Momentum

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LIFE SAVERS

Made-in-Alberta tech meets the organ shortage Unleashing the next gen in cancer care

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School of Dentistry at 100 years

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The University of Alberta respectfully acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, traditional lands of First Nations and MĂŠtis people.

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Dean’s message_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fast facts

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Technology uplifting quality of life _____________________________________________________________ Solidifying Edmonton’s reputation as “Health City” __________________________ Large-scale research institutes driving innovation________________________ Momentum drivers _______________________________________________________________________________________ Mobilizing education to inspire beyond the classroom_______________ Building a diverse community of exceptional learners ______________

School of Dentistry at 100__________________________________________________________________________ Investigating the most critical health issues of our time ___________ Sparking conversations about Canada’s health

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Research rises from the ashes ________________________________________________________________ Community connections

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In the news ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cover story The Ex-Vivo Organ Support System (EVOSS™) was developed by University of Alberta surgery professors Darren Freed, ’98 MD and Jayan Nagendran, ’01 MD, ’09 PhD.

Photos by Laughing Dog Photography (unless otherwise stated) Design by Cut & Paste Design Inc.

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Dean’s message

Our first annual year-in-review publication is inspired by the concept of momentum.

The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is moving forward at an accelerated pace to transform people’s lives. Service to the public good is our compass, and our people are the drivers of change.

Over the past year, we have consolidated a strategic vision that directs our resources and strengths towards innovation. The eyes of the country and the world are turning to see the great things we are doing in Edmonton and throughout Alberta.

We are growing in health-sciences education and research as a hub of ingenuity, innovation, scholarship and patient care. But we cannot thrive in isolation. The spark that ignites our engines and continues to propel our achievements is teamwork.

It is collaboration that drives the powerful momentum pushing us to reach new heights in our quest to provide tangible solutions to the most pressing health issues of our time.

Moving together in the same direction, our momentum is building. And the possibilities are endless.

This is only the beginning of our journey.

Richard N. Fedorak, MD, FRCPC, FRCP (London), FRCP (Edinburgh), FRSC Dean, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry University of Alberta

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Fast facts

The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry serves the public good through excellence in education, research and patient care.

Edmonton Alberta

Capital city of the province of Alberta Home to the University of Alberta The University of Alberta Hospital is Western Canada’s largest teaching hospital

Research

by the numbers

Partnership with AHS

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s clinical activities are an integral part of Alberta Health Services (AHS), with research focused on how to deliver high-quality, data-driven and cost-effective health care with in-depth health outcomes analysis.

Our teachers and learners

Active research projects: 2,586 Unique principal investigators: 594

Full-time faculty: +700

Unique funding agencies: 291

Community clinical faculty: 2,200

$197.6 million

in research funding (Source: AFMC 2015/16)

~35 per cent of the University of Alberta’s overall research funding Fifth in Canadian research universities for dollars of research funding (Source: CAUBO and Research Infosource. Includes affiliates)

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$2 billion

economic impact Contributes $2 billion economic impact in the region per year.

Residents and fellows: +900 in 57 post-graduate medical education programs Post-doctoral fellows: 130 Graduate students: +600 Research summer students: Nearly 300

Culture of

philanthropy Total fundraising achievement for 2017 fiscal year: $86,909,078 (as of March 31, 2017) Includes a $54.5 million donation—$14.5 million from the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation—and $40 million from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. The University Hospital Foundation plays a key role in the creation of new health knowledge through their financial support.

Undergraduate

Climbing the ranks The University of Alberta is ranked fourth in Canada and 90th in the world, according to the 2018 QS World University Rankings.

With approximately 26,000 universities globally, this places the U of A in the top one per cent of universities in the world.

The U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is ranked among the top 100 medical schools in the world and top six in Canada (World University Rankings, The Times Education Rankings, QS World University Rankings).

The U of A rated sixth in the world in transplantation according to a new subjects ranking by the Center for World University Rankings.

The U of A is ranked as the 31st most international university in the world for 2017, according to the World University Rankings published by Times Higher Education, ahead of the University of Toronto (32), Harvard (33), Stanford (36) and Princeton (37).

-Michael Brown

Medicine: 660

Radiation Therapy: 28

Dentistry: 143

Dental Hygiene: 112

Medical Laboratory Sciences: 80

15,000

alumni worldwide 28 per cent of the physicians in Alberta are alumni of the U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

42 per cent of practicing dentists and dental hygienists in Alberta are alumni of the U of A’s School of Dentistry.

Prestigious prize winners 6 3M National Teaching Fellows 3 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame 3 Prix Galien Canada (Research) 2 ISI Highly Cited Research Award 8 Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 2 Royal Society Fellows (London) 32 Royal Society of Canada Fellowships 4 Royal Society of Canada New Scholars 33 Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Fellows 1 Killam Prize in Health Sciences (as of March 31, 2017)

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The rankings are based on data about international staff, students and publication co-authors, as well as the school’s international reputation.

enrolment

Technology uplifting quality of life Technology uplifting quality of life

Mind-blowing bionics coming out of University of Alberta’s SMART Network New state-of-the-art facility propels intelligent solutions for amputees and others with neural injury and disease A sock that can prevent blood clots from travelling to the lungs. A robot that assists rehabilitation, delivering care alongside a physiotherapist. Bionic underwear that prevents bedsores. A microimplant that helps paralyzed people stand and walk again. A holographic doctor that can provide care in remote communities.

They sound like inventions born in a Marvel comic book science lab, but these innovations and more devices like them come from University of Alberta researchers.

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In high-tech headquarters at the U of A’s Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research, the Sensory Motor Adaptive Rehabilitation Technology (SMART) Network sees more than 90 of these researchers working together as a team.

“It gives others reason to have hope for the future after a devastating injury...”

“We focus on making the solution—be it a wearable device, an artificial limb or even an implanted microdevice—feel and behave as though it is part of the person and not just an artificial entity,” said Vivian Mushahwar, director of the SMART Network. “We want an artificial limb to respond seamlessly to the will of the user and to let the person feel how the limb is moving and what it is touching.”

Today, the translation of a scientific idea into a practical real-world application can happen faster than ever before, because electrical engineers, computer scientists, biologists, surgeons, nurses and rehabilitation specialists are all working together to better understand how the nervous system, brain and spinal cord work. The benefit to patients is profound.

Taking part in research has given Edgar Jackson his life back When a motorcycle accident in 1998 left Edgar Jackson paralyzed from the neck down, the first thing that went through his mind was, “How am I going to be able to take care of my wife and two young daughters?”

After more than six months in the University of Alberta Hospital and Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Jackson was contacted by the Canadian Paraplegic Association (now Spinal Cord Injury Alberta) and connected to University of Alberta research teams working with persons with significant injuries in the spinal cord. He’s since been a volunteer research participant in numerous U of A studies for more than 17 years.

“I was able to walk my youngest daughter down the aisle at her wedding. My girls were 11 and 14 when I was injured and what’s the one thing every father of a daughter dreams about doing?” said Jackson. “It gives others reason to have hope for the future after a devastating injury. The people that work at the U of A in the SMART Network are making Edmonton and the world a better place through their research.”

-Ross Neitz and Lesley Young

SMART network built on a matrix of collaboration A core group of scientists received $5 million from Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions (now Alberta Innovates) between 2010 and 2015.

Vivian Mushahwar

Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Director, SMART Network

The new SMART Network facility officially opened in January 2017, thanks to $8 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Alberta Innovates and Alberta’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

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Biomedical engineer

The team leveraged the initial seed funding into an additional $40 million from public funding agencies, private industry, clinical centres and charitable organizations.

Amanda Newton

Anxiety treatment pilot program reaches teens where they are—online

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One in 10 youth experiences anxiety at a level that is diagnosable and requires treatment The Breathe Program, a national project led by U of A pediatrics associate professor Amanda Newton, is geared to youth who have mild to moderate anxiety symptoms and who can’t or wouldn’t otherwise seek treatment. The self-led online intervention program contains six cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-based modules presented with interactive text, embedded video and comic-book-style storyboards.

Newton and her team were supported by the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation through the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute, the RBC Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Getting youth the help they need “Anxiety disorders diagnosed in childhood do not often resolve over time without interventions,” said Ashley Radomski, a graduate researcher working on the team.

What one teen has to say “The most helpful thing was to try to think realistically. It helps a lot because most of the things I get anxious about are highly unrealistic. I use the Breathe skills now almost every time I get anxious.”

-Lesley Young Photo by Melissa Fabrizio

“The most helpful thing was to try to think realistically.”

Technology uplifting quality of life

Text4Mood sends uplifting messages to boost conventional mental-health treatment.

