The Hottest Story Around Meet the Mcgillians Who Are Breaking the News About One of the Most Turbulent

ALUMNI MAGAZINE WINTER 2018-19

THE HOTTEST STORY AROUND MEET THE MCGILLIANS WHO ARE BREAKING THE NEWS ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST TURBULENT

PERIODS IN U.S. HISTORY

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CONTENTS

3 EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK 4 PRINCIPAL’S PERSPECTIVE 5 NEWSBITES 9 DISCOVERY 40 REVIEWS 42 ALUMNI ACTIVITIES 47 ALUMNOTES 65 IN MEMORIAM 68 MCGILL MOMENT

14 14 CONFRONTING A KILLER No infectious disease takes as many lives as turberculosis and the victims it targets tend to be the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. As global organizations pledge new resources in the war against TB, some of the most important research being done in the world on the disease 20 is taking place at the McGill International TB Centre. By Patrick McDonagh

20 NOTHING FAKE ABOUT IT The relationship between the Washington press corps and a U.S. president’s administration can often be fractious— but we’ve never seen anything like this before. Meet the McGillians who are pursuing some of the hottest stories in DC right now—many of them related to a president who regards them as the enemy. By John Allemang

26 WHY WAIT FOR GRAD SCHOOL? Thanks to an array of opportunities at the undergraduate 26 33 level, a growing number of McGill students are getting the chance to experience the joys (and frustrations) of working on major research projects before finishing their bachelor’s degrees. By Maeve Haldane

33 CENT ANS D’AVANCE SUR SON TEMPS Brenda Milner, nouvelle centenaire et pionnière de la neuropsychologie—dont l’influence se fait encore bien sentir aujourd’hui—entend continuer à transmettre son savoir à la nouvelle génération. Par Julie Barlow (B. A. 1991)

M C GILL NEWS / 1 / WINTER 2018-19

McG News EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

WINTER 2018-19 Volume 99 / No 2

WHO CAN YOU EGAN OWEN EDITOR Daniel McCabe, BA’89 BELIEVE? SENIOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER Brenda Branswell hat is the most essential role played by universities? They MANAGING DIRECTOR, are, of course, complex institutions and they do all sorts of COMMUNICATIONS AND things, many of them essential to the healthy functioning DONOR RELATIONS Derek Cassoff of the places in which they are rooted. If I had to pick one, though, I would argue for the restless VICE-PRINCIPAL pursuit of the truth—or at least of the best understanding of (UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT) Marc Weinstein, BA’85, BCL’91, LLB’91 Wwhat appears to be true given the evidence available. The pursuit is restless because the work is never done. An academic community is forever reexamining what we EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS know to be the facts—carefully reassessing them based on the latest evidence, and Jasreet Kaur, BCom’16 Becca Hoff, BA’17 challenging them when they seem flawed. We know more about the causes and consequences of climate change today than DESIGN we did 25 years ago. We have a better understanding of how to treat many forms of Steven McClenaghan cancer. We have a firmer grasp of the forces behind pivotal historical events. Thanks, Graphic Design, Communications and External Relations in large part, to the work of university-based scholars and scientists, what we know about facts changes over time. MCGILL NEWS Another institution that—in its best incarnations—focuses on pursuing the truth 1430 Peel Street Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 3T3 is the media. Sure, even the most respected news organizations occasionally fumble Tel.: 514-398-5000 the ball (sometimes disastrously so), but an inquisitive and independent media serves Fax: 514-398-5293 a vital purpose, uncovering uncomfortable truths. Two McGill graduates—Devlin Email: [email protected] Barrett, BA’95, and Matthew Rosenberg, BA’96, were among the most recent winners Web: mcgillnews.mcgill.ca Twitter: @McGillNewsMag of the Pulitzer Prize. They were both part of investigative efforts that helped reveal details about Russian interference in the last U.S. presidential election. That interfer- McGill News is published by ence might have helped Donald Trump win. You can read about the work being done McGill University by Barrett, Rosenberg and other McGillians active in the Washington press corps in Circulation: 45,000 copies Printed in Canada ISSN 0709 9223 our feature, “Nothing Fake About It.” President Trump likely wouldn’t be a fan of that headline. He is often quick to Canadian Publications Mail Product assail journalists for the “fake news” they supposedly produce, usually offering little Sales Agreement No. 40613661 evidence to support those assertions. Cover photo: NPR political 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl once asked Trump about these continued reporter Tim Mak, BA’09, and attacks. According to Stahl, Trump’s response pointed to a deliberate strategy on his Wall Street Journal justice part: “I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative reporter Byron Tau, BA’08 stories about me no one will believe you.” (photo by Ron Aira) In his recent book Trust, former McGill principal (and former governor general) David Johnston, LLD’00, describes trust as “the bedrock of democracy,” but warns that it “is not thriving in democracies today” in part because of the efforts of those who spread “half-truths and untruths, preying on a population’s inability to distinguish between fact and fiction.” Determining what is true is one of the most pressing challenges of our times. Daniel Levitin, an emeritus professor of psychology at McGill, recognized this when he recently published his book, Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era. “There are not two sides to a story when one side is a lie,” Levitin writes. Be choosy about who you listen to, he advises. He suggests paying attention to credible authorities with established expertise who focus on evidence-based arguments (like university professors) and media organizations with a proven track record for accurate reporting.

Daniel McCabe, BA’89

M C GILL NEWS / 3 / WINTER 2018-19 THE PRINCIPAL’S PERSPECTIVE

N A G PILLARS FOR E N E W THE FUTURE O PRINCIPAL SUZANNE FORTIER, BSC’72, PHD’76, RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH THE MCGILL NEWS TO SHARE HER VISION FOR THE UNIVERSITY AS IT APPROACHES ITS THIRD CENTURY. THE VISION RESTS ON FOUR PILLARS AND IS BASED ON MCGILL’S ACADEMIC PRIORITIES AND STRENGTHS. “THIS IS A VISION THAT HAS BEEN BUILT WITH OUR COMMUNITY,” FORTIER SAID, AS SHE EXPLAINED WHAT EACH PILLAR MEANS FOR MCGILL.

The first pillar relates to opportunities that open doors. The third pillar is innovation that drives progress. As we look to our third century, a pillar of our University will be Innovation does not simply apply to what we do, but also to the to maintain and reinforce our ability to welcome students way we do it—it needs to be an integral part of everything we strive with talent and ambition, regardless of their socio-economic for at the University. McGill aims to support the full spectrum of background. innovation, from inspiring bold thinking, to training our students Something Governor General Julie Payette said recently to bring their ideas to the world. captures this well. She said, “McGill accepted me as a student A stellar example is the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute and, in part, because of that break, I have been able to do the where everything about The Neuro’s research programs is being things I have done in my life.” She started from modest means, shared worldwide. This no-barrier approach allows for research but with many dreams nurtured by her family. Her time at McGill data and materials to move freely between research teams with helped set her on a path towards realizing her goals. one clear goal: accelerating progress to benefit patients. One of the most inspiring parts of my role here at McGill is It is also inspiring to see that so many of our students have that I have had the opportunity to meet so many people who entrepreneurial ambitions. The McGill Dobson Centre for have similar stories. I think of Arisha Khan, our newest Rhodes Entrepreneurship plays such a vital role in equipping students Scholar, who talks about how unlikely it was for her to even with the tools they need for those ambitions to materialize. Our make it to university, let alone receive such a high distinction students receive support from industry partners, but also from (see story on page 8). Other great examples are our MasterCard those I call “intellectual angels”—those who dedicate their time Foundation Scholars who, like Arisha, are determined to use and expertise to mentor our young entrepreneurs. their talents to make a positive impact on the world. With bold new ideas and students who embrace challenge, By keeping our doors open to students who are prepared McGill is committed to strengthening the culture, tools and to work hard and drive change, we have created a University partnerships needed to turn those ideas into initiatives with that reflects the world’s diversity. This is a great foundation lasting impact. to build on. Finally, the last pillar is education that shapes The second pillar is research that changes lives. future-ready students. I share the view of McGill alumnus and Harvard professor In a world where change is the only constant, we need to ensure Steven Pinker, expressed in a recent TED Talk: “There’s no that students are ready for the future. It is not enough to prepare limit to the betterments we can attain if we continue to apply them for the world we know, rather, we need to prepare them for knowledge to enhance human flourishing.” For us at McGill, a world that we may not even be able to envision today. Therefore, it means unleashing our full research potential, exploring new we must provide them with a learning experience that develops frontiers and examining new paradigms with an eye toward their agility and ability to adapt, to embrace diversity and to engage the challenges that we confront as a society. in lifelong learning. A great example is the Healthy Brains for Healthy Lives Our current world tends to expose us to a superficial notion initiative where researchers with different expertise are work- of learning—learning by surfing as we readily and easily do, for ing together to gain a better understanding of the human brain. example, on the web. But we don’t want our students to simply Because of many recent scientific and technological advances, surf. Rather, we want them to dive deeply—to be curious, be I believe that we are on the cusp of achieving the significant creative, and to think critically. The best thing we can do, I believe, breakthroughs needed to help the millions of people with mental is give our students confidence in their incredible capacity to learn health and neurodegenerative conditions. Now that is research and acquire new skills. Not only will they be able to adapt as the that changes lives! world’s landscape continues to shift but, more importantly, they will be able to shape this changing landscape.

M C GILL NEWS / 4 / WINTER 2018-19

NEWSBITES says Dajer. to expand theirboundaries. “Ourmantra isto seek discomfort,” who are determined to pushthemselves—and everybody else— Dajer, oneoftheco-founders oftheYes Theory, agroup offriends routinely say allsorts ofbizarre things aboutcelebrities online. helicopter. initself, That, isn’t particularlynewsworthy. People months ago andchallenged Will Smithto bungee jumpfrom a MATT DAJER , BA’14, and some of his friends went online a few consistent content,” says Dajer. The effort paidoff. “We madeareal effort to engage withouraudience andputout team focused itsattention onbuildingupitsYouTube audience. Snapchat.” Oncetheyear-long dealcame to anend,theYes Theory our first 200,000 subscribers mostlythrough that [exposure] on chat Discover. “That gave useyeballs,” says Dajer. “We picked up invited themto move to Venice Beach and host ashow on Snap- content creation studio in California, got in touch. The studio began. In asmallapartment inMontreal and30videos.” getting out of our comfort zone,” says Dajer. “That’s how it all before and we were going to film a video every single day about new.” That realization sparked anunusualplan. was whenwe were outofour comfort zones ordoingsomething that forever.’ The onlytimewhenmemorieswere beingcreated really exciting, spontaneous thing and I’m going to remember not inagood way. like we were developing a routine inourlives,” says Dajer. And bars andhangingoutwiththesame peopleallthetime.We felt partners AmmarKandil andDerinEmre. living inMontreal andhadrecently mettheirfuture Yes Theory subscribers ontheirYouTube channel. their adventures onlineto thedelight ofmore than2.5 million (including — andhesaid yes. The project slowly gained afollowing. Vertical Networks, a “We decidedto do30things in30days that we hadnever done “There was rarely a moment where we thought, ‘I did that “We hadjust[finished] school and we were all working in Shortly after graduating from McGill, DajerandBrag were That mantra iscatching on.DajerandhisYes Theorypartners “I thinkthat’s thebiggest thingthat’s happenedto us,” says The weird thingisthat Will Smithheard aboutthechallenge THOMAS BRAG , BCom’15), regularly postvideosof DISCOMFORT EXPLORING THE UPSIDE OF M C GILL NEWSGILL /

5 / Europe for free, relying on the kindness of strangers they met to interest gallery owners intheresults. travelled They’ve across excursions. tried their hands at They’ve painting— and in trying complete strangers to jointhemonskydiving andskinny-dipping in mid-air. issued spur-of-the-moment They’ve invitations to pilot as he executed a series of jaw-dropping acrobatic maneuvers on themap.” open upto you. Itreally helpedputtheYesthing Theorybrand validation from Will Smith,it’s kindoflike thegates ofevery crew to Maybe Theory.” quipped, “He’s lookinglike you want to change thenameofyour apprehensive expression before performing thefeat, Smith and Kandil performed theepicbungee jumptoo. Noting Kandil’s learned aboutitandaccepted. own YouTube channelwithcomments aboutthechallenge), Smith Thanks to theYes Theory’s legion of fans (who peppered Smith’s fear, they issued theirhelicopter bungee jumpproposal to thestar. of heights andthat hehadbeenchallenginghimself to conquerthat things. ... with strangers.” because they watched the video about [us] hosting a dinner party around theworld are inviting 30strangers to adinnerparty It’s also aboutinviting “People otherpeoplealongonthat quest. members putting themselves into uncomfortable situations. on Tinder. and Thomas Brag and Thomas Ammar Kandil, Matt Dajer members (left to right) right)with Yes Theory team Will Smith (second from

WINTER 2018-19 “Let me tell you something,” says Dajer, “when you get some The Yes Theoryteam hasaccompaniedadaredevil helicopter Daniel McCabe, BA’89Daniel The Yes Theoryteam hadthechanceto meettheactor/singer When theYes Theoryteam learnedthat Will Smithwas afraid And speaking ofinviting otherpeople to douncomfortable Dajer says the Yes Theoryproject isn’t justabout the team

YES THEORY -

NEWSBITES

WHEATLESS, MEATLESS and DELICIOUS

Years ago, when MARK KUPFERT, BA’06, and DANIEL SUSS, OWEN EGAN OWEN BA’05, LLB’09, toured North America with their indie band the Lovely Feathers, they encountered a problem—an appalling dearth of healthy, affordable and quickly prepared food options. A GLIMPSE INTO

