January / Issue4
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Dr. Michael Strong, Dean
Watch the message above to find out why our 2010 medical graduates are the best in Canada, and how we are developing the next Strategic Plan for the School.
These regular updates via video, paired with the articles below, help keep us all connected with the activities at the School. Please share your comments, ideas or insights anytime by posting on the blog below or emailing me. Take care.
Canada Foundation for Innovation grants Schulich researchers more than $1.4 million
Four scientists at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and Robarts Research Institute received more than $1.4 million in grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, as announced January 21, 2011. Six projects at Western received a portion of the total $61 million distributed across the country from the independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure.
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Facility for Advanced Biomedical Device Design and Fabrication $605,623 led by David Holdsworth, Departments of Surgery and Medical Biophysics, Robarts Scientist click here to read more on this project |
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Laboratory for Neural Circuits and Cognitive Control $318,272 led by Stephan Everling, Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Psychology, Robarts Scientist |
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Somatic Stem Cell Selection Laboratory for the Regeneration of Beta Cell and Vascular Function $272,955 led by David Hess, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Robarts Scientist |
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Salivary Proteomics Research Laboratory $212,059 led by Walter Siqueira, Schulich Dentistry, Department of Biochemistry |
Awards, honours and media coverage
Congratulations to the following individuals for their achievements over the past month:
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Dr. Joseph Chin receives the Order of Ontario Congratulations to Dr. Joseph Chin, Departments of Surgery and Oncology, who received the Order of Ontario on January 27 at Queen's Park. Dr. Chin is a medical pioneer and leader in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. His group was the first in the world to perform three-dimensional, ultrasound-guided prostate surgery. |
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Dr. Qingping Feng featured in Heart & Stroke report Dr. Qingping Feng, Departments of Medicine and Physiology and Pharmacology, was featured in the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario's annual research report for 2010, Imagine. Dr. Feng's research project looks to identify molecules that regulate and determine heart cell function in the hope of discovering interventions that will eliminate or reduce the occurrence of heart failure. |
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Schulich scientists in the media A number of Schulich faculty members have been featured in the news over the past month. The following is a brief selection of highlights. Dr. Richard O'Reilly, Department of Psychiatry, was on The Current talking about mental health issues and current laws and policies Dr. Louise Moist, a nephrologist in the Department of Medicine was quoted in the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, discussing how the supply of kidneys available for transplant has not kept pace with the growing demand. Dr. Robert Hegele of the Department of Medicine and Robarts scientist, was in the Globe and Mail commenting on how DNA shapes weight-loss success. Stephen Sims of the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology explained how he'll use a 30,000 year old Mammoth tusk to gain new information about bone loss. It was carried on Canada AM and in the Toronto Star, London Free Press, and CBC. Dr. Stewart Harris was on CBC's The Current earlier this month discussing the need for a national diabetes strategy. Dr. Jeff Nisker was featured in a front page Toronto Star story about the ethics of genetic testing kits. Femida Gwadry-Sridhar, a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Physiology & Pharmacology, appeared in the Toronto Star and London Free Press discussing an iPhone application for patients at high risk of stroke. Dr. Ross Feldman was quoted in the London Free Press |
Record donation to United Way
Congratulations and thank you to all those involved in the 2010 United Way Campaign. Schulich Medicine & Dentistry raised $105,052 - or roughly 16 per cent of Western's record donation of $631,487 to United Way of London & Middlesex.
Special thanks to the campaign volunteers involved in planning events and collecting pledges including: Joan Estabrooks, Dr. Wael Haddara, Kris Dundas, Yanti Setiawati, Meghan Perinpanayagam, Heidi Van Galen, Kathy Wallis.
United Way is set to announce its achievement for the $8 million community campaign on February 27. For details visit http://www.uwlondon.on.ca/event/celebrate.html
CIHR success -$13 million in operating grants
Schulich Medicine & Dentistry scientists, including those at Robarts and Lawson Health Research Institute, received more than $13 million in the 2010-2011 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant competition. In all, 28 projects were funded, with a a success rate of approximately 27 per cent on grant applications. The national success rate was 17 per cent. Congratulations to the following investigators on their success:
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Frank Beier Peter Chidiac Lina Dagnino Neil Duggal Stefan Everling Stephen Ferguson Amit Garg (multiple grants) Dan Hardy Robert Hegele David Heinrichs David Holdsworth |
Tony Jevnikar John MacDonald Melissa Mann Ravi Menon Joseph Mymryk Giles Santyr Samuel Siu Rommel Tirona Hao Wang Kaiping Yang Greg Zaric (Richard Ivey School of Business) |
Three scientists also received one-year grants:
Nica Borradaile
Lakshman Gunaratnam
Ruud Veldhuizen
For more details on the operating grant results, visit the news article on the Schuilch website.
