Dr. Michael Strong, Dean

Welcome to the second edition of the Dean's Newsletter for the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario. These regular updates via video and the news articles below are a way of connecting us all with the activities going on at the School. We've built in a blogging feature - so feel free to share your comments. You can also email me with your ideas and insights. Enjoy.

SWOMEN active inside and outside Schulich

The last month was a busy and exciting time for the Southwestern Ontario Medical Education Network (SWOMEN), as several events were held in the region. On October 29 and 30, more than 100 full- and part-time faculty from Schulich Medicine & Dentistry attended the second annual Joint Teaching Retreat with the Department of Family Medicine. The event included a series of workshops and provided the opportunity to present 12 faculty members with the SWOMEN 10-year Service Award for Teaching. Congratulations to Drs. Mark Awuku, Hugo Bidinot, Luis Cleto, Wendy Edwards, Duncan Graham, Sarah Jarmain, Ian Johnston, Brian McNeill, Constance Nasello, Rupa Roopchand-Mohammed, Chris Smith and Lori Teeple.

SWOMEN was also active with our community partners over the last month. For the first time, the network hosted two Discovery Week workshops for our community coordinators and partners from all across Southwestern Ontario. The turnout was fantastic for the workshops, which were held in Wingham and Chatham and covered a wide range of topics, including: 'Overview of the SWOMEN pipeline,' 'Discovery Week 2010,' 'Best Practices,' and 'Round Table Discussions.' Thanks to Assistant Dean, Rural and Regional, Shamim Tejpar, Discovery Week Coordinator, Mary Peterson, and SWOMEN Manager, Laurie Roberts, who led the sessions. Attendees also enjoyed hearing perspectives on Discovery Week from our medical student participants and some of our veteran community partners.

Finally, SWOMEN has arranged a series of Regional Presentations throughout Southwestern Ontario that have provided the opportunity to share my vision for the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. The first two were held in Stratford on October 26, and Chatham on December 2. They presented a great opportunity for preceptors, community partners, health care providers and Schulich students/trainees to participate in a question and answer session and a discussion about rural regional training. We hope to provide additional sessions in the new year for other centres. I'm looking forward to more opportunities to connect with our preceptors and community partners.

Publications and Awards

Congratulations to all faculty and students who have received awards and/or published major papers over the past two months. Your work is helping to build our research profile nationally and internationally. A few publications and appointments received significant media coverage in the past several weeks, including:

	Schulich welcomes new Canada Research Chair Mansour Haeryfar was named one of three new Canada Research Chairs at The University of Western Ontario in November. A Tier Two CRC in Viral Immunity & Pathogenesis, Haeryfar is developing a better understanding of immune responses to viruses in order to create strategies for rational vaccine design and treatment of infectious diseases. Read Full Article
	E coli infection linked to long-term health problems In a study published online in the British Medical Journal, a team of researchers from Lawson Health Research Institute and The University of Western Ontario found that people who contract gastroenteritis from drinking water contaminated with E coli are at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, kidney problems and heart disease in later life. Read Full Article
	Vitamin C is a potential life-saving treatment for sepsis Research led by Dr. Karel Tyml, Departments of Medical Biophysics and Physiology & Pharmacology, has found that vitamin C can not only prevent the onset of sepsis, but can reverse the life-threatening illness. In his most recent publication, Dr. Tyml found that a single bolus of vitamin C injected early (at the time of induction of sepsis) prevents capillary plugging. A delayed injection, meanwhile, can reverse plugging by restoring blood flow in previously plugged capillaries. Read Full Article
	Presumed consent may not increase overall rates of kidney donation According to a study by Dr. Amit Garg and colleagues at The University of Western Ontario and Lawson Health Research Institute, presuming that people want to donate their organs unless they specifically say otherwise may not help to bolster overall kidney donations. In the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, they found that while nations with presumed consent have higher rates of deceased kidney organ donation, living donation rates in those countries were much lower than in nations with explicit consent.. Read Full Article
	Researchers provide insight into enhanced vision often reported by deaf people Research led by Stephen Lomber of The Centre for Brain and Mind discovered there is a causal link between enhanced visual abilities and reorganization of the part of the brain that usually handles auditory input in congenitally deaf cats. The findings, which provide insight into the plasticity that may occur in the brains of deaf people, are published online in Nature Neuroscience. Read Full Article

Schulich Translational Science Series

I am pleased to announce a new program to encourage trans-faculty and transdisciplinary exploration of key research areas through "mini-symposia" or research retreats.

The Dean's Office is offering $2,000 per event, for up to five events per academic year to bring together researchers from across Western to focus on current or emerging research strengths. The first of these symposia - the Neuroscience Retreat - took place on November 26, 2010. A second symposium on the Health Policy Initiative takes place on December 10, 2010. For details see http://hpi.uwo.ca

Funding is available for an additional three symposia for the 2010-2011 academic year. Details on the criteria and application process are below:

Retreats/Symposia must:

1. Be held locally (on the Western campus or at the Medical Education Building in Windsor)
2. Be open and accessible to all students and trainees at Schulich/Western
3. Focus on topics that are transdisciplinary and trans-faculty.
4. Provide opportunities for Windsor Program and/or rural regional students and colleagues to participate in person or by videoconference.
5. Include local speakers. Out-of-town speakers may be invited at the expense of the host department.
6. Encourage participation of junior investigators in addition to more seasoned faculty.

Applications can be made in writing to Dean Michael Strong.

c/o Nicole Farrell, Executive Assistant to the Dean

3700 Rix Clinical Skills Building, Email

Applications should include a general outline of the planned event and a tentative budget plan.

Successful applicants for funding will be granted additional funds for Year 2, with the vision of making the retreats annual. Self-funding is expected for Year 3 and beyond.

For more details, please contact Nicole Farrell at ext. 89303.