Kupfert longed for an eatery like the one he and Suss MEDICINE’S PAST had frequented as McGill students. “We would go to this vegan < restaurant, Aux Vivres, a lot. I loved that place and wondered, For pathology professor Rick Fraser, BSc’69, ‘Why can’t I have this food everywhere?’” MDCM’76, who spends many of his days sur- The Lovely Feathers rarely perform anymore, but Kupfert rounded by skulls, preserved organs, and anatomical and Suss are still partners. They turned their personal hunger models, death is one of the most interesting parts for plant-based, minimally processed, gluten-free food into a of life. If you visit him at the newly opened-to-the- burgeoning vegan quick-service restaurant public MAUDE ABBOTT MEDICAL MUSEUM, business. Their KUPFERT & KIM you might leave feeling the same way. chain now has six quick-service Fraser (above) is the director of the museum, locations in Toronto and a new whose unique collections date back to the early days one in Old Montreal. They also of the University in the 1820s. recently launched Hello 123, The collections began with the “Holmes heart,” another new vegan restau- a world-famous specimen preserved in 1824 by rant in Toronto. Andrew F. Holmes—McGill’s first dean of medicine— In 2013, Suss, while arti- which displays a rare congenital heart disease. In the cling at Stikeman Elliott LLP late 1800s, the collection continued to grow under in Toronto, noticed the lack the purview of curator Maude Abbott, BA1890, who of fast, affordable vegan food oversaw what was then known as the McGill Medical options in the financial district. Museum until 1923. “She built it into a world-class “When you have a good idea medical museum ... probably one of the best in the and see a hole in the market, you world,” says Fraser. A major portion of the museum’s give it a shot if you’re passionate about collections relate to Abbott’s own work as an interna- the concept,” says Kupfert. tional authority on congenital heart disease. “The density of downtown Toronto is key to our success,” says As with Abbott, the museum is truly a labor of Suss. “Our restaurants are in places where lots of people are work- love for Fraser. The importance of the museum, ing and we make fresh, healthy eating convenient and affordable.” according to him, is rooted in the invaluable nature The fruitful working relationship the pair forged as bandmates of its vast collection—items related to battlefield carries on now that they are restaurateurs. “Mark would splash injuries sustained during the American Civil War, an idea. I would run with it, massage it and work out the kinks,” for instance. Medical museums played a key role in says Suss. “That’s how it went for a new piece of music or a new the education of medical students in the late 19th menu item.” and early 20th centuries. “The best part of my job is Mark Witten interacting with the people. It’s like showing my baby pictures,” says Fraser. Kupfert & Kim co-founders Becca Hoff, BA’17 Mark Kupfert and Daniel Suss

Visit the Maude Abbott Medical Museum on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:00-4:00 p.m., or by appointment at [email protected]

M C GILL NEWS / 6 / WINTER 2018-19 NEWSBITES

CHASM HELPS TO FILL HEALTHCARE GAPS

McGill medical students are taking their problem-solving skills and noble ideas beyond the Roddick Gates to try to help Montreal’s most vulnerable residents. The COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SOCIAL MEDICINE INCUBATOR (CHASM), spearheaded by McGill medical students, provides funding and guidance for community healthcare projects led by fellow students. CHASM co-founder “The impetus essentially was that we noticed that historically Koray Demir with marginalized populations had disproportionate health outcomes CHASM co-director and health inequities compared to the average population,” EGAN OWEN Kacper Niburski says Kacper Niburski, a second-year med student who is one of CHASM’s directors. CHASM draws on the startup incubator model: it offers $1,000 Launched in 2017, CHASM has received financial support in seed funding and a curriculum of four workshops and four from several sources, including initial funding from McGill’s lectures. Students learn how to scale their projects and make them Global Health Programs. The Medicine Class of ’98 has chosen sustainable. Many McGill professors act as mentors and CHASM CHASM for its class gift. partners each team with an epidemiologist to help them measure CHASM has funded three student projects to date: one provides the impact of their initiatives. feminine hygiene products for homeless women in Montreal; Service-based and community experiential learning are at the another launched a mentorship program to expose black youth heart of CHASM, according to Niburski. The student projects to careers in healthcare; the third aims to boost access to HPV concentrate on prevention for improving health outcomes. vaccination and screening among vulnerable populations. CHASM “It’s focussing on upstream initiatives and interventions that plans to fund three new projects this school year and students would hopefully have the most maximum effect,” Niburski says. from any faculty at McGill can apply. Brenda Branswell

Composing his way to victory < Much of composer THIERRY TIDROW’s In composing “Quicksilver,” Tidrow imagined piece “Quicksilver” evokes images of the most the performing ensemble for the competition “as an suspenseful scenes of psychological thriller films. ecosystem, where strings stick together as a school Rich with dissonance and uneasiness, “Quicksilver” of fish and where the piano and string quartet have a is a reminder that music doesn’t need to make its tense rapport of dominance.” listeners comfortable to be prize-worthy. Graham Sommer, MDCM’72, the competition’s Tidrow, BMus’09 (pictured), paid a return visit namesake, was a professor of radiology at Stanford to his alma mater in September that proved to be with a passion for music. He took steps to share that quite profitable. He was the grand prize winner passion with the McGill community before he died in of the Schulich School of Music’s inaugural 2016. The Dr. Graham Sommer Piano Fund supported GRAHAM SOMMER COMPETITION FOR the restoration of pianos in McGill residences and YOUNG COMPOSERS. After being chosen as one the purchase of a new piano for Douglas Hall. The ANIKA ANIKA / GSC NEESE of five finalists—out of a competitive field of 84 appli- Sommer Competition promotes the work of Canadian cants—Tidrow was commissioned to write a piece composers under the age of 35. for a piano quintet to be performed by pianist (and Tidrow, who currently calls Cologne, Germany associate professor of performance) Sarah Laiman home, says the $15,000 prize money provides a real and the Molinari Quartet. “Quicksilver” was forged boost. “People tend to forget how used to being under under the pressure of the competition, over the span the breadline we are as composers.” of about five-and-a-half months. Becca Hoff, BA’17

M C GILL NEWS / 7 / WINTER 2018-19

NEWSBITES our relationship.” sign ofrecognition andrespect, andarenewing of for knowledge,a istakingabreak. Flyingourflagis no feet because the Martlet never rests inits search on theArtsBuilding.Buttoday whohas theMartlet, a member oftheMohawk community at Kahnawake. said Mike a retired Loft, professor of social work and inclusive future.” diate whilewe work to buildabetter, collaborative, visible,andimme Indigenous communities]—boldly tament to ourcommitment to work together [with Manfredi described theraising of theflagas “a tes- ance atop the Arts Building, Provost Christopher Indigenous StudiesandIndigenous Education. in the Final Report of the Provost’s Task Force on was amongtherecommended calls to actionincluded traditional territory McGill sits. Theraising oftheflag Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, uponwhose on September 21to markMcGill’s annualPow-Wow. rate National Indigenous Peoples Day. Itreappeared made itsdebut above theArtsBuildingto commemo viceregal representative oncampus. to signal the presence of Queen Elizabeth’s federal is whenthegovernor general’s flagtakes itsplace Mark Kupfert and Daniel Suss Kupfert & Kim co-founders Files from Anne Lagacé Dowson “Usually we see theMcGill Martlet flaguphigh “This abigsignofchange for us. Thismeansalot,” During aceremony first appear to markthe flag’s The Hiawatha Wampum BeltFlag honours the On June 21,adistinctive purpleandwhite flag < familiar flagflyingon topoftheArtsBuilding Ordinarily, theonlytimeonecan’t see McGill’s RESPECT A signof

M C GILL NEWSGILL - - -

OWEN EGAN /

8 / Rhodes Scholarisnearmiraculous. stances. That ARISHAKHAN(pictured) became McGill’s 145th Earning aRhodesScholarship isremarkable underany circum - both aprivilege andahuge responsibility.” to speak out about thechildwelfare system’s deficiencies. “It is ship and she understands that she has been given a rare platform on the earlydetection ofand intervention in child abuse cases. next spring,shewillbeoff to Oxford to begindoctoral studies youth pursue undergraduate degrees. of a Youth in Care bursary to help current and former foster from care. At McGill, she was instrumental intheestablishment national charity that focuses ontheconcernsofyouth inand CAS board member andthenanadvisor to Ontario’s premier. (CAS) —her legal “parent” in Ontario. Shebecame theyoungest seats ontheboard ofdirectors ofthe Children’s AidSociety more shewas inspired to tryandfixit. incarceration. up at anincreased riskfor substanceabuse, homelessness and to go to university. ‘System kids,’ asKhancalls them,also grow planning, norsupportfor those foster care children whowant cent go onto earnauniversity degree.” higher thanthenational average,” shesays. “And onlytwo per in foster care drop outofhighschool inCanada, whichisway child welfare system. “Statistically, about50percent ofkids

TAKINGRHODES THE WINTER 2018-19 Khan is now the vice-president of Youth In Care Canada, a Neale McDevitt Khan islikely thefirst ‘system kid’ to earnaRhodesScholar Once shecompletes her degree incomparative social policy In 2013, shewas adrivingforce behindthecreation ofyouth The more shelearnedaboutthesystem anditsflaws, the Because ofthe systemic low expectations, there isneither From the age of six, Khan bounced in and out of Ontario’s LESS TRAVELLED

A L IS O N

GU -

F DISCOVERY for sustainablelivelihoods andhealthinGhana. of nutritiouspotato varieties inColombia, to buildingcapacity around the globe, tackling issues ranging from thedevelopment Nations Food andAgriculture Organization. measure food insecurity, whichhave been adopted by theUnited just Its that. researchers have developed precise methods to Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, theinstitute isdoing food supplies.” that everyone hassecure access to sufficient, safe andnutritious Gilliam. “It’s important that we take concrete steps to ensure hungry, andIwant to dosomething meaningfulto help,” says GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY. newly renamed MARGARET A.GILLIAMINSTITUTE FOR allow theinstitute to chartaneven more ambitious course, asthe graduate fellowship award andlecture series. Her latest giftwill institute’s director, well asanamed Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez—as Faculty ScholarinGlobal Food Security—currently heldby the to the institute in 2012. It established the Margaret A. Gilliam solutions for sustainablefood production. teaching andresearch programs that investigate long-term Security to understand andaddress these challenges through the efforts of researchers at McGill’s Institute for Global Food and graduate population isexpected to exceed ninebillion. an additional50percent inthenext 30years, whentheplanet’s are found, theworld willneedto increase food production by A landmark $5-million gift from New York businesswoman The institute isinvolved incollaborative research projects Established in 2010 and based at McGill’s Faculty of “An incredible number ofpeopleallover theworld are This giftbuildsona$1.5-million donation that Gilliammade projections suggest that unless creative solutions one inninepeopleonearth—go to bedhungry. And countries. Every some night, 800millionpeople— in thedeveloping world, to those inindustrialized living in urban slums and isolated communities ood insecurity affects millions ofpeople,from those MARGARET A.GILLIAM, BSc’59, will bolster WORLD HUNGER TO TACKLE BEHIND ISSUES THE TOM DISANDOLO INSTITUTE POISED M C GILL NEWSGILL /

9 / student fund that will provide bursaries, internships, and field long-term growth andstability, Gilliam’s giftwillback agraduate battle against hunger. ensure that her alma mater plays an even larger role in the global at the institute that now bears hername, Gilliamishelpingto the kindoflife you have led.’” what you gather inlife, butwhat you scatter inlife that reflects their family foundation. Helen hadafavourite saying: ‘Itisnot Helen showed for social andenvironmental projects through very well, andwas inspired by thesupportthat heandhiswife was SamWalton, thefounder ofWalmart. “Icame to know Sam Viewpoint—covering developments intheretail industry. a sought-after retail consultant and publisher of the Gilliam NordstromDepot, andCostco. More recently, shehasbecome advisor to suchFortune 500companiesasWalmart, Home of onlyafew women working onWall Street at thetime. landed apositionworking asananalyst at GoldmanSachs—one analyst intheretail sector. After earningabusiness degree, she disciplines andfrom allcorners oftheworld.” “will rise to this challenge by engaging expertise from across Environmental SciencesAnjaGeitmann. Shesays theinstitute and theeffects ofclimate change,” says Deanof Agricultural and renewable resources, armedpollution conflict, of ecosystems are beingchallenged by population growth, depletionofnon- participant inpolicy-making. with otherworld-class institutions, andbecominganimportant its outreach by developing andattracting working partnerships in Global Food Security that willallow theinstitute to expand studies supportto students. Itwillalso fundaConsultancy Hub

WINTER 2018-19 By scattering hersupportto ongoing research andoutreach One person whomadeatremendous impression onGilliam Over thecourse ofher30-year career, shebecame atrusted Gilliam hashadalongcareer asaNew York-based financial In additionto creating anendowment to bolster theinstitute’s Linda Sutherland “Access to food and water are fundamental human rights that

Anja Geitmann. Environmental Sciences of Agriculturaland (at right) with Dean MargaretGilliam A.

DISCOVERY AN APP THAT GIVES VOICE TO THE VOICELESS

ETIENNE DE VILLERS-SIDANI, MDCM’00, has developed an eye-tracking software technology that would enable patients who can’t talk because of paralysis, or intubation in intensive care, to communicate using simple eye movements. N A G E “Communication is so important to quality of N E W O care and quality of life for these patients, and it’s very frustrating when they can’t communicate what they need and want,” says de Villers-Sidani, an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital.

