient information when AHS has the record of care. Using an email address outside of AHS places sensitive information at risk and, in the event of a breach, puts AHS’ and physicians’ reputations at risk. This is an important part of AHS ongoing efforts to ensure the security of the sensitive information they access at AHS and to mitigate the ongoing risk of cybersecurity threats. 

HELPFUL SUPPORT & TIPS

• Safe and Respectful Workplaces Program - participate in a free, team development pilot. This unique pilot program is geared to help teams shape how they want to function as a team. This free program is ideal for cohesive teams who are ready to reflect on what a culture of care means to them and to engage in an intentional culture-building process.
   
• Social Media: The Impact on Mental Health (September 19). In a world where social media has become integral to daily life, it is crucial to explore its effects on our mental well-being. This micro-session introduces the complexities of social media — positive and negative — and its profound influence on mental health.
   
• Support Staff Recognition Award (September 30). This award recognizes outstanding members of the support staff and the extraordinary contribution they make to the university. We invite you to participate by nominating an individual who has demonstrated an energetic commitment towards the continued success of the U of A. The award is designed to not only recognize the excellence with which one carries out their day-to-day duties/activities, but also numerous other ways one represents the university in a positive manner. 
   
• Support Staff Research Enhancement Award (October 4). This award recognizes support staff who consistently make a positive contribution to the research success of their Faculty/Department/Unit and the University by providing outstanding service; fostering innovation; creating a positive influence in the workplace; and demonstrating leadership. 
   
• EFAP Online Courses - supporting your relationship-building journey. The Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) offers a wide range of e-courses. These courses are self-paced, self-directed and available in both English and French.

Answer to Birthday Quiz:

A) Time magazine is 100 years.
B) The Hobbit is 90 years.
C) Disney Animation is 100 years.
D) The Hula Hoop is 80 years.