Momentum drivers of 2018

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A diverse group advancing health sciences

From revolutionizing medical science with nanotechnology to spearheading community-engaged research to better address the needs of the communities we serve, from making bionic breakthroughs with artificial intelligence to advocating for graduate student mental health and wellness: here are the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s Momentum Drivers of the year.

It is a diverse group of disruptors, connectors, healers and inventors, all working to advance health sciences education, research and patient care.

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LISA PURDY ’93 BScMLS, ’97 MSc Enhancing and expanding resources and supports for graduate students in the Learner Advocacy and Wellness office MICHELLE GRAHAM Lead author of international study finding aspirin can help prevent heart attacks in non-cardiac surgery patients who previously had a coronary stent ROBERT BURRELL Leading UAlberta team using nanotechnology to develop a handheld device that differentiates between viral and bacterial infections in minutes

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MINN YOON ’98 BSc, ’01 BCom Dentistry professor collaborating with artists and patients to raise awareness of often-hidden experiences of head and neck cancer patients ARYA SHARMA Making headlines worldwide as a medical expert on evidence-based prevention and management of obesity

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JACQUELINE HEBERT Part of international team making bionic breakthroughs to create sense of movement in prostheses VINCENT AGYAPONG Psychiatrist tending to emotional aftermath of Fort McMurray fire. Advocating to expand mental-health services in a city that needs them more than ever

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JOHN MACKEY ’90 MD Director of Clinical Research Unit at the Cross Cancer Institute, where UAlberta’s academic physicians are leading pivotal trials to benefit cancer patients worldwide KATHRYN DONG ER physician helping change the culture of acute care to better address substance-use disorders

LYNORA SAXINGER UAlberta infectious-disease expert putting the lie to Lyme disease “alternative facts,” addressing vaccination misinformation and reducing unnecessary antibiotic use

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MICHAEL OVERDUIN Leading international consortia using superconducting magnets at NANUC to find protein signals that mark the difference between cancer and noncancer cells

LOUANNE KEENAN ’75 Dip(DentHyg), ’81 BA, ’95 MEd, ’02 PhD UAlberta Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award winner for her commitment to social accountability in communityengaged health-care research

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PATRICK PILARSKI ’09 PhD University of Alberta researcher revolutionizing AI in medical science. Leader on the DeepMind Alberta team fostering Canadian artificial intelligence excellence VERNA YIU ’84 BMedSc, ’86 MD President and CEO of Alberta Health Services. Harnessing the power of storytelling to transform culture

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Samina Ali

PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, PROFESSOR

Samina Ali’s research team is investigating how a robot named MEDi can improve a child’s experience in the emergency department.

SAMINA ALI IS ON A MISSION TO FIND THE BEST WAYS TO TREAT KIDS’ PAIN.

DEPLOYING TOOLS RANGING from distraction by blowing bubbles to a new high-tech robot at the Stollery Children’s Hospital, Ali is also leading a national NO OUCH clinical research trial that will answer big questions about how to safely treat kids who arrive at the emergency department with pain due to a sprain or broken bone. need more accurate and robust data so that they can responsibly prescribe pain medications in children.”

The NO OUCH trial is part of the SPOR–Innovation in Pediatric Clinical Trials initiative, funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and supported by the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation through the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute.

Michiko Maruyama

CARDIAC SURGERY, RESIDENT | INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, GRADUATE CANDIDATE

COMBINING HER EDUCATION IN SURGERY AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, MICHIKO MARUYAMA’S DREAM IS TO BE A CLINICIAN-ARTIST. “I WOULD HAVE A STUDIO WHERE I CAN DEVELOP MEDICAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES AND GAMES.”

FENTANYL-RELATED DEATHS ARE

hardly a game, but Maruyama joined forces with Cheryl Mack (Pediatrics), Ferrante Gragasin and Vivian Ip (Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine), adapting the biting tone of Cards Against Humanity to create a game to inform youth about opioids and ultimately save lives.