THIS PASTA IS

AL DENTE— < VERY AL DENTE

Nursery rhyme writers be warned: it turns out that twin- kling little stars are not quite like diamonds in the sky. Some of them, it turns out, are millions of times harder. In fact, the material within neutron stars is the hardest and strongest material in the known universe, according to a recent study by “Patients may want to talk about their discomfort, MATTHEW CAPLAN (pictured), a postdoctoral research fellow pain or positioning, or talk to loved ones about their at the McGill Space Institute. feelings.” Neutron stars are relatively tiny objects formed in the grav- His company, Innodem Neurosciences, is now itational collapse of supernovae, which are believed to be the pilot-testing a novel app, called PigioTM, that works densest objects in the universe. So dense, in fact, that they are not with any smart phone or tablet equipped with a cam- the flaming balls of gas typical of stars, but instead composed of era to track and analyze the gaze patterns of patients tightly packed protons and neutrons. who suffer from neurological conditions such as Much like the Earth, they have a crust, a core and an interme- stroke or Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and diary mantle-like region. The intense and increasing forces of the can no longer communicate. Patients can control a star’s gravity freeze the protons and neutrons into various forms. cursor on their devices using only their eye move- These deformed balls, sheets, and cylinders are called “nuclear ments and this allows them to communicate rapidly pasta” for their resemblance to gnocchi, lasagna and spaghetti with healthcare staff or family members by selecting noodles, respectively. Caplan set out to determine the strength pre-defined sentences or words on the screen. of the pasta near a neutron’s surface. As a neurologist who regularly sees patients at According to the simulations run by Caplan and his col- The Neuro’s ALS clinic, de Villers-Sidani saw an laborators, nuclear pasta is many billions of times harder and urgent need for a fast, user-friendly device that would significantly more elastic than steel. It is strong enough to support allow patients to communicate more effectively than mountains of several tens of centimeters tall on a star surface. Not with the printed letter boards currently used, which very high, but given the density of neutron stars, that’s a molehill are slow, limited and impractical. The PigioTM soft- of many billions of tonnes. Caplan explains that knowing of ware will also be cheaper than the sophisticated such surface irregularities can allow astronomers to look for the eye-tracking systems (using infra-red cameras) on gravitational waves they should emit as the neutron star rotates. the market. “Most patients and clinics can’t afford and Doing so would help verify and deepen our understanding of the don’t have access to devices that cost $8,000,” he says. structures of our cosmos. Innodem plans to make the technology avail- Mark Reynolds able to the public and to healthcare professionals in 2019. Mark Witten / 10 /

AN APPTHAT GIVES VOICELESS VOICE TO THE

with paralysis. difficult forpatients nication much less could make commu - software technology New eye-tracking involving blinking. a laborious system communicates through a paralyzed man Bell and the Butterfly, Infilm the

ISTOCKPHOTO cannabis users between theages of18and 24. the effects ofmarijuanause onthedriving ability of recreational therapy, was part ofa team of McGill researchers who examined PhD’95, anassociate professor ofphysical andoccupational taking to theroad after ISABELLEGÉLINAS smokingajoint. , recent studyfrom McGill suggests otherwise. they can handledrivingacar stoned. A justfinewhilethey’re The recent legalization of cannabis could result in more drivers The Diving < Association (CAA), oneinfive young Canadians believes According to pollingdoneby theCanadian Automobile

ACHILLES HEEL AN “UNKILLABLE” KILLER’S KILLER’S

indifferent ormuchless vulnerable to many different teria enter ametabolicstate inwhichthey become mutating, multi-drugtolerance happenswhenbac- of death for peoplelivingwithcystic fibrosis.” University Health Centre. “It’s also theleadingcause a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill says Nguyen, anassociate professor ofmedicineand COPD (Chronic Obstructive PulmonaryDisease),” in burn victims, and patients with diabetes and life-threatening andorgan-threatening infections chronic infections inthelungs andbloodstream. otics, becomingvirtually“unkillable”whenitcauses dormant inthebodyanddevelops tolerance to antibi hardy bugisparticularlydangerous whenitgoes bacterium, called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This ing theimpregnable defenses ofanasty, slow-growing new cellulartarget that may holdthekey for weaken DAO NGUYEN, MDCM’97, MSc’04, has discovered a While multi-drug resistance results from bacteria “This bugiscommonandcan cause severe,

DON’T TOKE M C GILL NEWSGILL

11 / the publicon impactof[cannabis] ondriving.” noting thevalue inhaving “more evidence to properly sensitize the CAA, couldhave animpact onfuture awareness campaigns, a certainamount oftimebefore you take thewheel.” you shouldn’t bedriving.Ifyou dowant to drive, you have to wait unexpected situations. were made more realistic, and the drivers hadto contend with were nodistractions, butproblems cropped upwhen conditions participants didalright inthedrivingsimulation so longasthere their perceived ability to drive safely also reduced. Thestudy’s the participants were impaired in their driving performance, with their self-perception oftheircomfort level withdriving. consumption (the equivalent of less than a single joint), as well as related tasks at one-, three-, andfive-hour intervals after cannabis

WINTER 2018-19 Says Gélinas, “Thekey message isthat ifyou inhalecannabis, The McGill team found that even five hours after inhalation, Becca Hoff, BA’17 She suggests that the results ofthe study, which was funded by They measured the drivers’ ability to perform complex driving- - - against thebacteria.” antibiotics can get inandbecomemuchmore active enzyme, thecellwall becomeshighlypermeable,so keeps We antibiotics out. showed ifyou knockoutthis mutase, that makes thecellwall impermeableand system turnsonanenzyme,called superoxide dis stress andstarved ofnutrients, theirstress signalling nism works: “We found when these bacteria are under for thefirst timehow this tolerance defense mecha- well understood,” shesays. deadly, but the defense mechanisms haven’t been known siblingofdrugresistance. Itcan bejustas antibiotics at once.“Drugtolerance isthelesser bacteria’s defenses. block theactivity ofthisenzyme,to weaken the Nguyen now hopesto findamoleculethat would In aseries ofexperiments, Nguyen’s team revealed Mark Witten AND

DRIVE Associate professor of medicine Dao Nguyen

MUHC

T OF RETAIL FUTURE FOR THE COURSE CHARTING A DISCOVERY Founder’s Circle, which has raised more than $7.5 million. stepped upto supportthe School’s mission through theBSRM Family Foundation inMay 2017, retail-industry leaders have that approach. broad issues, rather thanonecompany’s immediate challenge.” in problems withacademic importance.We thinkaboutbigand integrity. and Nespresso—they are careful to maintain their academic many private companies—including Ivanhoé Cambridge customer experiences. new technologies, packaging, supplychainoptimization, and use pop-up stores and other experimental retail formats to test flexible spacewhere researchers, students, andcompanies can Management’s Bronfman Building, the retail lab will provide a some ofthese issues.” Ray. “We want to develop alive retail labwhere we can address tainable products,” says theSchool’s academic director, Saibal to make better choices, like buyinghealthierfood ormore sus- School believe itcan also beharnessed for social benefit. maximize sales. Butfaculty andadministrators at theBensadoun stores, what they andwhat lookat, they comebackto. data game, gathering information onhow shoppers move through on adetailedanalysis ofauser’s browsing andshoppinghistory. “recommendation algorithms” to promote specificitems based experience. Most notably, onlineretailers like Amazon use customer and data, use it to customize each person’s shopping decisions. helping customers make healthier, more socially responsible Occupying thestreet-level flooroftheDesautels Faculty of “We want to explore how retail technology can helppeople Retailers now have amassively powerful ability to collect In the retail sector, data” to people commonly use this “big Traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers have also upped their The Schoolalso intends to collaborate withretailers in Following the$25 millioninitialgiftfrom theBensadoun There isnoshortage ofcorporate partners whosupport “We are not consultants for hire,” says Ray. “We’re interested While Bensadoun faculty are building relationships with he world of retail has been in a non-stop state of chaos to make sense ofwhere things are going. to play animportant role insorting through the celebrated itsofficiallaunchon November 16, expects OFRETAILSCHOOL MANAGEMENT , which upheaval for thepastdecade. TheBENSADOUN

M C

GILL NEWSGILL /

12 / on McTavish Street near Sherbrooke Bensadoun School of Retail Management offorlook glimpse future the the An architectural illustration offers a leveraging McGill’s breadth anddepthofresearch infieldssuch “It ismy hopethat by working withindustrypartners and and expectations,” says Aldo Bensadoun, BCom’64, LLD’12. fundamentally understand consumers’ changingbehaviours in retail andto succeed,future industryleaders willneedto Group Inc.andCloudRaker. Walmart, Ancapa GmbH (Stent-Torriani Family), CGI,Birks Couche Tard, Peerless Clothing,TheRossy Foundation, Saputo, Members oftheFounder’s Circle includetheApparel Group, our time.”our transformative sector withgreat bearingonthechallenges of tage ofMcGill’s international reach to positionretailing asa understanding ofthefield,”“We she says. are takingadvan around theworld. Bensadoun School apart from other such university programs Faculty ofManagement, says this expansive approach sets the definition. charities, community organizations, banks andairlines intheir next few years. the retail sector willlikely disappear ortransform injustthe and technology change so quickly. Theroles that exist now in one ofthemostvolatile sectors oftheeconomy, where jobs knowledge I’ve acquired over theyears.” the opportunity to supporttheSchoolandto “share some ofthe and theformer managingdirector for GoogleCanada, welcomes subsequently, amaster’s program. students. Next year, it will start offering a PhD program, and, will succeedinreinventing thefuture ofretail management.” artificial intelligence, neuroscience andsustainability, we as accounting and finance, as well as others like psychology,

WINTER 2018-19 “The School’s global view ofretail transcends traditional The Schooluses abroad interpretation ofretail, including She says it’s challengingto prepare students to succeed in Marie Jos “We are livingthrough aperiodoftremendous change Patchen Barss (files from CynthiaPatchen Lee) Barss (files Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, thedeanofDesautels The School opened its doors in September to undergraduate e Lamothe,aprofessor ofpractice at theSchool

ÆDIFICA

“ deep history oftheearth.” most alienenvironment we have access to is[the] rudimentary alienlife, explains Crockford. “The to lookfor inotherplanetsorder to findsignsof like could,perhaps, offer important cluesaboutwhat of ourplanet’s past. evidence, whichmay make for more accurate models Billion,” Crockford’s analysis provides thefirst solid scientists aboutanera withthenickname“Boring teria and otheroxygen-producing organisms of today. weren’t producing much compared to the cyanobac the cyanobacteria ofabillionandhalfyears ago lab by shooting lasers at the sample. It turns out that that preserve these signals,” says Crockford. tiny creatures produced. leaving encodedcluesasto how muchoxygen the minerals interacted with the Earth’s atmosphere, ago was a lake. Thesample hadbeenproduced as sample from Ontario, taken from anarea that long ancient cyanobacteria history by examining asalt ing that questionthefocus ofhisdoctoral studies. PETER CROCKFORD, PhD’18, who made answer tion how bigafootprint these guys have had,” says reign have looked like? “It’s beenanopenques like plants. What would theatmosphere undertheir by stringy ocean-dwellers called cyanobacteria. billion orso years ago, PlanetEarthwas dominated of the creatures in part, uct, that and inhabit a it, The compositionofaplanet’s atmosphere isaprod BORING BILLION” They took incarbon dioxide, andlet off oxygen, Shannon Palus, BSc’13 And understanding what ourplanetused to look While that hadbeentheprevailing notionamong He examined theoxygen content inacolleague’s “There’s only ahandful of deposits on Earth today Crockford (pictured) hasrevealed asliceof A LOOK BACK A THE AT

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13 TONE OF VOICETONE / to explain how you feel. Morningstar’s advice is simple: be direct and take the extra time without misinterpretation, whether you’re olderorapeer? try to parse the emotionsbehindastatement. by observing theactivity insubjects’ brains viaMRIscans asthey understanding fellow teens. time understanding teens. And teens had an even harder time she says. “Theteens hadadouble whammy.” Adults hadahard agers’ tones ofvoice were difficult tounderstand for everybody,” she wasn’t finding the trend she’d expected. “It turnsoutthat teen intonations. and adultactors reading asample ofsentences withdifferent caring about theiropinions. The research involved bothteen olds spendalotoftimehangingaround other14-year-olds—and decoding the mood of people their own age. After all, 14-year- parsing recordings ofadultvoices. a speaker’s mood,those studies hadbeen done with subjects ous work showed that young adultshadtrouble understanding understand theemotionalcuesencodedinvoices. While previ- expected to findwhenshe set out to evaluate how well teens PhD’17, aformer McGill doctoral student inclinical psychology, difficult for teens todecode. tence—and according to recent research, that meaningcan be Tone ofvoice can significantly change themeaningofa sen Shannon Palus, BSc’13 In themeantime, how to communicate withadolescents Now, Morningstar is exploring the mechanics behind the issue About halfway through the experiment, Morningstar realized Morningstar figured that teens shouldbemore adeptat It’s theopposite ofwhat MICHELLEMORNINGSTAR, BA’11, < THE TROUBLE WITH TROUBLE WITH THE you justdidthat.” Now, imagine itsaid withlotsofsnark. Imagine someone saying this in a sad voice: “Ican’t believe

HARTLEY LIN

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CONFRONTING A KILLER TUBERCULOSIS HAS LARGELY BEEN TAMED IN THE WEST, BUT IT’S STILL THE DEADLIEST INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN THE WORLD, KILLING 1.6 MILLION LAST YEAR. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS TURNING ITS ATTENTION TO THE MENACE OF TB AND A RESEARCH CENTRE AT MCGILL IS ALREADY PLAYING A MAJOR ROLE.