Get by with a little help from a text More than 6,000 Albertans have subscribed to receive expertly crafted daily text messages—to bring relief for their mental-health issues, thanks to a study published in BMC Psychiatry (2016) plus a subsequent program developed by University of Alberta psychiatrist Vincent Agyapong and delivered by Alberta Health Services.

“Counselling services are human intensive. We don’t have sufficient numbers of counsellors able to meet the demands of patients in Alberta,” said Agyapong. “Using technology to provide some form of counselling and support by text message can reach a large number of people with minimal costs and virtually no human resources at all.”

UAlberta e-tool provides wake-up call for parents of children with excess weight.

Sign up for a 10 a.m. daily dose of positivity by texting the word “mood” to 760-670-3130.

Weight a second

Jill Byrne, ’16 PhD

Sometimes we see only the best in our kids—even when a potential health risk is physically apparent.

An e-tool called RIPPLE, developed

by U of A pediatric researchers Jillian Byrne, ’16 PhD, and Geoff Ball, not only lifts the blinders for parents, it offers them much needed and welcomed support.

The new 15-minute electronic survey includes a screen of children’s weight status, the choice of one of four health interventions (on either diet or activity) and a menu of online resources and community services.

-Lesley Young Photo by Dwayne Brunner, supplied

by Alberta Innovates

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“We wanted to help moms and dads become aware of their child’s weight, if they aren’t already, and give them some information and resources to help their family and home be as

healthy as possible,” said Geoff Ball, director of the Pediatrics Centre for Weight and Health at Alberta Health Services’ Stollery Children’s Hospital.

Solidifying Edmonton’s reputation as “Health City”

Using new technology to meet the organ shortage Made-in-Alberta devices promise to improve quantity and quality of donated organs Technology developed and being commercialized by University of Alberta medical researchers may solve two of the biggest problems in organ transplantation—the limited number of healthy organs available and the short window of time to get a donated organ to a patient.

The Ex-Vivo Organ Support System (EVOSS™) was developed by surgery professors Darren Freed and Jayan Nagendran. It uses negative pressure ventilation in a portable organ perfusion device to replicate the way our chest cavity expands and contracts with each breath. It ensures a constant supply of blood and oxygen to the donated lungs, keeping them warm at a level similar to the temperature inside the body, until they are transplanted.

“...this new Alberta-made device buys more time for an organ to be assessed, repaired and transported...”

Edmonton’s geography stimulates invention Freed and Nagendran—who together founded Tevosol, Inc., a U of A spinoff company to commercialize their product—expect to start a clinical trial of their lung perfusion device soon.

“Not only is it an opportunity to improve the quality of donor organs around the world, but it’s an Alberta-specific problem that we are addressing as we are frequently facing difficulties because an organ has been out of the body for a long time, in spite of trying to get it here as soon as possible,” said Nagendran.

The University of Alberta Hospital has the largest geographic service area in the world for a single transplant centre, covering more than six million square kilometres.

“It’s one of the reasons why innovation is at the heart of what we do in Edmonton,” said Nagendran.

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A promising future, one organ at a time Currently, after removal from the donor, a donated organ is stored and transported on ice with only a six-hour window before it’s no longer viable. But this new Alberta-made device buys more time for an organ to be assessed, repaired and transported, giving it the potential to double or even triple the number of available donor organs worldwide.

-Shelby Soke and Michael Brown

Tevosol earned a TEC Edmonton 2017 VenturePrize as one of the province’s most promising early-stage technology ventures.

Left: Darren Freed, ’98 MD Associate professor, Department of Surgery, with cross-appointments in the departments of physiology and biomedical engineering Director of research, Alberta Transplant Institute Right: Jayan Nagendran, ’01 MD, ’09 PhD Associate professor, Department of Surgery Director of research, Division of Cardiac Surgery

TEC Edmonton gives entrepreneurs resources to bring ideas to market The Ex-Vivo Organ Support System could potentially save thousands of lives. And yet, were it not for U of A-led business accelerator TEC Edmonton, the idea for the product may have remained just that: an idea.

TEC Edmonton, a joint venture of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and the U of A, helps technology entrepreneurs accelerate the growth of their projects and acts as a commercialization agent for U of A technologies.

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During his 2016 State of the City address, Mayor Don Iveson announced the launch of the Health City Initiative, bringing together business, health, academia, government, community and not-for-profit leaders to drive health innovation and industry in Edmonton, and advance the city’s health ecosystem.

See the plan at edmontonhealthcity.ca

From left, Richard Fedorak with MTI team members

From left, Gino Fallone and team

Early disease detection with precision

You can’t target what you can’t see

Every year approximately 1,600 Albertans are diagnosed with colon cancer and another 600 die from it. Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of death in North America.

Metabolomic Technologies Inc.(MTI)— founded by U of A assistant professor of surgery Haili Wang and Richard Fedorak, dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry—has developed a product called PolypDx™ to significantly reduce those statistics by detecting polyps before they become cancerous. The early detection device is a non-invasive, easy-to-collect urine test, and—most important—more accurate than current fecal-based screening tests.

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“This is the start of precision medicine, where you can use a simple diagnostic test to tell you what your problem is,” said Fedorak. “It is part of the bigger University of Alberta mission to support Alberta’s evolution to a health economy, something our scientists in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry can drive.”

MTI recently signed a multimilliondollar licensing agreement for PolypDx™ and the team are now examining whether they can develop similar tests for the early detection of prostate and breast cancer.

-Ross Neitz

Did you know a big sigh can shift a lung tumour several centimetres?

Currently, the imaging to determine where a tumour is and the radiation therapy to treat it require two separate medical appointments. Since tumours can shift between appointments, doctors have accepted some healthy tissue may be damaged during radiation.

Enter U of A medical physicists Gino Fallone and Brad Murray, who invented, developed and built a new device that combines an MRI machine and medical linear accelerator into one unit. The device, called the Aurora RT™ LinacMR, allows continuous adjustment of the radiation beam to hit with unprecedented accuracy and precision only the tumour, no matter how much it shifts during radiation delivery.

The Linac-MR team, led by Fallone, has built two functional prototypes and published more than 50 peerreviewed articles about its technology.

Their U of A spinoff company, MagnetTX Oncology Solutions, won the 2016 VenturePrize DynaLIFE Dx Health prize and recently secured worldwide exclusive rights from Alberta Health Services and the University of Alberta to carry the project forward to commercialization.

-Shelby Soke

“This is the start of precision medicine...”

Solidifying Edmonton’s reputation as “Health City”

New dental training tool improves X-ray technique, lowers risk of repeat radiation exposures for patients Every day patients ask dentists if X-rays are safe. While dentists reassure patients that digital X-rays use very low levels of radiation—even less than conventional film—careful picture-taking technique is essential to avoid re-exposures.

After observing the struggles dentistry students were having with the different techniques required for digital X-rays, Anthea Senior, U of A clinical associate dentistry professor,

New business accelerator space unveiled

In January 2017 TEC Edmonton unveiled the TEC Innovation District, a new 24hour community workspace located on the ground floor of Enterpise Square in the heart of Edmonton’s downtown.

Chris Lumb, CEO of TEC Edmonton, said the location’s street-front appeal makes it an ideal site for technology entrepreneurs to get mentorship and coaching from in-house experts.

-Michael Brown Photo from TEC Edmonton

Senior’s original manual proved to be so popular with the dentistry community worldwide that with business advice and licensing assistance from TEC Edmonton, she partnered with Dentsply Sirona to extend the manuals’ distribution as a training resource for industry and practitioners.

-Cheryl Deslaurier and Lesley Young Photo by Wonderlane

Bridging distances to innovate together Launched in May 2017, JLABS POD @ Alberta is a secure, state-of-the-art video conferencing system that allows researchers and health entrepreneurs to connect to the Johnson & Johnson Innovation network, which includes labs in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, London (U.K.) and more.

Housed on the U of A North campus, at the Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research, JLABS POD @ Alberta provides local innovators with access to global markets and mentorship to move science discoveries forward, both in patient care and health entrepreneurship ventures.

JLABS POD is funded by the Johnson & Johnson Alberta Health Innovation Partnership (JAHIP), a collaboration that includes the Alberta Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Janssen Inc. and the University Hospital Foundation.

-Salena Kitteringham

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The new space will allow TEC Edmonton to do more of what it does best—grow companies. TEC Edmonton companies have an annual growth rate of 25 per cent, compared with a rate of less than five per cent nationally.

developed a training manual for classroom and clinic use in 2014.

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Technology uplifting quality of life driving innovation Large-scale research institutes

Alberta Cancer Foundation is the official fundraiser for all 17 cancer centres supporting Albertans at the point of cancer care, including the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary.