The Doctors Against Tragedies card game was made possible through a grant from the Alberta Medical

One of Maruyama’s favourite creations is her

painting, Susie the Surgeon—based on Rosie the

Riveter—which she created to inspire women to enter the field of surgery.

Association, in conjunction with the Canadian Medical Association and with support from the Edmonton Community Foundation. Download it for free at DoctorsAgainstTragedies.com.

Maruyama also designs toys—such as 3-D models of hearts, a doll that helps teach children about heart defects and origami paper models like her sternotomy teddy bear— to help young patients prepare for cardiac surgery.

Vijay Daniels

MEDICINE, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR | DIRECTOR OF CLINICAL ASSESSMENT, MD PROGRAM

Vijay Daniels (centre with patient and students) is director of clinical assessment for the MD program.

FAVOURITE INSTRUCTOR VIJAY DANIELS FOSTERS PERSONALIZED LEARNING EXPERIENCES AT THE BEDSIDE, WHERE HIS FLEXIBLE, HANDS-ON APPROACH RESPECTS THE INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OF BOTH STUDENTS AND PATIENTS.

THE 2018 RECIPIENT of the Clinical Teaching Award from the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, Daniels is the first U of A faculty member to receive this national honour, given to one exemplary teacher chosen from all of Canada’s medical schools.

A mentor for students, residents and faculty, Daniels has spearheaded a four-year longitudinal physical exam skills course, leading to him receiving the U of A’s Rutherford Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

“It’s about the tactile sensory experience, like when the learner hears a heart murmur they would not have heard without a bit of coaching… These micro-epiphanies continue to excite me,” said Daniels.

Paul Armstrong

Paul Armstrong has won the Prix Galien Canada Research Award and been awarded the U of A’s University Cup.

CLINICIAN SCIENTIST | CARDIOLOGIST, MEDICINE | DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

CARDIOLOGY PIONEER PAUL ARMSTRONG WAS NAMED OFFICER OF THE ORDER OF CANADA IN 2018 FOR HIS TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH IN ACUTE CARDIAC CARE.

THE FOUNDING PRESIDENT of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Armstrong was also recognized for his leadership in Canadian health care.

“He played a major role in developing the Canadian VIGOUR centre (Virtual Coordinating Centre for Global Collaborative Cardiovascular Research),” said Lorne Tyrrell, a fellow officer of the Order of Canada and former dean of the U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. “He led a major study on the use of clot-busting drugs in ambulances for early intervention in acute cardiac diseases. This was an important step in the evolution of treating heart patients and is now being explored for stroke patients.”

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Haili Wang

’03 MD ’11 MSC | SURGERY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | VICE-PRESIDENT AND CHIEF SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR METABOLOMIC TECHNOLOGIES INC.

THE SCIENCE WANG PURSUED A DECADE AGO AS A U OF A GRADUATE STUDENT SET THE STAGE FOR AN INNOVATIVE DIAGNOSTIC TEST, AN AWARDWINNING SPINOFF COMPANY AND A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS DEAL.

METABOLOMICS TECHNOLOGIES

INC. (MTI)—founded by Wang and Richard Fedorak (now dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry)— developed a product called PolypDX, a non-invasive, easy-to-collect urine test, to more accurately detect precancerous polyps.

With the help of TEC Edmonton, MTI signed a licensing agreement in 2016 with Atlantic Diagnostic Laboratories. Recognized in 2017 by the ASTech

Haili Wang and David Chang, CEO of Metabolomics Technologies Inc., are improving cancer detection and prevention with the commercialization of a metabolomic urine test for colorectal cancer.

Foundation with the Outstanding Leadership in Alberta Technology Award, the team is now examining whether they can develop similar tests for the early detection of prostate and breast cancer.

“Our work is ultimately coming to real use in the world. It’s not just an experiment anymore,” said Wang.