by Patrick McDonagh

M C GILL NEWS / 14 / WINTER 2018-19 Marcel Behr’s work with northern communities raised new questions about latent TB CHRISTINNE MUSCHI CHRISTINNE

n 2012 the Inuit town of Kangiqsua- However, Behr’s findings suggest that most TB lujjuaq, population 900, had 69 cases of active today is the result of infections within the tuberculosis; it was one of several Inuit previous year rather than reactivated TB. Conse- communities in Nunavik to experience quently, efforts to eliminate TB should focus not a TB outbreak that year. The epidemic on latent tuberculosis in those infected years ago launched a public health initiative that but on individuals in the active chain of disease Icontinues today, as Inuit leaders collaborate with transmission. health care professionals and others to define strategies for combatting the disease. DEATH TOLL IN THE MILLIONS It also provided a McGill research team with The work of Behr and his team provides one exam- important scientific information that has helped ple of how McGill researchers are playing a pivotal change how we understand tuberculosis. role at a time when the UN, the World Health Following the outbreak, Marcel Behr, MSc’95, Organization (WHO), and other global players the founding director of the McGill Interna- are focusing more attention on a scourge that has tional TB Centre, collected bacteria samples killed an estimated 7.6 million people in the last five from patients across Nunavik and applied DNA years. Survivors are often left with a debilitating sequencing to build genetic profiles of each loss of lung capacity. bacteria. While wealthy nations in Europe and North “That process allowed us to track how the bacte- America have effectively controlled the disease ria was spreading,” says Behr. “And in villages that —with, in Canada, the notable exceptions of Inuit had experienced outbreaks of TB five or 10 years and First Nations communities—the story changes apart, we found that individuals who had TB in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where 95 per cent previously weren’t reactivating a latent strain of cases—and deaths—are to be found. from previous years, as generally believed, but “Tuberculosis is a disease of poverty. Where were having the strain of the year.” there are marginalized, disadvantaged people, This discovery, supported by Behr’s other that’s where you find TB,” says Madhukar Pai, who research, can alter how we understand and took over the directorship of the McGill Interna- treat tuberculosis. The accepted belief has been tional TB Centre in July 2018. “But tuberculosis is that almost two billion people—a quarter of the curable—saving lives shouldn’t be rocket science.” world’s population—harbour latent TB, and, while Most forms of TB, if diagnosed and treated early currently free of symptoms, were in danger of enough, can be dealt with. But too often, that developing active TB. doesn’t happen. >

A young TB patient in India ATUL LOKE / PANOS PICTURES / PANOS LOKE ATUL

M C GILL NEWS / 15 / WINTER 2018-19 Established in 2013, the centre brings together the full range of McGill researchers interested in the disease, from fundamental scientists to clinicians to epidemiologists and public health specialists. “We’re among the few sites in the world with this medical bandwidth, with researchers from different disciplines gathering monthly to discuss TB,” says Behr. Let’s return to those two billion people thought to carry latent TB, threatening a public health time Madhukar Pai bomb. While many of them have latent TB, the skin is the director tests used to diagnose TB may only show whether or of the McGill not the person has at one time hosted the bacteria— International not whether it remains present. TB Centre As a result, another hypothesis presents itself: many of those two billion may not have developed TB because their immune system protects them, “The fact that there is so much TB means we are not because the bacteria is simply inactive. Then, failing our patients every day by not doing what we the question becomes how to protect those others already know will work,” says Pai. His research has who are susceptible. pointed to alarmingly high rates of misdiagnosis in India, but he says our own country’s track record NEW THINKING ON TREATMENTS on TB has one glaring blemish. “The same neglect The obvious answer is inoculation, but BCG [for is seen in Canada: the fact that TB is killing Inuit Bacille Calmette-Guérin], the TB vaccine currently children is unacceptable.” used for children, dates back to the 1920s, and it In September, Pai took part in an unprecedented isn’t foolproof. “No new vaccine has emerged in international gathering, the UN High Level Meeting 100 years, partly because TB is not profitable for on TB. More than 50 heads of state attended, along industry and partly because we still struggle with

with government ministers, top TB researchers and the bacteria’s biology,” says Pai. MUSCHI CHRISTINNE key philanthropic leaders like Bill Gates. The WHO had already pledged to effectively eliminate tuberculosis by 2030, sending it the way of smallpox and other banished killers. The UN gathering resulted in an annual commitment of $13 billion (U.S) to support that effort. Can TB—with its long history of taking human lives—be wiped out in a dozen years?

INTERNATIONAL IMPACT Researchers at the McGill International TB Centre are already making important contributions towards making a TB-free world something more than a dream. A summary of the world’s most-cited TB research papers shows that six per cent of them are from McGill. When Nature, one of the world’s most influential research journals, decided to publish summaries of state-of-the-art knowledge of different diseases, it approached Behr and Pai to be co-lead authors for TB, with centre members Dick Menzie’s research Maziar Divangahi, PhD’05, and Dick Menzies, has influenced the MDCM’78, MSc’89, as contributing authors. World Health Organization’s treatment guidelines

M C GILL NEWS / 16 / WINTER 2018-19 “The fact there is so much TB means we are failing our patients every day.”

Maziar Divangahi’s work looks at ways to combat TB through the immune system

And that’s where Maziar Divangahi’s research As for those with latent TB, recent clinical comes in. “We know that around 90 per cent of studies by Dick Menzies will change how patients people infected with TB remain asymptomatic and are treated. Menzies’ lab carried out two massive don’t transmit the disease, so they have some sort clinical trials—one with 6,800 adults, the other with of natural immunity,” says Divangahi. But immune almost 850 children—to investigate the efficacy of responses are complex, and developing a vaccine a four-month treatment regimen with Rifampin that would imitate that response in susceptible as opposed to the current standard medication for individuals has proven difficult. latent TB, nine months of Isoniazid. For years, researchers have worked with T-cells, The results, published in August: Rifampin a type of white blood cell known to play an import- works as well or better than Isoniazid in less time, ant role in the immune system, but clinical trials for demands less supervision and follow-up, and has vaccines based on T-cells have failed. So Divangahi’s fewer negative side effects. As attacking latent TB team went to the source of the human immune is a key pillar of the WHO’s efforts to eliminate system: stem cells. “We began targeting BCG to stem TB, Menzies’ findings have garnered international cells, effectively ‘training’ these cells to generate attention. a strong immune response, a concept known as In another study on multi-drug resistant (MDR) CHRISTINNE MUSCHI CHRISTINNE trained immunity,” he says. This approach, still in TB, a particularly virulent strain that affects 600,000 the early stages, promises to open new paradigms people a year, Menzies’ team solicited anonymous for vaccine design. patient data from the authors of all relevant studies published in the last 10 years and then constructed an immense dataset of over 12,000 patients from 25 countries. >

M C GILL NEWS / 17 / WINTER 2018-19 Amrita Daftary led an effort to train pharmacists in India to better detect cases of TB

“With this dataset we were able to analyze Daftary’s team trained about 100 pharma- the efficacy of individual drugs, combinations of cists—usually businesspeople with no medical drugs, and different regimens, and to propose new background—to perform a quick survey for TB approaches,” says Menzies. These approaches symptoms for anyone presenting with a cough. promise significantly higher success rates than Then the pharmacist could decide whether to send the current rates of just over 50 per cent. Menzies’ the individual for an x-ray or to a doctor—or simply findings, published in September, have already sell them cough syrup. “We are trying to capitalize provided the foundation for the WHO’s new set of on the trust people have in their pharmacists,” she MDR-TB treatment guidelines. explains. The study resulted in over 1,500 referrals, with 15 per cent of those eventually being diagnosed EMPOWERING PHARMACISTS with TB. AND PATIENTS “The crux of my interest lies on the social deter- In much of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, care minants of health and health-seeking, and especially is compromised not simply by lack of drugs, but issues of stigma and exclusion,” says Daftary, who by other systemic obstacles. One of Pai’s recent has also launched a study of South African patients research projects saw actors in India serve as being treated for both MRD-TB and HIV. “secret shoppers,” mimicking TB symptoms in the One group receives a range of interventions full range of clinics consulted by Indians—from aiming to empower patients, including psychoso- those of qualified doctors to those of alternative cial supports (regular meetings of patient support healers. “The bad news is only a third of TB patients clubs), “treatment literacy” (i.e., further counselling were correctly detected and treated,” says Pai. on how the treatments work), and a digital tool that “Often TB was not detected, or when it was, it wasn’t patients could use to monitor their own treatment treated properly. So the question is, how can we adherence. The other group receives standard address these issues?” care, which included brief counselling followed by Part of the answer may lie in supporting the patients taking daily medication under supervision. gatekeepers of medical care. Amrita Daftary, an assistant professor of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health, recently carried out a project in India that sought to educate pharmacists to serve as effective guides to treatment.

M C GILL NEWS / 18 / WINTER 2018-19 “With the current standard, less than 50 per cent Khan stresses the importance of Inuit leaders complete treatment, so we want to see if another guiding the way for effective TB management. “For way of supporting patients will lead to better out- many years, responses to treating TB in the north comes,” Daftary says. “In addition, these patients have not been based on the social situations and are marginalized and face stigma and social reper- history of the Inuit,” he points out. “Instead they cussions such as lost jobs and social rejection. were based on how we deal with TB elsewhere, Can empowering patients help reduce their social and so they have not been effective. There is now a suffering?” move toward what the national Inuit organization Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) calls the Inuit- TAKING ACTION IN THE NORTH specific approach to TB.” Identifying barriers and tailoring treatments to the To help in developing this approach, Khan was specific needs of communities is crucial to success, invited by the Nunavik Public Health Department whether in Asia, Africa, or, indeed, Canada. In to participate in workshops involving elders and alignment with the WHO, the Canadian government representatives from Inuit communities as well as has set 2030 as the date for eliminating TB —which health care providers, public health officials, and means addressing failures to contain the disease government representatives to exchange ideas and in Inuit and First Nations communities, where discuss strategies. rates are 100 to 300 times higher than in the rest And in summer 2018, he organized a three-day of Canada. intensive course at McGill on TB management for Faiz Khan, BSc’01, MDCM’05, a respirologist and clinicians in Canada’s north; the course, which filled

CHRISTINNE MUSCHI CHRISTINNE director of TB clinical services at the Montreal Chest quickly, was opened by Hilda Snowball, mayor of Institute, is the Nunavik Public Health Department’s Kangiqsualujjuaq, and included an address from consultant on TB matters, a role he took on during ITK president Natan Obed. “It means a lot when the 2012 outbreaks. He also visits Nunavik twice a researchers are willing to partner with Inuit and year as a practicing respirologist, and, with Menzies, not come to us as saviours,” Obed told the audience. runs Resp-North, a service that northern clinicians Defeating TB will require this depth of col- can email whenever they wish to consult about TB laboration, including not only researchers and or other respiratory diseases. medical professionals but also the communities most affected. “With the Canadian and WHO dead- lines of 2030, we’re on a clock. We have to be driven by this mission,” says Pai. “Our goal is to shut down the centre because TB is no longer a problem. That would be our greatest success.”

Patrick McDonagh is a Montreal-based writer and a part-time faculty member in Concordia University’s Department of English. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Walrus and Chatelaine.

Faiz Khan, an assistant professor of medicine, is the Nunavik Public Health Department’s consultant on TB matters OWEN EGAN OWEN

M C GILL NEWS / 19 / WINTER 2018-19 NOTHING FAKE ABOUT IT

A TURBULENT WHITE HOUSE. AN ANTAGONISTIC PRESIDENT. AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION INTO RUSSIA’S ATTEMPTS TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 ELECTION. AND, OF COURSE, THOSE NEVER-ENDING INCENDIARY TWEETS. MEET THE MCGILL ALUMNI WHO ARE BREAKING SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STORIES COMING OUT OF WASHINGTON.

by John Allemang

s crazy and chaotic as it looks One of the biggest stories so far, a story that never to the outside world, there is seems to end as the tenacious Washington journal- nowhere a journalist would ists keep probing, is the investigation into Russian rather be right now than Donald interference in the election that propelled Trump to Trump’s Washington. Yes, you power. Rosenberg, a national-security expert, was are regularly branded as “fake an integral part of the Times’ team that won a news”A and labelled “the enemy of the people” 2018 Pulitzer Prize for their exposure of Russian by the scandal-prone tycoon who unexpectedly meddling—a prize they shared with The Washington assumed the role of leader of the free world in 2016 Post, whose Pulitzer-winning team included his and has proceeded to astonish political observers competitor on the national-security beat and McGill with his impulsive tweets and abrasive tirades. contemporary Devlin Barrett, BA’95. But in exchange for all the abuse and heckling The Pulitzer was a tribute to the importance of that has become a routine part of the 24/7 job spent diligent reporting and fearless digging in the face monitoring a deliberately volatile Chief Executive, of hostility toward the mainstream media—much reporters get to chase down extraordinary stories of it generated by a beleaguered White House in at an incomparable moment in American history. constant attack mode. But it’s not the prospect For The New York Times’ Matthew Rosenberg, of public recognition that drives reporters in the BA’96, one of a surprisingly large number of McGill Trump era so much as the dogged determination graduates reporting on the intricacies of the Trump to understand and explain the deep mysteries of presidency, the daily trade-offs are easily worth it. Donald Trump as a candidate and a president. “I’ve covered the war in Iraq, the war in Afghan- “What motivates you,” says Barrett, part of a team istan, I’ve been all over Africa and was in India for that confirmed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller five years. I’ve had a lot of real cool moments in my was investigating the U.S. president for obstruction career. But I feel I can’t top this. I’ve never covered of justice, “is, hey, here’s a riddle that I have to figure anything as intense, and intense over such a long out and I’m not going to let it go, and I chip away at stretch. And it’s fun—you’re out there every day it until I’m done. To me, that’s fun.” trying to figure out what’s going on in a country Washington journalists, particularly those that’s really in the middle of something, and you’re embroiled in the machinations of the Trump campaign trying to decipher it, and explain to the world that and presidency, are a special tribe and their notion this is what’s happening. It’s a rush, and there are of what constitutes pleasure in a pressure-packed great stories out there.” job may seem peculiar to the outside world. >

M C GILL NEWS / 20 / WINTER 2018-19 CQ ROLL CALL CQ ROLL /

SARAH SILBIGER SARAH

M C GILL NEWS / 21 / WINTER 2018-19 RON AIRA

Matthew Rosenberg covers intelligence and national security for The New York Times in Washington