The Alberta Prostate Cancer Research Initiative is funded by the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the Bird Dogs for Prostate Cancer Research, Prostate Cancer Canada and the Movember Foundation Canada.

Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta (CRINA) As the largest comprehensive cancer institute in Western Canada, CRINA at the University of Alberta brings together more than 300 leading scientists, doctors, teachers and specialist trainees in medical and experimental oncology, genetics, biochemistry, immunology, laboratory pathology and surgery to advance better ways to detect, treat and stop cancer in its tracks.

New blood test to predict aggressive prostate cancer U of A diagnostic could replace 40 per cent of invasive biopsies Each year, thousands of Canadian men undergo biopsies to detect prostate cancer and monitor the progression of the disease.

“A biopsy involves pushing 12 needles through an organ the size of a walnut. As you might imagine, it is a very uncomfortable and invasive procedure,” said John Lewis, member of CRINA and the Alberta Cancer Foundation Frank and Carla Sojonky Chair in Prostate Cancer Research at the U of A. A new blood test developed by Lewis’s team and members of the Alberta Prostate Cancer Research Initiative may allow men to bypass painful biopsies. Called the Extracellular Vesicle Fingerprint Predictive Score (EV-FPS), the test uses an advanced microflow technique to measure millions of cancer cell nanoparticles in the blood and applies machine learning to recognize the unique fingerprint of aggressive prostate cancer.

Clinical data found the new blood test correctly identified men with aggressive prostate cancer 40 per cent more accurately than the most common blood test widely in use, the Prostate-Specific Antigen.

“For this kind of test, you want the sensitivity to be as high as possible because you don’t want to miss a single cancer that should be treated,” said Lewis.

Personalized medicine to improve quality of life The new blood test can provide vital information that helps physicians determine whether patients should be advised to undergo immediate prostate biopsy or whether they can defer biopsy and continue prostate cancer screening.

Lynne-Marie Postovit, PhD Experimental oncologist

Co-Director, CRINA Sawin-Baldwin Chair in Ovarian Cancer Dr. Anthony Noujaim Legacy Oncology Chair Alberta Innovates Translational Health Chair in Cancer

“This test requires just two drops of blood. It couldn’t be easier,” said Lewis.

“Beyond cost savings to the health-care system, the diagnostic test will have a dramatic impact on the health-care experience and quality of life for men and their families.”

-Ross Neitz

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Associate professor, Department of Oncology

The team plans to bring the test to market through U of A spinoff company Nanostics Inc. The diagnostic could eventually eliminate up to 600,000 unnecessary biopsies, 24,000 hospitalizations and to up to 50 per cent of unnecessary treatments for prostate cancer each year in North America alone.

Large-scale research institutes driving innovation

Sandra Davidge (centre) holds a prestigious Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Maternal and Perinatal Cardiovascular Health

Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI)

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The University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is the proud home of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute—the only research institute in Canada to focus on both women’s and children’s health, including perinatal health.

Built on partnership

Bolstered by philanthropy

WCHRI is a partnership between the U of A and Alberta Health Services, with core funding from the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. More than 350 Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researchers are members in WCHRI, and the work of the institute extends across the U of A with a total of approximately 500 researchers participating.

On June 22, 2016, the WCHRI received $14.5 million from the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation—its largest gift to date—and, from the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, a $40-million commitment over 10 years—the largest gift ever received by the U of A. Photo from Women and Children’s Research Institute

Why is WCHRI’s research important?

Who benefits from a donation like this?

Children and women continue to be under-represented in research.

The benefits go beyond treating the needs of women and children.

Healthier pregnancies mean healthier children, moms, families and communities. We often talk about the crucial first 2,000 days of life. This is the time that sets children up to become healthy adults. It has farreaching implications for population health and reducing the burden of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Until recently, research used adult male models as the standard of care.

But women are not smaller men. And children are not tiny adults.

Children react differently to medicines at different stages of their development. Some medicines that work for men can be ineffective or even detrimental for women’s health.

What do these gifts from the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation allow WCHRI to do?

These gifts allow WCHRI’s work to continue for at least another 10 years. We will continue to attract world-renowned researchers to the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and to the U of A and contribute to the development of Edmonton as a “Health City.”

Evidence shows when you embed research into health care, the patients have better health outcomes. Albertans can be proud that their donations are being put to use right here at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women and the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

- Salena Kitteringham Answers were curated and condensed from a series of interviews leading up to the gift announcement, as well as speeches and comments on June 22, 2016.

Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute The Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute (NMHI) at the University of Alberta has more than 137 faculty members, 31 post-doctoral fellows and research associates and another 227 trainee members, all working in collaboration to study a vast array of neurological and psychiatric disorders and diseases including: • •

• •

Alzheimer’s, dementia and prion disease Degenerative diseases of the nervous system such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Disorders of peripheral nerves (neuropathy)

• • • • • •

Brain development and pediatric neurology Memory, learning and learning disabilities Psychiatric disorders and addiction Sleep apnea and breathing disorders Stroke and rehabilitation Spinal cord and nerve injury

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“When you embed research into health care, the patients have better health outcomes.”

WCHRI director Sandra Davidge anwers three questions about how gifts transform many lives

Looking to solve the puzzle of Alzheimer’s

Jack Jhamandas

U of A scientist seeks to neutralize rogue protein believed to be a key player in the development of Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s disease affects roughly 500,000 Canadians, a number expected to grow with each passing year. It is a heart-wrenching disease that robs people of their memory and personality. There is no cure, let alone treatment to stop the progression of the disease, but research at the U of A is spearheading the discovery of potential therapies.

In a study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Intervention, Jack Jhamandas, professor of neurology and NMHI member, and his team examine using a compound called AC253 to inhibit a rogue protein called amyloid. The protein is found in large numbers in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

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The team tested AC253 on mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s by David Westaway, a collaborating NMHI member and professor in the Department of Medicine. Beginning at three months of age, before the onset of Alzheimer’s, the mice were treated with a continuous infusion of AC253 for five months.

“We found at eight months, when these mice typically have a lot of amyloid in the brain and have a lot of difficulty in memory and learning tasks, that they actually improved their memory and learning,” said Jhamandas, noting there was a lower amount of amyloid in the brains of mice treated with the AC253 compound and that they exhibited reduced inflammation of the brain.

More work is needed before the research can move into human trials, but the findings offer both hope and a new way forward to unlock the Alzheimer’s enigma.

“We can’t build nursing homes and care facilities fast enough because of an aging population. That tsunami, that silver tsunami, is coming if it is not already here,” said Jhamandas. “If you can keep someone home instead of institutionalized, even for a year, what does that mean to them? It means the world to them and their families.”

-Ross Neitz Photo by Melissa Fabrizio

Jack Jhamandas and his team are supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Alberta Innovates, the Alberta Prion Research Institute, the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories and the University Hospital Foundation.

“It means the world to them and their families.”

Large-scale research institutes driving innovation

Alberta Diabetes Institute According to Diabetes Canada, 3.4 million Canadians are living with diabetes. The Alberta Diabetes Institute at the University of Alberta is tackling the disease from every possible angle, with 65 members spearheading multiple projects and programs.

Here are six ways the Alberta Diabetes Institute is making a difference: On November 14, 2017— World Diabetes Day—the Alberta Diabetes Institute celebrates 10 years at the Li Ka Shing Institute for Health Research Innovation.

1. Islet cell biology and physiology: Tracking brain signals Jessica Yue investigates how brain signals regulate fat metabolism and prevent cardiovascular disease—a risk factor for obesity and diabetes.

2. Risk and prevention: Finding the guts to stop diabetes Jens Walter explores gastrointestinal microbiota among different populations of the world and how a “westernized” diet may impact the development of diabetes from the gut.

3. Secondary diseases: Eliminating side risks Alberta Diabetes Institute director Peter Light; Scot Simpson; Peter Senior; and Dean Eurich dig into safety studies on the cardiovascular effects of Sulfonylurea (SU) drugs, some of the first and most popular treatments for Type 2 diabetes.

4. Immunology and cell therapies: Uplifting islet transplant success Greg Korbutt examines the possibility of using transplanted porcine islets— instead of human islets, which are in limited supply—for cell replacement therapy on Type 1 diabetes patients.

5. Population health: Delivering the best patient care for specific needs Jeff Johnson reviews the changes in health at the economic, clinical and humanistic levels to improve the overall quality of life for people with diabetes.

6. Up and coming research: Ensuring health in body and mind Harley Kurata studies how genetic mutations can lead to an early development of diabetes, and works on ways to improve cognitive health in diabetic patients.

