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VOLUME 8 • NUMBER 1 Faculty SEPTEMBER • 2 0 0 5 of Medicine and DentistryNews Faculty has another Howard Hughes Scholar Page 3 Uncovering another risk for type 2 diabetes Page 4 A practitioner of problem-based learning reflects on his career Page 7 Gold Medal 2005 The Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA Leading pediatric Preserving pancreatic islets for cardiologists join team Capital Health and the University of clinical transplantation Alberta have recruited two of Canada’s top pediatric cardiologists for the Diabetes Research Wellness Foundation donates $200,000 US Stollery Children’s Hospital. Lori West to support islet preservation and isolation techniques and Jeff Smallhorn, from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, will move prominent American philan- associated with anoxia (severe their clinical and research activities to A thropic foundation has recently hypoxia) and cell death,” says Edmonton this month. awarded funding to a University Dr. Lakey. “Dr. West’s research and clinical prac- of Alberta professor to help solve He and his team will tice surrounding heart transplants in infants has revolutionized how these some of the problems associated use the support from the children are treated—not just here in with recovering and preserving Foundation to focus on three Canada but all around the world” says well-functioning islet cells used in areas: islet cell responses to Terry Klassen, regional clinical program the Edmonton Protocol. anoxia, hypoxia and hyperoxia director of Capital Health’s Child Health Program and chair of the University The Diabetes Research and with or without hypothermia; of Alberta’s Department of Pediatrics. Wellness Foundation, based in the role of antioxidants and “Dr. Smallhorn established the Fetal Washington, DC, recently awarded nutrients in islet cell death; and Cardiac Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, which is one of the larg- Jonathan Lakey (Department of the control of apoptosis signals Surgery professor Jonathan Lakey est fetal cardiac programs in North Surgery) $200,000 US, to back his and understanding the related America. With the arrival of these two work directed at blocking the death of islet during mechanisms during the preservation and islet isola- individuals comes expertise, as well as pancreas preservation and islet isolation. tion procedures. the latest and best treatment for chil- dren with cardiac problems.” “Since many of the islet cells lose their function “We think that supplying oxygen with antioxi- Dr. West has been the medical director during these procedures, it’s still difficult to recover dants will help prevent apoptosis in islets and pro- of the Heart Transplant Program at The consistently sufficient numbers of functional islets mote their function during the preservation and islet Hospital for Sick Children since 1993. from a single cadaveric donor pancreas to achieve isolation procedures, perhaps by preventing oxida- Her research team demonstrated that insulin independence after transplantation,” explains tive stress,” Dr. Lakey suggests. The team will first it was safe to use organ donors of mis- matched blood group in infants. This Dr. Lakey. begin with animal models and then human islets, to clinical heart transplant protocol has Researchers know that a lack of oxygen (hypox- determine whether the effects are similar. now been adopted in 16 centres in five ia) during the islet isolation process triggers cell The Diabetes Research and Wellness countries worldwide, and has dramati- cally decreased the deaths of infants on death, and that even after the cells survive the pres- Foundation™ was founded to help and find the cure the waitlist while minimizing wastage of ervation and isolation techniques, eventually they die for diabetes and, until that goal is achieved, to pro- rare donor organs. after transplantation by ischemia-reperfusion injury. vide the care needed to combat the detrimental and Dr. Smallhorn was one of the first pedi- “We don’t yet fully understand the series of events life-threatening complications of the disease. atric cardiologists to use echocardio- graphic technology in the diagnosis of heart diseases. During his time at the Sick Kids, Dr. Smallhorn established Steven Aung Member of the Order of Canada and built the Fetal Cardiac Program into one of the finest cardiac diagnostic A well-known practitioner of traditional Departments of Medicine and Family Medicine centres for children in the world. Chinese medicine and clinical professor at and adjunct professor of Extension. Dr. Aung The Stollery Children’s Hospital is currently the prairie province referral the University of Alberta has been named founded the Certificate Program in Medical centre for complex pediatric cardiac a Member of the Order of Canada. Steven Acupuncture at the University in 1991, and surgery, including open heart and trans- Aung was among 82 new appointments made he is the program’s chief instructor, exam- plant procedures. It is also the home of late last month. iner and curriculum consultant. the Western Canadian Children’s Heart Network. Her Excellency the Right Honourable He is also a medical acupuncture consul- Deb Gordon, chief operating offi- Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, tant for the University of Alberta Hospitals, the cer, Stollery Children’s Hospital and made the appointments effective as of June 29, 2005. Cross Cancer Institute and the Caritas Health Group University of Alberta Hospital, says: Recipients will be invited to accept their insignia at a (Edmonton General Site, Misericordia Community “The addition of these two world class ceremony to be held at a later date. Health Centre, Grey Nuns Community Health physicians will mean that we are able to build on Capital Health’s reputation Dr. Aung is a geriatric and family physician and a Centre) as well as the Glen Sather University of as one of the leading centres for com- traditional Chinese medical practitioner and teacher. Alberta Sports Medicine Centre and the Edmonton plex cardiac care for children in North He blends Eastern, Western and natural medicine Oilers Hockey Team. He is an active member of the America and enhance research being done in the area of pediatric cardiac in his medical clinic in Edmonton. At the U of A, Acupuncture Committee, Province of Alberta. sciences.” Dr. Aung is an associate clinical professor in the Faculty News 9.