Tim Mak, BA’09, who reports on national reporter’s job to take advantage of this human security for NPR and broke the story on accused instinct without completely giving into it. Russian spy and gun lobbyist Maria Butina, started “People talk because people in government care his journalistic career as a columnist for the McGill that stories are reported accurately, that the full Tribune, recruited by the paper’s opinion editor story gets out,” says Barrett. “People say things Byron Tau, BA’08—who is now a Department of on background that they can’t say on the record Justice reporter for The Wall Street Journal (and because they feel something important is being still a close friend). Mak’s deeply sourced, data- overlooked or misrepresented. But not everyone’s driven reports may take weeks and months of an honest broker.” preoccupied research, and in the high-stakes world Journalists chasing a Trump story have to be of Washington politics, the stress, both external wary of being spun and perhaps even discredited and internal, can feel unrelenting. by self-interested sources—up to and including vicious rivals within the Trump White House ERRORS NOT AN OPTION who for all their complaints about government “We live in an environment where every single leaks constantly use the press to settle scores mistake you make, you’ll be accused with the epithet with each other. of ‘fake news.’ What keeps you up at night is not the criticism per se but, ‘Did I get it right, did I UNDER ATTACK double-check everything, did I protect my sources In this charged political atmosphere, journalists where I said I would?’” also have to be ready to defend themselves against Developing, evaluating and protecting sources partisan threats and bullying. Mak learned how to are crucial components of the job during a presi- weather abuse early in the presidential campaign dency where public pronouncements seem even when he found himself on the receiving end of further removed from deeper, hidden truths than a typically foul-mouthed rant by Trump’s then the Washington norm. personal lawyer Michael Cohen. “The stakes are very high and the partisan pas- Mak had the mental coolness to record the sions are flaring,” says Rosenberg, “so you have to exchange—including such classic Cohenisms be very careful.” Government officials and political as “So I’m warning you, tread very [expletive] figures with access to secret information have never carefully, because what I’m going to do to you is been more inclined to leak, and it’s the diligent going to be [expletive] disgusting”—and in his

M C GILL NEWS / 22 / WINTER 2018-19 reply (“Michael, besides the warning, do you have “There are two of us in the DC bureau for Global a substantive comment that I can include…?”), and we’re filing pretty much every day,” says de he managed to remain remarkably calm and La Cuetara. “It didn’t used to be like this, but now dispassionate. there are constant moving parts, there’s always a “Some reporters might have responded to the new tweet, it’s all everyone’s talking about. So it’s threat angrily,” he says, “but maybe my Canadian the best place to be right now in news—it feels like politeness wouldn’t allow it.” you’re witnessing a part of history.” The negativity in the Trump milieu is ines- Because she spent 18 months crisscrossing capable, and yet despite it (and sometimes even America on the presidential campaign for ABC, because of it), Mak sees his work as a constant living out of a suitcase in an endless succession of pleasure. “It’s vibrant—being a journalist in Wash- unpredictable 18-hour days, de La Cuetara is in the ington involves covering a new story every day, unlikely position of finding Trump’s Washington meeting new people, meeting new actors, getting relatively stable and quiet. But that all can change their opinions, understanding their point of view. with an impulsive presidential insult of Justin There are costs but also immense benefits to this Trudeau that suddenly needs to be parsed in hourly work—when you sift through huge amounts of reports for its potentially drastic consequences. information and find that diamond in the rough, “The story in retrospect is not just about a bom- of course you get a thrill.” bastic Trump tweet or how he handles personal The thrill of discovery is the endpoint of the relationships—it had real implications for NAFTA non-stop chase. But even the more mundane nature renegotiations. We have to keep an eye on how all of daily reporting and TV updates has been trans- this impacts Canadians down the line.” formed by the mercurial, unexpected zig-zags of Washington journalists, sometimes to their this frantic presidency. “It’s grueling, it’s exhaust- cost, have learned that the public’s capacity for ing, it’s long hours,” says Global Television’s Trump news is limitless. Ines de La Cuetara, BA’12—who on a rare day off “I had a funny moment in 2017,” says Barrett, still found herself transfixed by Brett Kavanaugh’s remembering the deep dive he was taking into the Congressional confirmation hearing. rumours of Russian interference at the time. >

NPR’s Tim Mak and The Wall Street Journal’s Byron Tau once worked together for the McGill Tribune

RON AIRA M C GILL NEWS / 23 / WINTER 2018-19 “If I thought the truth could be defeated, I wouldn’t do this job.”

“I was in the thick of it, I wasn’t thinking very well, De La Cuetara does yoga, visits museums, goes every day was a series of tense conversations and horseback riding, seeks out friends who are not my wife made me go for a physical—she thought I reporters and studies Mandarin (“You have to was going to break down, just exhaust myself. I was turn your phone off and pay full attention, so that’s in the doctor’s office in one of those paper [gowns] almost like meditation”). and the doctor says, why are you here? I said, well, Besides turning off his phone in the evening, work’s a little stressful. She says, what do you do? as all Washington journalists with an interest in I say, I cover the FBI. And she immediately goes self-preservation claim to do, Tau took a fellowship into a series of questions about what do I think the to Japan and researched a much-admired article investigation is going to find, what do I think of all about Japanese baseball culture—“probably the these individuals, and I’m politely nodding along most fun piece I ever got to write,” he says. thinking, this is great—is this monitor on, are you He also renewed an interest in chess, a distrac- tracking what’s happening in my body right now?” tion he had developed in the McGill Tribune offices —“although I took up chess on my cell-phone,” he A PRESSURE COOKER says, “so I don’t know if I actually curbed my phone The concept of work/life balance doesn’t have a lot addiction.” Rosenberg likes to go camping with of resonance in Washington, particularly among his children in (seemingly) remote Appalachia, journalists who feel energized by the very work that where he still can’t help assessing the inequalities exhausts them. To escape the craziness, Barrett, at of America through his journalistic lens. “Trump his son’s instigation, now clears his head and sheds is, if anything, a symptom of the deeper problems journalistic moodiness by making father-and-son we have. He is not the creator of them.” trips to the gym every morning—“My personal trainer is a nine-year-old,” he laughs. RON AIRA

Ines De La Cuetara is Global National’s Washington correspondent

M C GILL NEWS / 24 / WINTER 2018-19 Devlin Barrett writes about national security and law enforcement for the Washington Post RON AIRA

TARGETING THE PRESS at them by Trump supporters. “Journalists cur- There’s no doubt, though, that Trump has lev- rently have to grapple with public skepticism,” says eraged the latent hostility felt by his supporters Tau, “but the best thing we can do is to counter it against the media and created a raucous climate with good work. When I go to Trump rallies and of almost giddy animosity. “I’ve worked in places he points to the press, we get booed. But I never where journalists are treated like the enemy,” says felt it was truly menacing or ominous. You talk to Rosenberg, who had to leave both Afghanistan and the same people who heckled you and they can be Pakistan after being accused of being a spy. “It’s not quite friendly.” pleasant and makes the job much harder and adds There’s some consolation in that kind of face- risks. Here, we’re not that hard to find. If someone to-face encounter—the United States may not wants to do us harm, they’re going to do that.” be quite as divided and polarized and angry as That point was made frighteningly clear on it can seem when compacted into a presidential October 24, when the New York offices of CNN tweet. And that ultimately gives the embattled were evacuated after a suspicious package was Washington reporters more hope and confidence discovered in its mailroom. The package con- in the work they do. tained a pipe bomb. CNN (the vice president of “I do think it’s disturbing and worrisome,” says news gathering in its Washington bureau is Adam Barrett, “that part of the way to defend yourself as Levine, BA’94), along with The New York Times a public figure is to trash us. The best way to show and The Washington Post, are the news organiza- that’s not true is through the work. Certainly in tions most frequently accused of being “fake news” some quarters, there’s an effort to defeat the truth. by President Trump. I’m all in on the notion that truth is something that Rosenberg was the subject of Trump’s scorn doesn’t die or get buried. It can be delayed or held when he and his Times colleague Maggie Haberman up at the station. But if I thought the truth could reported on concerns among U.S. intelligence offi- be defeated, I wouldn’t do this job.” cials over the president’s habitual use of non-secure cellphones and how it made him vulnerable to John Allemang is a Toronto-based writer and a foreign spies. Trump declared the report a “Fake former feature writer with The Globe and Mail. His Story” on Twitter. work has earned a National Magazine Award and a Washington reporters generally feel more con- Digital Publishing Award, and has been shortlisted cerned with the inflammatory rhetoric of the for National Newspaper Awards and a Canadian president and his team than with the jeers hurled Online Publishing Award.

M C GILL NEWS / 25 / WINTER 2018-19 Why wait for grad school?

THANKS TO AN ARRAY OF OPPORTUNITIES AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL, A GROWING NUMBER OF MCGILL STUDENTS ARE GETTING THE CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE THE JOYS (AND FRUSTRATIONS) OF WORKING ON MAJOR RESEARCH PROJECTS BEFORE FINISHING THEIR BACHELOR’S DEGREES.

by Maeve Haldane GETTY ELENABS / GETTY IMAGES

M C GILL NEWS / 26 / WINTER 2018-19 oke your head into a McGill research INVESTIGATING THE THREE BARES lab—particularly in the summer— And, in at least one instance, that research has and you might walk away thinking helped us gain a better understanding of something that some of those graduate stu- that many McGillians walk past on a daily basis. dents look awfully young. There is a Tara Allen-Flanagan, an art history and English reason for that. They probably aren’t literature student, spent much of last summer Pgraduate students. delving into art archives to find out everything she In recent years, undergraduates at McGill have could about an iconic piece of McGill’s downtown had access to a growing number of opportunities to campus—The Three Bares fountain. dive into serious research work. Those opportuni- The naked marble men holding up an earthen ties will continue to expand, says Interim Deputy bowl on the lower field have been a familiar part of Provost (Student Life & Learning) Fabrice Labeau. the McGill landscape for generations of students, “We pride ourselves on being a research-in- but information about the fountain’s origins is tensive and student-centred university, in which almost as scant as the figures’ clothing. The official teaching and learning are informed by the latest name of the statue is The Friendship Fountain, and research,” says Labeau. “One of the key choices it was crafted by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, that McGill has made is to focus on having our whose family fame and wealth often overshadowed professors, who are star researchers, [teach] in her artistic talent. the classroom.” Vanderbilt Whitney’s papers were recently Undergraduates with an interest in experi- digitized for the Smithsonian Institutes Archives encing research for themselves should have the of American Art, and an exhibition about her opportunity to flourish in such an environment, sculpture—the first since her death in 1942—was reasons Labeau. McGill has an array of programs mounted this past spring in West Palm Beach. designed to promote undergraduate research So the timing was right. and these programs “allow students to apply By poking through unlabeled files and cross- their knowledge to real, current and cutting-edge referencing letters, Allen-Flanagan, supported research questions and problems.” by an Arts Undergraduate Research Internship Victor Chisholm, BA’97, the undergraduate Award (ARIA), pieced together a narrative. And research officer for the Faculty of Science, plays by working out the timing of the sculpture’s a major role in coordinating some of those pro- creation, Allen-Flanagan was able to find prelim- grams. “McGill is a special kind of university, inary sketches of the artwork, “as if it just popped where [undergraduates] get to participate in real out of thin air!” research,” he says. “Not just lab courses that teach Allen-Flanagan discovered the sculpture was existing techniques, not just washing test tubes commissioned for the New Arlington Hotel in —they play active roles in research that pushes Washington D.C., which was never built. Auguste forward the frontier of knowledge.” Rodin himself critiqued a sketch of the main male figure, and the sculpture was carved in 1913. >

M C GILL NEWS / 27 / WINTER 2018-19 All of this was lost in time, however, and when She credits former dean of arts Christopher the fountain was donated to McGill in 1931, Manfredi (now McGill’s provost) as the driving Allen-Flanagan says, “the three figures were hailed force behind the creation of ARIA in 2010. “[He] as representing England, Canada, and the United recognized this [gap] in opportunities for arts States coming together to hold up a bowl for the undergraduates, particularly those who were con- fertile soul of the nation! And this was sculpted in templating academia as a career.” The program 1913 to decorate a hotel, when she was studying is largely funded by donors and by participating Greek myth.” professors’ research grants. The Arts Undergrad- Gwendolyn Owens, director of McGill’s Visual uate Society of McGill University and the Dean Arts Collection, supervised Allen-Flanagan’s of Arts Development Fund also provide support. efforts. “I expected Tara would find back-and-forth Students who take on a summer ARIA position letters, but not all of this amazing material. It’s a benefit from the mentorship of a faculty member, very complicated story that Tara made much more while professors gain enthusiastic assistants who complicated by all she was able to find and figure contribute to their research agendas. out about these early sketches.” ARIA is only one of several programs at McGill The realization that there’s still so much that offer undergraduates the chance to take on to uncover in the world of art history led Allen- research responsibilities under the supervision Flanagan to apply to graduate school. of McGill professors during the summer months. What happens if a student isn’t enthralled by a The Faculty of Engineering’s Summer Undergrad- research project? Owens says that realization can uate Research in Engineering (SURE) Program, provide valuable insights of its own. She recalls one the Faculty of Science’s Science Undergraduate student who decided that art conservation—spend- Research Awards (SURA) and the Faculty of ing weeks at a time focused on the preservation Medicine’s Global Health Scholars program all of the same object—wasn’t for her. She pursued a offer undergraduates the opportunity to put their career in history instead. textbooks aside for the summer and see what The ARIA program is administered by the research looks like close up. Faculty of Arts Internship Office. “Unlike in the Like ARIA, these programs pay their under- sciences, where it is common practice for upper graduate participants for their work. And, like level students to work in their professors’ labs, the ARIA, the programs all benefit from the support of opportunity to work directly with a professor on generous donors. All four programs include major their research is less common in many arts disci- wrap-up events with research posters summa- plines,” says Anne Turner, director of the Faculty rizing the projects that the students worked on. of Arts Internship Office.

ARTS UNDERGRADUATE ALEX TRAN RESEARCH INTERNSHIP AWARD

SUMMER Offoh-Robert says the SURE program often UNDERGRADUATE allows students to try their hand at something RESEARCH IN new. “You might see a student from mechanical ENGINEERING engineering do a SURE [project] in electrical, or an architecture student who does one in civil. It allows our students to cross boundaries.”