- Laura Vega

The Alberta Diabetes Foundation isn’t afraid to take risks.

Starting 29 years ago with funding clinical trials in islet cell transplantation—which led to the Edmonton Protocol— today, the Alberta Diabetes Foundation funds “first to bench”, innovations that might otherwise not see the light of day. The Alberta Diabetes Foundation supports critical infrastructure, pilot initiatives, world-class scientific scholar recruitment and graduate studentships to make the Alberta Diabetes Institute a world-renowned centre of diabetes research excellence. momentum 18

Technology uplifting quality of life Momentum drivers

Lori West Pediatric cardiologist. Transplant trailblazer. Visionary leader.

Lori West transformed pediatric heart transplants with the discovery that transplanting hearts from donors with mismatched blood groups, which is currently impossible in adults, is safe during early childhood. This scientific breakthrough significantly increased the organ donor pool and dramatically decreased waitlist mortality. The practice is now routine at pediatric transplant centres worldwide.

West is now tackling transplant rejection and the negative sideeffects of immunosuppressive drugs.

Her team discovered that the thymus, an organ that is routinely discarded during pediatric cardiac surgeries, is a rich source of stable and long-lived therapeutic regulatory T cells (Tregs).

“You get more Tregs from one single thymus than you could get in the entire circulating blood volume of an adult,” said West. “This is not a rare resource. This is a tissue that is currently thrown away. You could estimate easily that there are tens of thousands of thymuses discarded worldwide every year.”

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The Treg cells could be used to suppress the rejection of transplanted organs, minimizing the use of antirejection drugs.

In August 2016, West received the 2016 Woman Leader in Transplantation Award at the 26th International Congress of the Transplantation Society in Hong Kong. West was peer-elected for her outstanding achievements with the induction as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada in November 2017, honouring her remarkable contributions in the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life.

Director, Alberta Transplant Institute Director, Canadian National Transplant Research Project Member of the Alberta Diabetes Institute Member of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute Professor, Department of Pediatrics and adjunct professor in Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology and Department of Surgery

Gregory Korbutt Edmonton Protocol innovator. Leading scientist. Stem cell therapy pioneer.

A member of the original Edmonton Protocol team that developed islet cell transplant in 2000 as a treatment for Type 1 diabetes, Gregory Korbutt continues to drive towards making freedom from daily insulin injections a reality for diabetics.

Korbutt and his team are developing a safe source of islets from neonatal pigs for clinical use, creating a “scaffold” as a more hospitable environment for transplanted islet cells to survive longer. They are also experimenting with mesenchymal stem cells in conjunction with islet cell transplant in mice.

“When we transplant an organ or islet cells into a person, their immune system wants to reject that because it’s foreign—it fights it like a cold virus,” said Korbutt. “Patients are put on immunosuppressant medications, but we know these drugs can have side-effects for some patients. Cell therapies could prevent that.”

The University of Alberta is poised to deliver stem cell treatments to patients thanks to the Alberta Cell Therapy Manufacturing facility—the only facility in Western Canada that can produce therapeutic-grade cells that can be used in patients.

Scientific Director of the Alberta Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility Professor, Department of Surgery

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“I think we’re fortunate here at the U of A in that we have basic scientists like myself who are doing the research in the lab, and then because we have close colleagues that are surgeon-scientists, it helps us bring our discoveries into the patient,” said Korbutt. “We’ve got a good transition of research into the clinic, which I think is quite unique. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve been so successful.”

Member of the Alberta Diabetes Institute Member of the Alberta Transplant Institute

Technology uplifting quality of life

One of the world’s most influential organ transplant experts. Disruptive inventor. Precision medicine pioneer.

As a medical student more than 30 years ago, watching up to 55 per cent of transplant patients experience organ rejection and many lose their lives, Philip Halloran was fuelled by the desire to make a difference. Since then his work has defined our modern understanding of organ rejection, cutting the rejection rate to less than 10 per cent and reducing mortality.

Philip Halloran Founder, Alberta Transplant Applied Genomics Centre Muttart Research Chair in Clinical Immunology Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology Adjunct professor, Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology

Improving survival rates with new drugs

Understanding and preventing organ transplant failure his life’s work

To help offset the negative side-effects of anti-rejection drugs post-transplant, Halloran led the development of new anti-rejection companion drugs, such as mycophenolate mofetil (Cellcept™).

The combination of Cellcept with other drugs formed the basis of the drug protocol most widely used today when treating transplant patients and is estimated to add years to the survival of more than one million patients with organ transplants worldwide.

For many years, Halloran studied the ability of antibodies made by patients to damage the little blood vessels in transplanted organs. The MMDx system revealed the extent of this problem, showing that antibody-mediated rejection is the major mechanism causing graft loss post-transplant.

For this work, Halloran was honoured with the 2016 Prix Galien in Research, considered the Nobel Prize of pharmaceutical research in Canada.

Revolutionary biopsy-reading invention

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Halloran and his team developed the Molecular Microscopic® Diagnostic (MMDx) system, a tool that relies on precise gene expression (microarrays) rather than microscopes to enable more accurate diagnoses of why a transplanted organ is rejected, and safer collection of biopsies of those organs.

Centres from around the world now send their biopsies to Halloran’s lab in Edmonton, and his spinoff company Transcription Sciences Inc. announced an exclusive licensing agreement with One Lambda, a Thermo Fisher brand, in June 2017.

In December 2016, Halloran was recognized for his innovations in transplantation sciences with a Doctor Honoris Causa from Paris Descartes University.

Precision medicine beyond transplant Because the MMDx tool can be used to determine whether certain antirejection drugs are working, it is poised to support more personalized, effective treatment for transplant patients. It is also being considered by researchers in different fields of medicine, such as cancer and ulcerative colitis, to predict which patients will respond to different treatments.

“We are not just creating tests—we’re changing the concept of disease and seeing for the first time how molecular changes in disease predict and direct responses to different therapies,” said Halloran.

-Lesley Young and Salena Kitteringham

Helly Goez Assistant Dean, Diversity Director, Division of Pediatric Neurology Associate professor, Department of Pediatrics Member of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute

Pediatric neurologist and developmental pediatrician.

Socially conscious physician.

Leader by example.

Appointed as the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s first assistant dean, diversity, on January 1, 2017, Helly Goez’s mission is to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive faculty where differences are seen as strengths.

“We bring our stories and life experiences with us to the places that we live. In order to give students the flavour of life and what it really means to be a doctor, there is so much more than knowing how to do things from a hands-on procedural perspective,” said Goez, an expert on learning, early brain development and metabolism.

When she became the MD program’s four-year physicianship course co-ordinator in 2016, Goez seized the opportunity to integrate diverse perspectives on culture, gender and global health into traditionally science-based topics, making them more relevant and tangible to medical students.

These modules are unique to the U of A and materials will be shared with other medical schools.

“Students want to know everything about anatomy, medications and genes. But our patients aren’t a condition with a person, they’re a person with a medical condition, having their own unique needs and understanding, their own family and community, and this impacts their decisions regarding their health and often determines their medical journey,” said Goez.

Goez was recognized in March 2017 with a University of Alberta Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award.

-Kirsten Bauer momentum 22

When a course covers cardiac transplantation science, for example, organ transplant recipients and their

family members are invited to class to share their perspectives with students. Classes about the vitality of brain tissue integrate content on how ethnicity and religion can affect decisions involving organ donation.

Diabetes course content presents an opportunity to discuss social determinants of health and culturally competent care for Indigenous people.

Technology uplifting quality of life

Shirley Schipper Vice Dean, Education Associate professor, Department of Family Medicine

Family physician. Collaborative-work advocate. Groundbreaker in medical education.

Drawn to administration and teaching since medical school, Shirley Schipper, ’99 MD, set down roots within her alma mater to build partnerships and open up spaces for educators and learners as the future drivers of Canadian health care.

She combines her medical practice with extensive experience at Grey Nuns Family Medicine Centre, where she served as academic and medical director for more than 15 years.

During her tenure as director of the University of Alberta’s family medicine residency program, she spearheaded its transition towards competencybased medical education (CBME), innovating towards defined outcomes for highly skilled trainees.

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A recognized leader in medical education, teaching, learning strategies and faculty coaching, Schipper collaborates nationally with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and travels around the world to learn from others.

“We should keep open to the world, and also let everyone know our story—who we are—and keep our communities aware and proud of the U of A.” Drawing on her background in family medicine, Schipper is an active listener and strong relationship builder. Appointed as vice dean, education, commencing July 1, 2017, she envisions students at the centre of the faculty’s activities.