NORTHERN EXPOSURE The McGill Global Health Scholars program also prides itself on its crossdisciplinary approach. While most of the students who take part in both its undergraduate and graduate streams hail from the Faculty of Medicine, students from other parts of the University are free to participate too. Steven Stechly would be one example. Stechly, who is doing a double major in political science and psychology, worked on a project last ALEX TRAN summer addressing patterns of violence and inter- generational trauma with the Cree Health Board in Waskaganish, in the Eeyou Istchee territory OUT IN THE FIELD that shares borders with northern Quebec. He was Civil engineering student Amara Regehr took part supervised by Anne Andermann, BSc’94, MDCM’02, in the SURE program last summer, working on a an associate professor of family medicine. > project that measured gas emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in British Columbia. Her supervisor was assistant professor of civil engineering Mary Kang. Regehr worked closely with Kang on the planning for the project, on the data collection in the field, and on the data analysis. ALEX TRAN Once in Fort St. John, B.C., (Regehr booked the flights and hotel, too), she and Kang drove around to examine sites. Because the wells were no longer in use, they should have been capped and buried quickly. But many were just abandoned and had been leaking gases like methane for years. “Com- panies don’t necessarily feel obliged to actually follow the protocol,” Regehr says. She hopes to work with Kang in the future and she’s definitely thinking of focusing more on environmental issues in her final years at McGill. “SURE is really a great program,” says Regehr. “Being able to learn outside the classroom is a wonderful thing,” says Chidinma Offoh-Robert, GLOBAL the director of administration for the Faculty of HEALTH Engineering and the interim associate director of SCHOLARS the McGill Engineering Student Centre. PROGRAM

Tara Allen-Flanagan (left), Amara Regehr (top) and Steven Stechly (right)

M C GILL NEWS / 29 / WINTER 2018-19 Before heading north for his summer research Jill Baumgartner, an associate professor with project, Stechly did preparatory research in Montreal the Institute for Health & Social Policy, has over- on “two-eyed seeing,” which is a way to incorporate seen the efforts of several undergraduates in Western approaches with Indigenous knowledge. the Global Health Scholars program and she is a He had many long phone conversations with those firm believer in their ability to make significant up north, including Cree elder George Diamond. contributions. “They’re dynamic, they’re smart. I Much of his work focused on lateral violence, a schedule meetings with them on Fridays because term that originated on the West Coast that describes I leave [work] feeling better about the world.” how the treatment by oppressors becomes so cultur- Her projects, which employ both undergradu- ally entrenched that the behaviour is perpetuated ates and graduate students, explore the impact of within Indigenous communities—people treating air pollution on health, and are truly global in span others as they have historically been treated. from the Tibetan Plateau to Colombia. “It’s helpful Elders in the community had proposed a shift in to just have extra hands,” says Baumgartner. “We focus to kindness and the positive. Building on this work [students] pretty hard, long days and there idea and the work done before him—even research- are lots of challenges from equipment breaking ing the neurological effects of kindness —Stechly to bad weather.” designed workshops on lateral kindness, another Baumgartner is often right there along with West Coast term that emphasizes resilience and them, helping to troubleshoot and fix equipment, social support. even scouring shops for a specific screw for an To make these interactive workshops cultur- instrument. “It’s important for them to see these ally relevant, Stechly used the Cree language as are not jobs we’re giving to them because they’re much as possible, and turned to the goose, which below us, these are jobs we do as well.” is central in Cree culture. Creating games that play on how geese work together and fly, for instance, NOT ALL CUT AND DRIED “really engaged the youth,” he says. He adapted The Faculty of Science’s Victor Chisholm estimates the workshop for different audiences. “Lateral that more than half of the undergraduates in his kindness is going to be different in a health care faculty take on at least one significant research setting, an educational setting, a youth protection project of some kind—some as part of an honours services setting. degree, some through the SURA program, and some “It was an incredible experience,” says Stechly through a series of independent research courses of last summer. He has applied to law school, and for undergraduates that are growing in popularity. plans to focus on the challenges in administrative These classes, designated as ‘396’ courses in health, about which he learned so much. most departments, also frequently offer undergraduates a chance to explore unfamiliar terrain. “It allows students to do research outside their own home department,” says Chisholm. “I think undergraduates recognize that research is an interesting thing to do, and they’re moti- “They’re dynamic, they’re vated [to do it],” says Earth and planetary sciences smart. I schedule meetings professor John Stix, the associate dean (research) with them on Fridays because in the Faculty of Science. I leave [work] feeling better about the world.”

M C GILL NEWS / 30 / WINTER 2018-19 SCIENCE UNDEGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARDS OWEN EGAN OWEN

Stix, a volcanologist, frequently incorporates There are other opportunities for students to undergraduates as part of his research teams, take part in research at McGill. The Faculty of Law taking them on expeditions as far afield as New supports research assistantships and travel grants Mexico and Iceland. “It’s not everybody’s cup of for research projects. Students in engineering and tea,” Stix says of research work. “[Some under- science-oriented faculties can apply for NSERC graduates] think there’s some sort of truth out Undergraduate Research Awards (co-funded by there. Well, there may be some sort of truth out participating professors and the Natural Sciences there, and research is trying to find the answer to and Engineering Research Council). McGill’s something, but it’s not cut and dried.” Projects go Social Equity and Diversity Education Office also awry, expected results go south, directions shift. supports undergraduates in summer research Students learn that perseverance and an ability initiatives in collaboration with the ARIA and to adapt are key. SURA programs. Biology student Océane Marescal found that Fabrice Labeau can list several ways in which out herself, working on a SURA project in the lab these programs benefit undergraduates: “An of associate professor of biology Frieder Schöck. understanding of the complexities and realities “Research can be a lot of fun, but it’s also at times of research at the cutting edge; skills in terms of frustrating.” work prioritization, management and teamwork Marescal spent the summer focusing on fruit that will be applicable in any future career; an flies—specifically a certain protein related to mus- inspiration to maybe pursue a career in research.” cle fibers. She gained an appreciation for how fruit Looking back at her SURE experience, Amara flies can serve as useful analogs for people in some Regehr says the chance to get involved in research ways—the work in Schöck’s lab could have impli- was eye-opening. cations for muscle diseases that afflict humans. “You see the university as not just your classes, She is grateful for the chance to have contrib- but as the research university that it is.” uted to such work and she is now applying for graduate studies “because of the amazing time I Maeve Haldane is a Montreal-based writer and had in Dr. Schöck’s lab.” a former editor of the McGill Reporter. Her work has recently appeared in Concordia University Magazine and The Montreal Gazette. Océane Marescal (pointing) discusses her work at the Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Conference

M C GILL NEWS / 31 / WINTER 2018-19 OWEN EGAN Cent ans d’avance sur son temps

IL Y A PLUS DE SOIXANTE ANS, LA « GRANDE DAME DE LA MÉMOIRE » RÉVOLUTIONNAIT LA NEUROPSYCHOLOGIE. AUJOURD’HUI, À CENT ANS BIEN SONNÉS, BRENDA MILNER NE SE SENT PAS PRÊTE À ACCROCHER SON SARRAU.

Par Julie Barlow (B. A. 1991) Traduction : Jean-Benoît Nadeau (B. A. 1992) Révision : Éric Berndsen

’est grâce à un simple exercice « Par le fait même, Brenda Milner démontrait de dessin que Brenda Milner, qu’il n’y a pas qu’une seule forme de mémoire, professeure à l’Institut neu- mais bien une multitude. Une découverte révolu- rologique de Montréal (INM), tionnaire! », affirme Julien Doyon (Ph. D., 1988), a réalisé une découverte capi- neuroscientifique en cognition et directeur du tale qui allait non seulement Centre d’imagerie cérébrale McConnell, à l’INM. Crévolutionner notre conception de la mémoire, « La contribution de Brenda Milner à l’étude de mais également mener à la fondation d’une toute la mémoire humaine est parmi les plus significa- nouvelle discipline : la neuropsychologie. tives qui soient », dit Eric Kandel, neuroscientifique Brenda Milner, qui a soufflé ses cent bougies à l’Université Columbia et lauréat du prix Nobel de le 15 juillet 2018 et qui poursuit activement des physiologie ou médecine en 2000. C’est d’ailleurs recherches à l’INM, ne se lasse pas de raconter la percée de Brenda Milner qui a incité Eric Kandel comment tout a commencé. En 1957, un collègue à se pencher sur l’étude des bases moléculaires de chirurgien lui demande d’examiner le cas d’Henry la mémoire au niveau des neurones. Molaison (H.M.), un patient du Connecticut atteint La neuropsychologue de renommée mondiale d’épilepsie devenu gravement amnésique à la suite a obtenu vingt doctorats honorifiques et plus de d’une intervention chirurgicale au cerveau. « Du jour soixante-dix prix, dont l’Ordre du Canada. Elle était au lendemain, H.M. ne se souvenait plus de rien », âgée de 91 ans, en 2009, lorsqu’elle s’est vu décerner raconte la titulaire de la Chaire de neurologie et le prix Balzan en neurosciences cognitives, une de neurochirurgie Dorothy-J.-Killam à l’INM, prestigieuse récompense assortie d’une bourse d’un bien campée derrière son bureau encombré de million de dollars. Puis, en 2014, elle a remporté le papiers. « Et je lui ai demandé de dessiner une prix Kavli, qui reconnaît une contribution excep- étoile en regardant sa main à travers un miroir. tionnelle dans les domaines de l’astrophysique, des Évidemment, il a fallu qu’il réapprenne à le faire. nanosciences et des neurosciences. > Or, non seulement y est-il parvenu, mais il s’en est souvenu. » Le cas de H.M. — son nom véritable n’a été dévoilé qu’à son décès, en 2008 — a révélé que la La Pre Brenda Milner lors d’un mémoire consciente et celle qui guide nos activités symposium spécial organisé en septembre 2018 par l’Institut motrices sont deux facultés distinctes. neurologique de Montréal en l’honneur de ses réalisations.

M C GILL NEWS /100 33 / WINTER 2018-19 UNE DÉCOUVERTE TOUJOURS BIEN ACTUELLE Eric Kandel explique que les travaux de Brenda Milner ont été parmi les premiers à démontrer la capacité du cerveau humain à réorganiser ses fonctions à la suite de lésions causées par un accident ou une chirurgie. « Elle a été à l’avant-garde des chercheurs qui ont soutenu que l’hippocampe (une structure interne du cerveau qui a vaguement la forme de l’animal) jouait un rôle très important dans le processus de formation des souvenirs. La démonstration qu’elle en a faite était révolution- naire dans le domaine. » « Cette observation fait encore l’objet de travaux par des scientifiques aujourd’hui! », mentionne Julien Doyon, qui étudie les mécanismes d’adap- tation des réseaux neuronaux dans l’acquisition d’habiletés motrices. « Nous sommes quelques milliers dans le monde à nous pencher sur les dif- férentes formes de mémoires, et nous cherchons essentiellement à répondre aux questions que SCANPIX Brenda Milner posait il y a 65 ans. » (Eh haut) La Pre Milner a reçu la Médaille d’honneur Pendant sept décennies, la professeure Milner de l’Assemblée nationale du Québec en mai 2018, a guidé plusieurs dizaines d’étudiants postdocto- qui lui a été remise par Jacques Chagnon, président raux vers une carrière en neuropsychologie et en de l’Assemblée nationale. neuroscience. « Ses étudiants ont pu s’appuyer sur (Au centre) La Pre Milner, le Pr John O’Keefe, M.A. 1964, ses observations initiales », indique Denise Klein, Ph. D. 1968, D. Sc. 2015 (à gauche), et le Dr Marcus Raichle directrice du Centre de recherche sur le cerveau, ont été colauréats du prix Kavli 2014 en neurosciences. le langage et la musique de l’Université McGill à (En bas) La Pre Milner en compagnie du Dr Eric Kandel, l’INM. Denise Klein est l’une des postdoctorantes lauréat du prix Nobel. venues à l’INM pour étudier avec Brenda Milner — dans son cas, c’était en 1992. Depuis vingt-six ans, les deux femmes collaborent à une étude portant sur les chaînes neuroniques participant à l’acquisition de langues maternelles ou secondes — chez des sujets bilingues. Julien Doyon raconte que ses étudiants la surnomment le « Filtre de Manchester », par allu- sion à ses origines. Car le « Filtre de Manchester » ne laisse rien passer. « La professeure Milner est une mentore très exigeante, non seulement sur le plan de la conception de la recherche et de la justesse des questions posées, mais aussi de l’évaluation et de la communication des résultats », précise Julien Doyon,

/ 34 / EGAN OWEN « Ça ne m’étonne pas du tout qu’elle n’ait jamais pris sa retraite. En fait, je crois que ce n’est même pas dans son vocabulaire. »

dont la thèse de doctorat a été supervisée par Brenda Brenda Milner doit sa nationalité canadienne Milner. « Parfois, elle raturait des pages entières au notamment à la guerre. Jeune boursière, c’est à crayon rouge. Ça signifiait “On reprend tout” ou “Rien l’Université de Cambridge, où elle a obtenu un à conserver”. » baccalauréat en psychologie expérimentale en « Elle vous donne son avis promptement et 1939, que Brenda Langford fait la connaissance de sans détour », dit Denise Klein. « Mais elle est très son futur époux, Peter Milner. En 1944, ce dernier ouverte à laisser ses étudiants explorer ce qui les étant sollicité pour collaborer au lancement du inspire. Elle joue très bien son rôle de soutien. » programme d’énergie atomique canadien, les fiancés Brenda Milner attribue sa réussite en neuro- se marient et déménagent à Montréal. « Je pensais psychologie à la curiosité, tout simplement. « Il vivre ici un an, et voici où ça m’a menée! », lance faut écouter son patient. S’il vous dit avoir des Brenda Milner, qui a enseigné la psychologie à problèmes de mémoire, c’est là-dessus qu’il faut l’Université de Montréal avant d’être recrutée par se concentrer », dit-elle. Julien Doyon rappelle McGill en 1953. qu’au début de sa carrière, Brenda Milner avait bien d’autres champs d’intérêt que la mémoire. CONTINUER DE TRANSMETTRE « Mais c’est en écoutant des patients qui disaient SON SAVOIR avoir des problèmes de mémoire qu’elle s’est mise Bien qu’elle soit une pionnière parmi les femmes à s’y intéresser », explique-t-il. de science, Brenda Milner n’aime pas beaucoup Denise Klein mentionne que, si le travail de parler des difficultés auxquelles sont confrontées Brenda Milner a conservé toute sa pertinence, c’est les femmes dans les cercles scientifiques. « Dans parce qu’elle appuyait ses travaux sur les résultats les années 1930, les possibilités des femmes obtenus. « Elle écrit bien, elle est très précise et étaient limitées parce qu’il y avait peu d’univer- fine observatrice, mais ce qui la guide, ce sont les sités qui admettaient des étudiantes », dit-elle. données. Elle ne s’est jamais fondée sur une idée « Mais j’étais très ambitieuse. Et ma mère l’était fixe qu’elle tentait de prouver. » également pour moi. J’étais très compétitive. On Selon Denise Klein, à un moment ou à un autre naît comme ça. » de sa carrière, Brenda Milner a écrit sur tous les Elle n’est guère plus loquace sur sa longévité. sujets relatifs au cerveau. Eric Kandel va plus loin : « Je pense que c’est génétique. Ma mère, qui était « Elle a été la première à puiser dans les ressources musicienne, a vécu jusqu’à 95 ans, et elle ensei- de la psychologie pour éclairer les sièges de la gnait encore la musique passé l’âge de 80 ans. Mais mémoire dans le cerveau. Sa contribution à l’étude je pense que, dans mon cas, c’est de l’entêtement. de la mémoire est tout simplement fantastique. Rien à voir avec un talent particulier. Il y a des gens Dans le domaine, son travail est absolument qui se découragent à la première difficulté. Je ne fondamental. » me suis jamais laissé arrêter. » > En 2017, à l’approche du centenaire de Brenda Milner, le New York Times a publié un article sur l’importance de son travail. En septembre 2018, l’Université McGill a organisé un symposium extraordinaire afin de souligner l’événement et d’honorer la longue carrière de la chercheuse. Puis, en décembre 2018, l’Université Rockefeller consacrera un symposium entier en son honneur, sous le thème Memory, Mind and Mechanism.

M C GILL NEWS 100 / 35 / WINTER 2018-19 du cas, mais s’il survenait quinze années plus tard, le Cette bande dessinée illustrant les travaux cerveau du patient avait eu le temps de se modifier de recherche de la Pre Milner sur le patient H. M., dans l’intervalle. Ce n’était pas idéal! Je me souviens par Johanne Davis (recherche et scénario) et Réal Godbout (scénario et dessins), est parue encore de la première fois où j’ai pu voir le résultat dans Les Grands Débrouillards en 2001. de la neuro-imagerie. Mon Dieu! Un cerveau vivant en action... C’était extraordinaire! » Si elle admet que le poids de l’âge se fait sentir, Et c’est ainsi qu’à cent ans, Brenda Milner physiquement et mentalement, Brenda Milner travaille toujours. Deux ou trois jours par semaine, entend continuer à œuvrer comme mentore. elle se rend au bureau à pied. « Elle dirige encore « J’adore mes jeunes étudiants. Ce sont mes amis. » 100une étudiante postdoctorale qui s’intéresse aux Comme elle l’a dit elle-même sur les ondes de dominances interhémisphériques. Ça ne m’étonne Radio-Canada au cours d’une émission honorant pas du tout qu’elle n’ait jamais pris sa retraite. son centenaire : « Quand on conjugue l’expérience En fait, je crois que ce n’est même pas dans son avec la vivacité des jeunes, on obtient une combi- vocabulaire », confie Julien Doyon. De son côté, naison gagnante ». Denise Klein croit que la professeure Milner ne Il n’est pas étonnant d’apprendre que Brenda différencie pas le travail des loisirs. « Ses amis sont Milner a une opinion bien arrêtée sur l’état de la ses collègues. Il n’y a pas vraiment de frontière recherche dans son domaine. « Au début, la neuro- entre son travail et sa vie personnelle. » psychologie n’intéressait personne. Aujourd’hui, Denise Klein nuance toutefois : « Brenda Milner cette discipline est très en vogue. Certes, c’est n’a jamais été un bourreau de travail. “Si vous gratifiant, mais la situation est telle que trop de n’avez pas la tête au travail, rentrez chez vous et jeunes souhaitent maintenant s’y consacrer. Je faites autre chose. Mais si vous en avez envie, venez veux encourager les gens à faire autre chose. Il faut travailler!”, disait-elle ». trouver de nouvelles voies. » Bien qu’elle préfère éviter le sujet de l’âge, Brenda Milner avoue être éblouie par les progrès Julie Barlow est journaliste et auteure. Elle a écrit scientifiques dont elle a été témoin en soixante- des articles en français et en anglais pour plusieurs dix ans de carrière. « Avant l’arrivée de la neuro- publications au Canada, aux États-Unis et en imagerie, dans les années 1980, on ne pouvait Europe. Elle collabore à L’actualité depuis long- observer un cerveau que sur un sujet décédé. Ça temps, et parmi ses livres, on compte The Story of allait si le décès avait lieu quelque temps après l’étude Spanish et Ainsi parlent les Français.

M C GILL NEWS / 36 / WINTER 2018-19 OWEN EGAN OWEN The sensational centenarian OVER THE COURSE OF HER 70-YEAR CAREER, BRENDA MILNER HAS BLAZED A TRAIL THAT THOUSANDS OF NEUROSCIENTISTS CONTINUE TO FOLLOW.

by Julie Barlow, BA’91

simple drawing exercise led “Brenda Milner is one of the most important Brenda Milner, PhD’52, DSc’91, contributors to the study of human memory stor- to a discovery that would radi- age,” says Columbia University neuroscientist cally alter everything we thought Eric Kandel, a Nobel Prize winner for his research we knew about memory. on the physiological basis of memory storage in Milner, who celebrated her neurons. 100thA birthday on July 15, and continues to do Kandel explains that Milner’s studies were research at the Montreal Neurological Institute among the first to demonstrate that brains could and Hospital, still likes to describe how the discov- reorganize their functions after damage from an ery unfolded. In 1957, a surgeon colleague asked accident or surgical operation. “She was one of the her to examine Henry Molaison, a 29-year-old man people who pointed out that the hippocampus [the from Connecticut who had suffered a bilateral small organ in the brain’s medial temporal lobe, brain lesion from a surgery that left him amnesic. resembling a seahorse, that is associated with “From one day to the next, ‘HM’ couldn’t remem- long-term memory] was important for memory ber a thing,” says Milner, The Neuro’s Dorothy J. storage. Her demonstration that the hippocampus Killam Professor. “But I asked him to trace a five- was critically involved in memory storage was a point star while watching his hand in a mirror. The revolution for the field.” mirror changes everything. He had to learn to draw “Researchers to this day are still working on her again from scratch. Not only did he learn, but he observations,” says Doyon, who investigates the remembered what he learned the next day.” changes in neural networks associated with the His ability to progress in this new skill from one acquisition of motor skills. “I am one of thousands day to the next was a startling finding. The case of researchers in the world studying different types of “HM”—his real name was only revealed when of memory, who are essentially working on the same he died in 2008—proved that conscious memory, questions she was asking 65 years ago.” > and memory of motor activities, are separate and distinct capacities. “Brenda Milner demonstrated that there wasn’t Brenda Milner at a just one type of memory, but a multitude of types. It symposium organized by the Montreal Neurological was revolutionary,” says cognitive neuroscientist Institute to celebrate Julien Doyon, PhD’88, director of The Neuro’s her 100th birthday McConnell Brain Imaging Centre.

M C GILL NEWS / 37 / WINTER 2018-19 What McGill Moment makes

Born in in 1918, Milner (then Brenda Langford) won a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where she earned a degree in experimental you #McGillProud? psychology in 1939. That’s where she met her future husband Peter Milner. When he was asked to help launch Canada’s atomic energy research program in 1944, the couple got married and moved to Montreal. “I thought I’d stay in Montreal for one “Performing with a student jazz group in year and here I am!” says Milner, who taught psychology at the Université de Montréal before New Orleans – the birthplace of jazz!” moving to McGill in 1953. Though a pioneer among women working in Over the decades Milner has guided dozens of science, Milner has little interest in dwelling on young researchers toward careers in neuropsy- the subject. “Opportunities for women in my time chology and neuroscience. “Her students have were very limited by the fact that few universities built on her original observations,” says Denise admitted women in the 1930s,” she says. “But I was Klein, one of Milner’s former protégés and now very ambitious. My mother was very ambitious the director of McGill’s Centre for Research on for me. I like competition.” Brain, Language and Music. Klein and Milner Asked about her longevity, Milner responds, “I have collaborated for the last 26 years, studying think it’s genetic. My mother, who was a musician, bilingual subjects to understand how different lived to be 95 and was teaching music until she neural pathways are used to acquire new and was in her eighties. I think part of my longevity native languages. just comes from stubbornness. It has nothing to Doyon says Milner is known by her students do with talent. Some people get put off by the first as the “Manchester Filter”—Manchester is the little difficulty. I’m just not easily deterred.” British city where she was born and ‘filter’ because At 100 years of age, Milner still walks to her she doesn’t let mistakes slip by her. “As a mentor, office a few days a week. “She still has a postdoc “Landing an internship with NASA in California” she is very, very demanding,” says Doyon, who did student working on inter-hemispheric differences his doctoral thesis under her supervision. “She in the brain,” says Doyon. “I’m not the slightest bit returned my writing to me with entire pages cov- surprised she has never retired. I don’t believe the “Winning the national squash championship” ered in red lines. It meant, “Go back to the drawing word is in her vocabulary.” Adds Klein, “I don’t think “ Trying to persuade the board,” or “nothing salvageable.” she differentiates between work and play.” “You know exactly where you stand with her and Milner admits she’s dazzled by the progress administration to name the student “Surviving my first Montreal winter” what her position is on things,” says Klein. “But she science has made during her 70-year career. “Until union building after William Shatner” is quite open to letting people explore what they neuroimaging became possible, in the 1980s, we “Meeting my future wife” find interesting. And she provides a supportive had to wait until people died to really see their role for that.” brains. I still remember seeing neuroimaging Klein believes Milner’s work has stood the for the first time. Oh my God! The living brain in test of time because she built her research on firm action! It was marvellous.” results. “She has always been very data-driven. She never had specific ideas she wanted to prove. She always worked with what the results showed.” Milner receives one of the many honorary degrees she has earned—this one from University of Calgary chancellor Robert Thirsk, MDCM’82 March 13, 2019

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M C GILL NEWS / 38 / WINTER 2018-19 What McGill Moment makes you #McGillProud?

“Performing with a student jazz group in New Orleans – the birthplace of jazz!”

“Landing an internship with NASA in California” “ Trying to persuade the “Winning the national squash championship” administration to name the student “Surviving my first Montreal winter” union building after William Shatner” “Meeting my future wife”

March 13, 2019

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G three spacewalks. survivor. Itwas during that mission that Williams performed prostate cancer and returning to space in2007 as acancer weightlessness through rollercoaster-type maneuvers. KC-135, aka ‘Vomit Comet’, which creates briefmoments of the Canadian SpaceAgency andNASA,includingflyingin a than 5,300 applicants. He describes therigorous training with Canada’s four new astronauts out of an original pool of more Sunnybrook Hospital when hewas selected in1992 as oneof graduation as the top clinical student, and the psychiatry prize. writes later inthebook,addinghewon theWood GoldMedal at that determines whetheryou will one day succeed,” Williams on to medical school at McGill. and PhDstudents intheprogram. He came outontop andwent to get thebestmarkinacompulsory physiology exam for master’s him to go directly into a PhDprogram at McGill. Williams vowed recounts how hefailed apresentation that would have allowed West Island. tackling his memoirs, which includes his early life in Montreal’s actually cometrue.” an explorer and exploring underwater and exploring space would Williams, BSc’76, MDCM’83, MSc’83, DSc’07. off thecoastofFlorida. water missions to Aquarius, the undersea research laboratory, Columbia, and in 2007 onEndeavour . He also went on two under He travelledaquanaut. to spacein1998aboard spaceshuttle the Edge of the Universe. Williams writes in his new memoir REVIEWS

He writes that failure is more instructive than success and “It was justremarkable to thinkthat my dream ofbecoming “I was very fortunate to explore the two final frontiers,” says Williams would later visitbothlocations asanastronaut and He also shares hisexperience ofbeingdiagnosed with Williams headedthe emergency department at Toronto’s “I learned that it’s what you do when you don’t succeed Williams wrote four children’s books aboutspacebefore FRONTIERS THE FINAL TALES FROM tion of the six-inch depths of the bathtub,” a facemask “and engage insnorkel explora- Jacques Cousteau spellbound,thenputon was intriguedinner—space. by outer—and rowing up in the1960s, He would watch TheUndersea World of Defying Limits: Lessons from DAVE WILLIAMS M C GILL NEWSGILL

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40 / spacewalk in 2007 Dave Williams during a Former astronaut spacewalking, it’s kindoflike skydiving inaway. It’s hard to train like asuperhero.” freedom—you pushyourself offwithafinger and youfloat alone I was there yesterday. It’s afunfeeling because it’s theultimate second flights, whenhe got to spacethe second time“it was like looking down at thepeopleinroom,” hesays. at allthinkingaboutwhat itwould belike sitting ontheceiling life experience …Icouldbesitting inaroom andhave noproblem horizon. “Just unbelievable, thespectacularbeauty ofit,” hesays. the storm. Then they saw the moon rising up over the earth’s ers andfloated freely inspacelookingdown through the eye of and Hurricane Deanis[there].’” and enjoy theview. You are comingupto theGulfofMexico of theplanetandHouston calls you andsays, ‘Take aminute space, you’re working away, you’ve got this spectacular view Williams says. you. “There isnoquestionthat it’s scary.” the vacuum of space and looking at theearthso far beneath the hatch opensandyou have to go doitfor real.” all thetasks, you never really know how you’re going to dowhen for. Andeven thoughwe train underwater andyou go through