“Learners are the future leaders. They should always be at the table and take part in everything we do.”

-Laura Vega

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is home to exceptional people advancing health education, research and patient care. Here are a select few who have made an impact on their communities and across Canada this past year.

Samina Ali Department of Pediatrics

Paul Humphries Department of Family Medicine

A pediatric emergency physician, Ali is leading a national research project that will answer big questions about how to safely treat kids who arrive at the hospital in pain.

Humphries was Alberta’s Family Physician of the Year in 2016 and the recipient of the Ian McWhinney Family Medicine Education Award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Glen Jickling ’03 MHM Department of Medicine

Shokrollah Elahi ’15 MEN School of Dentistry

The recipient of the Derek DennyBrown Young Neurological Scholar Award, Jickling studies stroke and how the immune system responds to acute brain injury.

A recent recipient of $1.1 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Elahi and his team are researching how T killer cells become dysfunctional in HIV, HCV and cancer.

A recipient of a $2-million grant from Brain Canada in 2017, Zwaigenbaum is leading an international study to improve early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and establish effective interventions that can be implemented in infancy.

Sangita Sharma Department of Medicine

Sherri Kessels School of Dentistry

As the Endowed Chair in Indigenous Health at the U of A, Sharma works with Indigenous communities to document risk factors for chronic diseases, remove barriers and improve access to health care.

Affectionately known as “Dent Mom” by students, Kessels is supervisor for academic teaching services in the School of Dentistry and recipient of the U of A’s Excellence in Learning Support Award (2016).

Hakique Virani Department of Medicine

Thomas Simmen Department of Cell Biology

Maria Febbraio School of Dentistry

One of Canada’s leading opioid experts, Virani is a vocal advocate for evidence-based, humanistic drug policy.

Simmen and colleagues recently discovered a cellular mechanism— an underlying defect in brain cells—that may be responsible for multiple sclerosis.

Febbraio’s research aims to uncover the link between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease.

Xing-Fang Li Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology The recipient of the Chemical Institute of Canada’s 2017 Environment Division Research and Development Dima Award, Li was recognized for her outstanding work in the areas of water toxicity and the detection of microbial infections and other contaminants.

Dina Kao ’94 BSc, ’99 MD, ’08 MSc Department of Medicine One of just a few clinicians across Canada performing fecal transplants to remedy the effects of a compromised microbiome.

Lonnie Zwaigenbaum Department of Pediatrics

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Mobilizing education to inspire beyond the classroom

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s bachelor of science in radiation therapy program began accepting learners in September 2014.

The first U of A class of radiation therapists graduated in June 2017.

Pictured (from left): Sarah Sun, Ariel Letcher, and Miranada Bowler.

Unleashing the next generation of cancer care Cutting-edge radiation therapy training suite officially opened February 2017 at the Cross Cancer Institute A state-of-the-art training suite is elevating the education of Alberta’s next generation of radiation therapists. The training suite—operated by the University of Alberta and located in the Cross Cancer Institute—prepares students through hands-on training with a functioning linear accelerator, the same equipment used in radiation therapy treatment for cancer patients.

The facility was created in 2016 with the support of the Ministry of Advanced Education, which contributed more than $7 million to establish the bachelor of science in radiation therapy program in the Department of Oncology at the U of A.

Moving the practice forward to improve health outcomes for Albertans “We know that as Alberta’s population ages and grows, we will need more qualified radiation therapists as part of our province’s cancer-care workforce,” said Marlin Schmidt, Alberta’s minister of advanced education. “This new training suite is revolutionizing the way U of A students are learning, so they can develop the competencies and clinical know-how needed to provide the best outcomes for patients and families.”

Applying clinical reasoning to learning scenarios The training suite’s linear accelerator delivers advanced educational opportunities.

While its imaging capabilities are intact, the equipment’s treatment capacity photon beam (used for therapeutic treatment) has been deactivated, making the suite fully safe for students and staff. The facility also offers its users the built-in ability to record training sessions for both testing and teaching purposes.

“The students absolutely love it,” said Susan Fawcett, director of the radiation therapy program. “It’s where everything comes together and where their ‘aha’ moments begin to happen. This is where the rubber meets the road. The students take everything they have learned in their theoretical courses and put it all together in the simulated environment.”

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-Ross Neitz

“This new training suite is revolutionizing the way U of A students are learning...”

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Mobilizing education to inspire beyond the classroom

Leading the way to more inclusive health care Student advocacy committee wins Community Leader Award for improving how health professionals connect with LGBTQ patients

Mayor Don Iveson, far left, and U of A President David Turpin, far right, with the 2016 Community Award winners

Most of us wouldn’t hesitate to see a doctor for a checkup. But if you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, it can be a less-than-comfortable experience. Inspired to change that, a group of University of Alberta medical students is working to improve how health-care professionals connect with their LGBTQ patients.

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Initially formed to support Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry students struggling with sexual orientation or gender issues, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advocacy Committee (SGA) addresses health-care curricula gaps that pose barriers for the LGBQT community, aiming to foster betterinformed health-care professionals.

The group also hosts an annual Inclusive Health Conference with a mix of health-care professionals; students from medicine, nursing and other disciplines such as psychology; and both gay and straight community members.

For its commitment to raising awareness among health professionals about the LGBTQ community, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Advocacy Committee received the 2016 Community Leader Award as part of the U of A Community Connections Awards.

-Bev Betkowski Photo by Richard Siemens

Tracey Hillier, associate dean of medical education, was recognized with an Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity award (2017) for introducing inclusive medical curriculum changes. These include a patient-immersion experience during the four-year physicianship course; a community-service component in which students provide vital services to inner city organizations in Edmonton; and a revised admissions process to reduce barriers that may typically make it more difficult for students from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds to enter medical school.

Tracey Hillier

Photo by Melissa Fabrizio

Cultural immersion provides valuable lessons for family medicine residents

Chief Tony Alexis (centre) and Alika Lafontaine (left of centre) with community members and family medicine residents

In September 2016, first- and secondyear family medicine residents left their regular work and study environments within hospitals and clinics to spend a day at Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation. The young physicians were there to learn from the members themselves about the culture, health issues and barriers to health care faced by Indigenous communities. It was an opportunity for the trainees to be welcomed into a community, meet its members and be immersed in its culture.

Cara Bablitz, ’07 BSc, ’11 MD, was inspired to organize this event after working with the Indigenous Health Program to deliver primary care at the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation. Her father, a Métis physician, has been a source of inspiration for her work to reduce health inequities.

“I feel it is important to educate students on health disparities among Indigenous people, who have alarmingly high rates of conditions such as depression, suicide, arthritis, obesity and diabetes,” said Bablitz. “It was a great first step partnering with the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, a band invested in improving health outcomes, who enthusiastically worked with us to plan and host this event.”

Throughout the day, residents heard from elders, community health-care workers, Indigenous physicians and community members. Outside of the formal presentations, they had time to connect with the community, including eating a traditional lunch prepared by its members.

Moving forward One of the speakers was Alika Lafontaine, a U of A clinical lecturer and anesthesiologist based in Grande Prairie. He serves as a board member for First Nations University of Canada and as a collaborative team leader for the Indigenous Health Alliance. He sees the event as a positive step towards improving inclusivity in health care, but emphasizes it’s only the beginning of what medical schools need to be doing.

“For patients dealing with ongoing chronic diseases and emergency situations, to come into a care situation and feel hostility, stereotyping and discrimination, that’s not good enough,” he said. “The things we train our students in are a reflection of what we think is important. The impact that our medical schools can have in Indigenous communities in Alberta can be enormous.”

-Shelby Soke

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“The impact that our medical schools can have in Indigenous communities in Alberta can be enormous.”

Working together with Indigenous health champions

Building a diverse community of exceptional learners

Today’s health science students are the leaders of tomorrow Julianna Deutscher MD class of 2018

Recipient of the 2016 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award for her social justice work in global health “Understanding where my patients come from and being compassionate about the struggles they face will make me a better physician. My ultimate goal is to work in a practice that advocates for vulnerable populations.”

Kaitlyn Pretty

Dental hygiene class of 2017 Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA) student representative for the University of Alberta. An engaged student leader, active in promoting National Dental Hygienists Week in April “My favourite memories are being in the clinic with 40 of my best friends. And as soon as you are seating your patient, you are immersed into an incredible, handson experience.”

Ursal Williams

Medical laboratory science class of 2017 Hailing from the Tsilhqot’in First Nation. Aims to restore her family’s fading cultural ties with postsecondary education “I know a lot of high school students have dreams and I think it’s important that they follow through. If you keep going, you can do whatever you want.”

Chad Freeman

Radiation therapy class of 2017

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One of the “founding five” U of A students to trail blaze the new radiation therapy program “Cancer care is challenging but also very rewarding. A career in radiation therapy allows you to learn so much about yourself and what compassionate care means through daily interactions with our patients.”

Leonard Ngunga

Cardiologist, faculty member of the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya

Julianna Deutscher

One of the many physicians and nurses receiving training at the U of A as part of an extended partnership with Kenya’s Aga Khan University Hospital “When I first came, the cardiology faculty [back home] was only two people.

Now we have at least five faculty in the department and a cardiac unit. It’s the only one in the region,” said Ngunga, who will help direct Kenya’s first cardiology fellowship training.

Navi Bharj

Dental class of 2019

Kaitlyn Pretty

Ursal Williams & family

Co-founder of the Alberta chapter of Oral Health, Total Health, a national non-profit agency hosting Sharing Smiles Day events to advocate, educate and improve the oral health care of persons with developmental disabilities

Chad Freeman

“It really made it all worthwhile when Hannah, a young eight-year-old child, gave me a hug at the end of Sharing Smiles Day, thanking us for organizing the event. We are privileged to be in a field where we can make a difference in the community, both in and out of the dental office.”

Leonard Ngunga

Zhu-Lin

Chinese surgeon, U of A Young Physician Training Program participant, 2017 Learned how to perform sentinel lymph node biopsy for early-stage breast cancer

Navi Bharj

“I want to tell my colleagues it’s an extraordinary experience and if they get the chance, they have to come here. It will open their eyes and enrich their lives.”

Photos by Melissa Fabrizio

Zhu-Lin

Top doctoral candidates demonstrating academic excellence, research potential and leadership

Michael Laffin

Department of Surgery/ Centre of Excellence for Gastrointestinal Inflammation and Immunity Research Project: Genetics, microbiology and immunology of post-operative Crohn’s disease Supervisors: Karen Madsen, Bryan Dicken, Eytan Wine and Richard Fedorak “My project is great because it really is translational. I can see what happens on the clinical side, bring that experience back to the lab and bridge these areas together.”

Megan Beggs

Department of Physiology Project: Molecular mechanisms mediating a positive calcium balance during development Supervisor: R. Todd Alexander, Canada Research Chair in Renal Epithelial Transport Physiology “The U of A community is so collaborative and supportive, willing to make suggestions and make it a more farreaching project. This isn’t just a win for me—it reflects on my supervisor and the university as a whole.”

Elisabeth Richardson

Christen Klinger

Project: Eukaryotic microbial diversity and ciliate membrane trafficking adaptations in a tailings pond undergoing reclamation in northern Alberta, Canada

Project: Bioinformatic, transcriptomic and functional characterization of novel membrane trafficking genes in apicomplexan parasites and elucidation of their potential role in host cell invasion

Department of Cell Biology

Supervisor: Joel Dacks, Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Cell Biology “We’re hoping that the work we’re doing will be informative for reclamation, and to help maintain the natural environment which impacts human health.”

Department of Cell Biology

Supervisor: Joel Dacks, Canada Research Chair in Evolutionary Cell Biology “The Vanier has allowed me to do more than just the first stage of the project—it has also enabled me to work internationally.”

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“The U of A community is so collaborative and supportive...”

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholars

School of Dentistry at 100

History at a glance 1917

Students begin their first dental courses

First classes in dental hygiene commence

1919

1962

First female student enrols in the program

First graduate studies courses begin

1921

First mobile dental clinic program hits the road

First health sciences building opens at the U of A

1923

Dentistry offers a complete degree program for the first time

1927

First dentistry class graduates

1930

Department of Dentistry becomes the School of Dentistry, with Harry E. Bulyea as its first director

1943

First female receives a DDS degree

1944

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1961

School of Dentistry becomes the Faculty of Dentistry, with W. Scott Hamilton appointed as its first dean

1974

1990

First fundraising appeal, called The Fund for Dentistry, launches to the private-sector dental community

1996

Dentistry and the Faculty of Medicine join to become the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. Dentistry continues to be known as the School of Dentistry

2001

First white-coat ceremony for DDS students

2012

First expanded dental clinic at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital

2017

First 100 years of dentistry

Tracing our Roots The U of A’s School of Dentistry was the first Canadian dental school west of Toronto—the only one for more than 1,000 kilometers in any direction back in 1917. The unlikely story of the school is vividly brought to life by award-winning journalist Taylor Lambert in Roots: Extracted tales from a century of dentistry at the University of Alberta. The book is available in trade paperback in September 2017, with all proceeds going to the Dentistry for Life fund.

School of Dentistry curriculum renewal The School of Dentistry is moving forward fast. As of fall 2017, the dental hygiene program will officially be a degree-only program rather than a diploma program. The School of Dentistry is also in the process of a four-year curriculum renewal project for the doctor of dental surgery degree program.

Dentistry and dental hygiene curricula will be integrated, with students learning together in many classrooms, clinical situations and varied community settings to optimize experiences and improve access to care.

“The school intends to create a model that allows the greatest degree of flexibility and freedom to place resources where future generations of oral health care professionals, researchers and educators will best serve the needs of the community,”

said Paul Major, chair of the School of Dentistry. “The future success of dental schools depends on moving beyond training competent dentists and dental hygienists to being more socially responsive to the communities we serve.”

Sharing Smiles More than 60 students from the dentistry and dental hygiene programs volunteered to host in April 2017 the U of A’s first Sharing Smiles Day—an informative event filled with games, face painting and oral-hygiene demonstrations for 65 individuals with developmental disabilities and their caregivers.

Dentistry for All At their annual charity ball in February 2017, the Dental Students’ Association broke their past fundraising records, raising $74,000 in support of Dentistry for All. The 2018 charity ball will support Kindness in Action.

Both Dentistry for All and Kindness in Action are initiatives spearheaded by DDS alumni.

William Lobb ’77 DDS School of Dentistry’s 2017 alumnus of the year The professor and dean of the School of Dentistry at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was honoured for his dedication to the dental profession and academia.

-Cheryl Deslaurier and Tarwinder Rai Photo by Andrew Hoang

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“The school intends to create a model that allows the greatest degree of flexibility and freedom...”

U of A’s first Sharing Smiles Day

Technology uplifting quality of life health issues of our time Investigating the most critical

Seed support critical to secure long-term Zika research funding In July 2016, Tom Hobman’s team was awarded more than a million dollars over a five-year period from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to screen for antiviral compounds, and to develop research tools and diagnostics tests for Zika. In March 2017, CIHR contributed an additional $500,000 over three years for the lab to investigate how the virus changes host cells during infection, with the goal of developing antiviral therapies that can be used against the pathogen.

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Hobman says his team’s success in attracting major research funding from CIHR stems from the early support of the U of A’s Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology and the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI). The support from WCHRI was funded through the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and supporters of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women.

“The seed funding was critical,” said Hobman. “It allowed us to start doing experiments right away. Generating a lot of preliminary data allowed us to secure long-term funding.”

Hobman is a member of both the Li Ka Shing Virology Institute and the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute.

Zeroing in on the Zika virus Tom Hobman’s research team at the forefront of international effort to better understand and diagnose the mosquito-borne virus For the past 18 months, Tom Hobman and his team have devoted much of their waking hours to a headlong pursuit of knowledge about the Zika virus. Hobman, professor of cell biology, is one of hundreds of researchers across the globe racing to stop the rapid spread of the mosquito-borne virus that entered the international spotlight in late 2015.

The Zika virus is a member of the flavivirus family—a group of viruses that also includes the West Nile and dengue viruses. First isolated in monkeys in Uganda in 1947, older strains of the virus were not recognized to cause serious disease.

That changed in May 2015, when an outbreak of the virus in Brazil coincided with a 2,700-per-cent increase in reported cases of microcephaly, an often-fatal congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development in newborns.

Since the outbreak, Zika infections have spread at an unprecedented rate to every country in the Americas except Canada and Chile.

There are currently no antivirals or vaccines available to protect against Zika.

Leading the fight with international collaboration Hobman’s lab is among a select group of Canadian research teams that have received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study the Zika virus. The University of Alberta team is collaborating closely with a group from the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that has access to thousands of clinical samples.

“We are going to do what we’re good at—cellular imaging and protein interactions—and they are going to do what they are good at—studying viral genomics,” said Hobman. “The idea is to synergize our efforts and to accomplish more than we could individually.”

Hunting down a persistent culprit Hobman is investigating one of the key characteristics of the Zika virus—its ability to persist in the body for months at a time. The trait sets it apart from other mosquito-borne viruses, which are typically cleared out by the immune system within a week or two. By understanding that process, he hopes to develop a way to block the virus’ persistence in the body.

Tom Hobman

Associate Dean, Research Facilities Professor, Department of Cell Biology and adjunct professor, Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology

“The pace of discovery is absolutely breathtaking. It’s just fantastic to see how quickly things move when there is funding available. It’s really remarkable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this.”

- Ross Neitz and Michael Brown

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Canada Research Chair in RNA Viruses and Host Interactions

While the work that is required to stop the Zika virus remains daunting, Hobman is encouraged by the enormous progress already being made by the world’s scientific community.

Sparking conversations about Canada’s health

Lorne Tyrrell and Michael Houghton with trainees in the lobby of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology

Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology Researchers at the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology are working to discover new methods to prevent, treat and cure virus-related disease and reduce the burden of viral disease around the world.

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The institute was created in 2010 through a $28-million gift from the Li Ka Shing (Canada) Foundation. At the time, Mr. Li’s gift was the largest gift in the University of Alberta’s history.

Hepatitis B is the most common disease in China, and it was alumnus and former dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Lorne Tyrrell, who personally sought out Mr. Li to pitch his idea of funding a world-class virology institute at the U of A.

Today, the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology is connected with global partners such as the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Helmholtz Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Applied Virology Institute, under the direction of Michael Houghton, seeks to bring the benefits of discovery research to patients worldwide.

Expert commentary: Canada needs hepatitis C blood screening, national strategy Lorne Tyrrell is a distinguished university professor and director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology at the U of A. He co-developed the world’s first oral antiviral treatment for hepatitis B.

Michael Houghton is a professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology at the U of A and led the team that discovered the hepatitis C virus.

Two leading authorities in viral hepatitis research argue more co-ordination is needed between provinces An estimated 250,000 Canadians today are carrying a hidden time bomb—the hepatitis C virus, or HCV, a disease spread largely through blood contact and intravenous drug use. HCV attacks the liver and greatly increases the risk of cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver transplants and even death.

Canada started screening our blood supply for the virus in 1990, but tens of thousands of Canadians were infected through blood transfusions prior to the screening. The rate is higher for those born between 1945 and 1975.

According to the Canadian Liver Foundation, 80 per cent of Canadians in this age bracket are unaware of their increased risk of infection, and only 25 per cent have been tested.

The United States was the first country in the world to recommend HCV blood screening specifically for baby boomers. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France, Germany and Australia have either screening programs or screening guidelines.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has yet to follow suit with screening recommendations for boomers.

Yet all the scientific advances in the world cannot make up for the absence of a concrete national strategy with a core emphasis on education, testing, prevention and timely and affordable access to treatment.

According to the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, unless we take action, we can expect 32,460 individuals infected with HCV will die from liver complications by 2035 and the total health-care costs associated with chronic HCV will rise by 60 per cent.

Here in Alberta, a recent analysis prepared for Alberta Health estimates that screening boomers and the general population represents “good value for money” in terms of quality-adjusted life years, a measure of disease burden. Screening and treating the entire HCV-infected population in this province would cost $253 million; screening and treating just boomers is estimated at $134 million and represents a reasonable place to start. These costs pale in comparison with what’s at stake.

- Michael Houghton and Lorne Tyrrell This op-ed was originally published in longer form on the University of Alberta news website July 28, 2016—World Hepatitis Day. It has been condensed for republication. momentum 36

The tragedy is that hepatitis C should stand among our greatest medical and scientific triumphs. Since it was discovered in 1989, research advances have led to antiviral treatments capable of curing more than 95 per cent of patients. Our own work continues at the U of A to develop the world’s first vaccine against

all seven major genotypes of the hepatitis C virus, with Phase 1 clinical trials expected to begin in 2018.

Sparking conversations about Canada’s health

James Shapiro

How to save a life

Vital Bonds

Surgeon James Shapiro featured in two documentaries detailing dramatic life-and-death decisions around organ donation The son of a family physician, James Shapiro remembers rummaging as a child through his dad’s office, immersed in a world of possibility.

“It was a bit frightening seeing all the instruments and needles and scalpels.

But I was completely obsessed with that and I knew I wanted to be a surgeon,” recalled Shapiro.

Today, the professor of surgery and liver transplant surgeon’s days at the University of Alberta Hospital herald both hope and heartbreak. It is a life filled with purpose, but there is also profound frustration—that for as many lives as he can save, there are far more he can’t.

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“We have a shortage of organ donors in Canada,”said Shapiro, a member of the Alberta Transplant Institute, Alberta Diabetes Institute and Canada Research Chair in Transplant Surgery and Regenerative Medicine. “Although we’ve done a lot of transplants, every year up until now about a quarter of the patients have died on our waiting lists before transplantation because there just haven’t been enough livers to go around.”

Shapiro is one of the surgeons featured in two documentaries, Vital Bonds and Memento Mori, which aim to re-energize the Canadian dialogue

about organ donations. Both films are co-productions by the National Film Board of Canada and ID: Productions, directed by Edmonton filmmaker and U of A alumnus Niobe Thompson and produced by Rosvita Dransfeld.

The documentaries give unprecedented access to the real-life stories of Canadian organ donors and recipients over a five-month period at the University of Alberta Hospital, one of the busiest transplant hospitals in Canada.

“There are heart-wrenching scenes; one scene with a mom saying goodbye to her son (after it became clear he would not live and a decision had been made to donate his organs).

He’s being rushed down to the operating room and you see the doors closing and her saying goodbye. You can’t help but get choked up by that.

That’s how desperate and brave that decision was to donate,” said Shapiro.

While making the decision to donate organs may be difficult, Shapiro has seen first-hand what a difference just one donor can make: A single donor can benefit more than 75 people and save up to eight lives.

For more information on how to register intent to be an organ and/or tissue donor, see myhealth.alberta.ca.

- Ross Neitz

Narrated by David Suzuki, Vital Bonds aired on CBC’s The Nature of Things in November 2016. Watch the full episode online in Canada at: cbc.ca/natureofthings

Memento Mori The feature-length documentary film was screened on the North American film festival circuit in the fall of 2016, winning five Alberta Media Production Industries Association (AMPIA) Awards and recognized as Best Feature Documentary at the prestigious Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif. See: nfb.ca/memento-mori Photos from ID: Productions

The Alberta Transplant Institute (ATI) The Alberta Transplant Institute brings together researchers, clinicians, educators and scholars, patient-partners and policymakers to improve transplantation and donation in Alberta; achieve global impact in cutting-edge research; and improve patient care, education and advocacy.

The ATI encompasses multiple transplant programs, such as kidney, liver, heart, lung and others, as well as the world’s largest islet transplant program. It fosters collaboration across faculties within the University of Alberta, with the University of Calgary, with Alberta Health Services and throughout the province.

The ATI is also home of the Canadian National Transplant Research Program (CNTRP), a network funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and partners, designed to increase organ and tissue donation in Canada and enhance the survival rate and quality of life of Canadians who receive transplants. momentum 38

“It fosters collaboration across facilities...”

University of Alberta Hospital

Technology uplifting quality of life Research rises from the ashes

A special grant lets researchers look at how Alberta wildfires are affecting firefighters’ physical and mental health

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In early May 2016, a large but relatively benign fire burning southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, suddenly turned into a blaze so fierce it quickly became known as “The Beast.”

Dozens of municipal fire crews and wild-land forces from around the province and beyond were sent to save the city.

As crews began to gain the upper hand and weary firefighters returned from the front lines, University of Alberta epidemiologist Nicola Cherry was there to meet them, to begin investigating the toll the exposure to heavy smoke and ash had taken on their respiratory systems.

Over the following weeks, Cherry’s team tested more than 350 firefighters across the province.

“If one force did something that worked particularly well, we can recommend it...”

Understanding how those who fought this enormous fire have been affected both physically and mentally is at the heart of a special two-year, $500,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Red Cross, Alberta Innovates and other partners.

“Of the people who went to the fire, we want to know if they have any particular clusters of ill health that we didn’t see in comparison groups,” says Cherry.

Cherry says her team is also focusing on the kinds of mental-health support systems that were in place in the more than 50 departments throughout Alberta that sent firefighters to Fort McMurray.

Her team’s search for best practices also includes finding factors that might have mitigated the negative health effects of the fire, such as the types of masks firefighters wore and for how long.

“If one force did something that worked particularly well, we can recommend it to everybody else,” she says.

- Michael Brown Photo by Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta

Wildfire-related projects receiving funding Pediatric resiliency Peter Silverstone, Department of Psychiatry Silverstone and his team are studying the effects of the wildfires and evacuation on the psychological and emotional health of children and adolescents aged five to 18 to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to positive mental health and resiliency.

Chemical contaminants in traditional foods from Fort McKay and Fort Chipewyan before and after the fires Chris Le, distinguished university professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Le and his team are measuring and comparing the level of chemical contaminants, before and after the wildfires, in traditional foods such as local game meat and locally harvested plants in the Mikisew Cree First Nation, Fort McKay First Nation and Métis communities.

Improvement of perinatal outcomes following the fires David Olson, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Olson and his team worked with a group of pregnant women who were evacuated due to the wildfires. The women were asked to engage in short bursts of expressive writing about their feelings about the fires to determine if this form of therapy reduces stress and improves their pregnancy outcomes and newborn development.

Health of Indigenous peoples and communities in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

The Fort McMurray wildfire from 2016 was officially declared extinguished on August 2, 2017

Montesanti and her team are partnering with the Nistawoyou Association Friendship Centre in Fort McMurray to examine how the health and well-being of the Indigenous residents of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo were impacted by the wildfires.

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Stephanie Montesanti, School of Public Health

Community connections

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s 2016 / 2017 Alumni Award Recipients

Lorne B. Warneke

’63 BSc(Hons Cert), ’67 MD 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award Champion of LGBTQ health, especially transgender rights.

Works to reduce stigma and barriers to treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illness

Donald C. Fletcher

Carlo Panaro

Developed team-based approach to low-vision rehabilitation.

Pioneer of inclusive LGBTQ policies in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Nationally recognized Golden Bear wrestler and football player. Grey Cup champion with Edmonton Eskimos (2003)

’80 BMedSc, ’82 MD, 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award

Norgrove Penny Lt.-Col. William Patton ’86 BMedSc, ’88 MD 2017 Alumni Honour Award

Compassionate emergency trauma surgeon. Mental-health advocate for military personnel.

Supporter of disenfranchised populations at home and abroad

’71 BSc(Med), ’73 MD, 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award Founded first Canadian sportsmedicine clinic. Developed rehabilitation program for children with polio and clubfoot in Uganda

’99 BSc, ’03 MD, 2016 Sports Wall of Fame Inductee

Andrea Johnson

’16 BMedSc, 2016 Lois Hole Student Spirit Award Co-founder of MSA dance club. Active in student life.

Preventive-health advocate

David D. Otto Nicole Cardinal Jeffrey Zorn

’08 BMedSc, ’09 MD, 2016 Sports Wall of Fame inductee

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Member of 2005 Golden Bears National Championship hockey team

’12 MD, 2017 Alumni Horizon Award

’86 BMedSc, ’88 MD, 2017 Sports Wall of Fame inductee For achievements in university sport as a student athlete

Rural physician in Saddle Lake, Alberta. Provides bilingual, culturally competent care in her Indigenous community

Know an outstanding U of A grad? Nominate them for a 2018 Alumni Award uab.ca/AlumniAwards Deadline: December 15, 2017

Great things happen when we get together Dean’s Lecture Series

University of Alberta alumnus Joseph B. Martin, ’62 MD, former dean of Harvard Medical School, was the inaugural guest speaker for the Dean’s Lecture Series launched in September 2016.

A special Dean’s Lecture Series event co-hosted with the Institute for Health Economics brought author and outspoken family physician Danielle Martin to the U of A campus in February 2017 to share insights from her new book, Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians.

History of Medicine The dean’s initiative in the history of medicine launched the first annual History of Medicine free public lecture in March 2017, featuring Susan L. Smith, U of A professor of history and classics and author of Toxic Exposures: Mustard Gas and the health consequences of World War II in the United States. Other guest speakers included U of A medical professor emerita Dawna Gilchrist and Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry historian Amy Samson.

The next History of Medicine annual lecture is set for March 14, 2018.

Festival of Health

Watch for upcoming 2017/18 Dean’s Lecture Series events at ualberta.ca/ medicine/events.

Science in the Cinema Free movies. Free popcorn. Freeflowing post-show conversations with a panel of medical experts.

Science in the Cinema is presented by a partnership between the U of A’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and the arts and humanities in health and medicine program.

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry’s first annual Festival of Health in June 2017 brought the public face to face with leading experts to learn about today’s critical health topics.

The second annual Festival of Health is set for May 26, 2018.

Look for 2017/2018 screenings of Science in the Cinema at Metro Cinema in the Garneau Theatre.

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In the news

A round-up of some of our most popular news stories We gathered some of the faculty’s most news-worthy accomplishments over the past year. Many of these stories were covered not just in Edmonton, but across the province and, in some cases, around the world. The following samples have been edited and paraphrased for length.

A kid’s best friend Need a reason to become a dog lover? How about their ability to protect kids from allergies and obesity? A new University of Alberta study led by Anita Kozyrskyj, pediatric epidemiologist and one of the world’s leading researchers on gut microbes, found that babies from families with pets—70 per cent of which were dogs—had higher levels of two types of microbes associated with lower risks of allergic disease and obesity.

—New York Post, April 2017 How much pee is in our swimming pools? New urine test reveals the truth

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It is an antisocial act that normally goes under the radar: People are peeing in the pool. And U of A researcher Xing-Fang Li, a professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, can tell us exactly how much. Li and her team report they can determine how much pee is in a pool by measuring the artificial sweeteners found in most people’s urine. By collecting samples of pool water from hotels and recreation centres in two Canadian cities and testing for a sweetener called acesulfame potassium, commonly found in many foods, Li and PhD student Lindsay Blackstock have determined that a 220,000-gallon commercial-size swimming pool contains almost 20 gallons of urine.

—The Guardian, March 2017

Holger Wille with team

University of Alberta researchers make breakthrough in understanding mad cow disease Researchers at the University of Alberta have unlocked a mystery in how mad cow disease spreads through an infected brain. Throughout a three-year study, U of A associate professor of biochemistry Holger Wille used electron cryomicroscopy—in which samples are examined under an electron microscope in cryogenically cold temperatures—to collect thousands of high-resolution images, or micrographs, of the infectious prion protein and study how it propagates.

Because of the way prion proteins are misfolded, they are impossible to study using standard structural biology techniques. But now, thanks to Wille’s groundbreaking use of cryomicroscopy, researchers have created a three-dimensional model of the structure of the infectious proteins that should offer new insights into how the infection spreads.

—Edmonton Journal, September 2016

Want a smarter baby? Eat more fruit during pregnancy What if we told you there was a magical food you could eat during pregnancy that could potentially increase your newborn baby’s level of intelligence?

Well, according to a recent study by researchers at the U of A, there’s one food group that just might do the trick—and that’s fruit. Piush Mandhane, associate professor of pediatrics, was senior author of the paper.

—Wall Street Journal, August 2016

Piush Mandhane

Prof counters claims flossing is pointless Sorry, you still have to floss.

That’s according to the head of periodontology at the U of A, who says a flurry of articles arguing there’s no benefit to the practice have got it wrong.

Dentistry professor and head of the division of periodontics Liran Levin says the takeaway from studies that say adding flossing to your routine isn’t much more effective than brushing alone isn’t that you shouldn’t floss— it’s that your technique probably needs work. The studies didn’t look at whether people were flossing effectively. According to Levin, flossing is a task most people flunk.

—Metro News Edmonton, August 2016

Michael Hawkes

Solar-powered oxygen concentrators save young lives at Ugandan hospital At the children’s hospital in Jinja, Uganda, power failures occur two or three times a week, sometimes for up to 12 hours at a time. And every time that happens, babies’ lives are endangered when their oxygen concentrators—which separate oxygen from ambient air— stop functioning. While conducting research at the hospital, pediatrician Michael Hawkes—associate professor at the U of A’s division of pediatric infectious diseases—devised a way to use solar power instead of the unreliable electric grid to run the oxygen concentrators, saving the lives of infants with respiratory illnesses.

—Globe and Mail, June 2016 How a new Canadian study helps dispel the myth of a vitamin D panacea A new Canadian study suggests that vitamin D might not be a powerhouse supplement capable of reducing the risk of multiple sclerosis, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic health problems after all. A U of A team led by Mike Allen of the Department of Family Medicine recently examined the evidence for 10 common beliefs about vitamin D pills, and found most research into its positive effects isn’t sufficient proof because the studies were too small, had inconsistent results or had other biases. momentum 44

—Globe and Mail, June 2016

Technology uplifting quality of life

For information about how to get involved with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry:

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Office of Advancement 2J2.00 WC Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre Edmonton, AB T6G 2R7 Kim Taylor, Assistant Dean, Advancement Phone: 780-492-4719 Email: kjt@ualberta.ca September 2017