WINTER 2018-19 “It was pretty incredible beingableto doit,” hesays. “With Brenda Branswell Even though it was about nine years between his first and “My brain, in a sense, is permanently different based on that Williams can stillimagine what it’s like beinginspace. He andfellow spacewalker Clay Anderson locked theirteth “You have to imaginethis:you’re outinthevacuum of By the third spacewalk, you are much more relaxed, It’s notanatural heacknowledges, act, going outsideinto -

NASA THE REAL LOLITA THE FLAME HEARTBREAKER EL COYOTE by Sarah Weinman, by Leonard Cohen, by Claudia Dey, BA’95 by El Coyote BSc’00 BA’55, DLitt’92

Martin Amis described Lolita, We’ve had a few opportuni- Two mysteries dominate Katie Moore, BA’98, Michelle one of the most critically ties to say goodbye to Leonard Claudia Dey’s riveting Tompkins, and Angela acclaimed novels of the 20th Cohen since he died in 2016. Heartbreaker. They both involve Desveaux, BSc(Agr)’02, century, as “both irresistible The all-star tribute concert at Billie Jean Fontaine. One possess three of the loveliest and unforgivable.” Vladi- the Bell Centre in 2017. The revolves around the manner voices in Montreal. The trio, mir Nabokov’s masterpiece record-breaking exhibition in which she first arrived in a all familiar figures in the focuses on a particularly vile at the Montreal Museum of small, strange, northern town, city’s folk and alt-country crime perpetuated by a partic- Contemporary Art that ended very much the outsider as she music scene, are also gifted ularly loathsome protagonist. last spring. stumbled, half-dead, from a songwriters, and they began Nabokov was sensitive to The Flame, a collection beat-up Mercedes. The other getting together on Friday any suggestion that he based of his poems, the lyrics focuses on why, years later, she nights around a kitchen table his book on real-life events, from his recent albums, and suddenly bolts from that same to share their latest works even though he included a selections from his many, town, after a prolonged period with one another. brief reference in the novel to many notebooks (he really of unnerving and unusual That eventually led to an actual crime that seemed was writing all the time), was behaviour. official group status as to offer many parallels—the his way of saying goodbye The story is told through El Coyote and the release of kidnapping and repeated to us. The book, says his son three perspectives: Billie Jean’s their first joint album. The sexual assault of an 11-year-old Adam in the foreword, “was spirited teenage daughter Pony band also includes bass player named Sally Horner. what he was staying alive Darlene (who is forming her Andrew Horton, BMus’00 Sarah Weinman digs deep to do” during his final days. own plan to escape the town), (no slouch in the vocal depart- into the Sally Horner case in Cohen himself was involved their dog (I was a little leery of ment himself, as evidenced by her book The Real Lolita, in selecting the poems in the dog as narrator, but Dey pulls his tender duet with Desveaux offering plenty of evidence that book and consulted with the it off) and a young man whose on “Another Day”). Nabokov was more influenced book’s editors on the other complicated relationship with Moore, Tompkins and by Horner’s experiences than material in it. Billie Jean keeps getting more Desveaux take turns in the he let on. One poem recounts an act complicated. spotlight, supplying lead He had been struggling of adultery during his mar- The town itself, formed by vocals on the songs they each with Lolita for years, coming riage (there is so much going a cult-like community decades wrote. Moore’s “Tip Jar” close to abandoning the proj- on in that one, it could have earlier, is a curious mix of is as buoyant a song as you’ll ect more than once. Weinman been a short story). There is a Northern Exposure and Wild, find about the drudgery suggests that the Horner playful swipe at Kanye West. Wild Country. It feels familiar in of a dead-end job, while case may have provided the The lamb chops at Moishe’s some ways (especially if you’ve Desveaux’s “Only Temporary” “necessary scaffolding for figure prominently in spent time in a small town) and makes a firm case for prizing all the ideas rattling around another. There is humour and deeply foreign in others. the important things in your in his head,” enabling him to heartache and moments that As Dey slowly parcels out life—the joys and tribulations complete the book. will make you remember that key revelations, the actions and are more fleeting than we Perhaps more importantly, Cohen wielded the English attitudes of characters become recognize. Weinman offers a gripping and language like few others. clear. The book lives up to its The album’s most magical sensitive exploration of Sally’s Don’t be surprised if your title—it will break your heart moments come courtesy of story, one that is hauntingly eyes are soft with sorrow as more than once. Then, unex- the gorgeous harmonies that sad and filled with surprising Leonard says his goodbye. pectedly, it puts the pieces back result from the collision of plot twists and colourful DM together again. three strong, distinct voices. characters of its own. DM Add in the irresistible twang Daniel McCabe, BA’89 of a steel guitar, and El Coyote is well worth a listen. DM

M C GILL NEWS / 41 / WINTER 2018-19

ALUMNI ACTIVITIES HOMECOMING CELEBRATION WEEKEND 2018

rom as far away as Australia, China, South Africa, South Korea and Japan—and across Canada and the U.S.—McGill alumni converged at the University’s two campuses for Homecoming weekend to enjoy a dazzling array of 80 events and a multitude of diverse personalities including: the outspoken ROXANE GAY, the witty STEVE PATTERSON, the irrepress- Fible CLASS OF ’68, the inspiring GINA MCCARTHY, the motivational BOBBY Photos by Owen Egan, UMAR, connected young alumni, ebullient tailgaters, Mac Campus faithful, accom- Joni Dufour, Paul Fournier plished Sports Hall of Fame athletes and prestigious scholars… among many others. and Matt Garies. Let the pictures tell the story…

David Dorey, BEng’48, greets classmate Traditional Leacock Luncheon piper leads Principal Suzanne Fortier, BSc’72, PhD’76, Elizabeth Montgomery, BA’48, as guest emcee Alex Johnston, BA’92, BCL/LLB’99, and guests of honour into the room to start Janet Lefebvre looks on during the sold- the sold-out 49th Annual Leacock Luncheon. out Golden Jubilee Dinner.

Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the US Environmental Bestselling author, professor and cultural commentator Protection Agency, captivated a sold-out crowd at Macdonald Roxane Gay wowed a sold-out audience at the Beatty Memorial Campus for the McGill School of Environment Annual Public Lecture. Lecture.

M C GILL NEWS / 42 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNI ACTIVITIES

The McGill Sports Hall of Fame’s new inductees include Prestige Scholars Cocktail (left to right): Greville Smith schol- (l to r) Shauna Denis, BCom’07, (hockey); Peter Smith, BEd’79, arship student Lauren Kirigin; Dean of Students Chris Buddle; MA’86, (representing the 2007-08 hockey Martlets); Danielle former Greville Smith scholarship student Dr. Rosalind Ward Day, BSc(PT)’05, (soccer); David Urquhart, MA’00, BCom’08, Smith, BA’94; emcee Sally McDougall, BSc’68, DipEd’69, and (hockey); Adam Mar, BSc’95, MSc’95, PhD’10, (soccer); and Greville Smith scholarship student Alek Ebbeling. Doug Vandor, BSc’98, MSc’01, (rowing).

Motivational speaker Bobby Umar, BEng’94, inspired young Physical therapy classmates from the Class of ’68 (from left): alumni with his presentation, Failing Forward. Judith Le Feuvre-Allan, BSc’75; Carolyn Jones, Sue Spencer, Sharol Nelson, BSc’77; and Jane Lavery at the Golden Jubilee Dinner.

All together at the McGill Women’s Alumnae Association meet Smiling supporters capture the moment at the Homecoming and greet event. Football Game & Tailgate.

M C GILL NEWS / 43 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNI ACTIVITIES

disruptive technological change, among other issues. survive andthrive inaworld of changing trade patterns and director Christopher shared Ragan, their insights on how to SuzanneFortier,Principal along with moderator andMBSPP sador to the European Costello,Union Daniel BA’84, and Stephen Toope, BCL’83, LLB’83, LLD’17, Canadian ambas- left),Panelists University of (from Cambridge vice-chancellor House inLondon. recent launchwith aRoad to 200paneldiscussion at Canada The Max BellSchoolofPublicPolicy celebrated (MBSPP) its LONDON CALLING < might yield. of ourbrains, andwhat important discoveries theirwork to share how theirprojects are shaping ourunderstanding the stage at Montreal’s PhiCentre for apublicsymposium & Mental Health, five of McGill’s leading researchers took to $10-million giftto theLudmer Centre for Neuroinformatics In celebration oftheIrvingLudmer Family Foundation’s LUDMER ON THE BRAIN < M C GILL NEWSGILL /

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WINTER 2018-19 < Shanghai. place for alumniandavenue for events in KFS Architects, designedto bea gathering donated space intheofficesofhiscompany, Peter Guo-huaFu SchoolofArchitecture, McGill was recognized with the naming of Housing’91, whose recent generous giftto of theMcGill ClubofShanghai. Fu, DipMin grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony McGill alumnusPeter Fu (centre) hosted the resenting Canada, Quebec and Montreal, In thepresence ofmany dignitariesrep- CHINA GROOVE Ludmer Centre researchers Rosemary Bagot, moderatedPhD’88, adiscussion involving vation) Martha Crago, BA’68, MSc(A)’70, From left: Vice-Principal (Research andInno Celia Greenwood andAlan Evans. andLudmer CentreMD-PhD’08, co-directors PhD’11, Kieran Karama, andSherif O’Donnell,

PAUL FORNIER - -

ALUMNI ACTIVITIES

O McGill Women’s AlumnaeAssociation. Women, is the new president of the eventorganizer for TEDxMontreal- investment at PSP Investments and French’13, manager for responsible Nicole Wilson,BSc’09, CertProf- fitting given Jabalpurwala’sfitting voluntary the startofhercareer. Shedidn’t have anetwork anddidn’t know and to beableto helpwiththeirfuture readiness.” many alumniwhowould bedelighted to spendtimewithstudents that’s an important role that alumni can play. And I know there are internships—connecting to the next generations of graduates— will propel usto thefuture. about fundsandfundraising, fundraising isacore partofwhat engaged andconnected to McGill, andwhilethisisnotonly Jabalpurwala. we are very committed to its success,” says alumni can support the bicentennial, and gears up for itsbicentennial in2021. the University’s 275,000 graduates. Association (MAA),whichrepresents position aspresident oftheMcGill Alumni that supportsandadvances brain research. Foundation, anational charitableorganization MBA’01, president andCEOoftheBrain Canada ing oncampus,” says Jabalpurwala (pictured), BA’89, MA’91, and yellow. centre stage, andtheslopeofMount Royal tinged withorange It’s something that Jabalpurwala herself would have liked at “At thesame time,having alumniinvolved inmentorship, She takes onthenew role asMcGill Her bird’s-eye view ofMcGill seems “The MAA’s role isto ensure that alumniremain “The MAAboard hasreflected onhow “I studiedintheArtsBuildingandit’s stillmy favourite build Inez Jabalpurwala isn’t the only Montreal-area McGillian taking onanew role for the MAA. its fall splendour, withthestately ArtsBuilding nothing shortofspectacular. purwala’s office indowntown Montreal is n thisautumnday, theview from Inez Jabal It looks out onto the McGill campus, in all STEPS INTO ROLEONCUSP OF M PRESENTING YOUR PRESIDENTS C NEW MAA PRESIDENT GILL’S BICENTENNIAL Here are someof the MAA’s other new leaders:

M of the McGillof Youngthe Alumni. Institute, is the new president Douglas Mental Health University research coordinator at the Concordia University anda former student inclinical psychology at Erin YongPing, MSc’12, adoctoral C GILL NEWSGILL

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45 / Jabalpurwala, whoaspired to aleadership position. ment andoperations andexpanded my career options,” says to doherMBAandmaster’s ofmanagement at thesame time. profit organizations after graduating, andlater returned to McGill careers are possible for someone withanartsdegree,” shesays. which doors to knock on. “I didn’t have anyone to talk to about what kind ofcareer that I’ve enjoyed inthisorganization.” because withoutmentors Iwouldn’t have beenableto have the BA’58, MSc(A)’60. Gaspé Beaubien Foundation co-chairNan-b deGaspé Beaubien, former McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum, DSc’17, andde and former federal financeminister Michael Wilson—as well as Taylor, former chairmanandCEOoftheRoyal BankofCanada, tors” who helpedher, two ofthefounders ofBrain Canada: Allan

WINTER 2018-19 “The MBAequippedmewithatoolkit ofskillsinmanage- “This is why Ireally understand thevalue of mentorship, She landedhercurrent role at Brain Canada in2001.Itwas, she Jabalpurwala worked in public relations and for several non- In additionto herfamily, shecredits the“amazing men says, exactly what she was looking for: an entrepreneur

working towards commongoals.” O W E ial start-uporganization withasocial mission. N

tial ofadiverse, interconnected ecosystem E G AN institutions. We sought to harness thepoten approach to research. Sinceitsinception Brain Canada promotes acollaborative across diseases, across disciplines, across in 1998, ithascontributed $250 million student leadership at McGill. an organization that promotes president of the Scarlet Key Society, student inphysics, is the new Igor Kozlov, aMcGill doctoral enabled researchers to work together to nearly300projects across Canada. “But what was missing was funding that infrastructure,” Jabalpurwala explains. individual labs, there was funding for “We saw there was fundingfor

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For booking information and destination brochures, visit: alumni.mcgill.ca/travel The alumni travel program provides funding to McGill for alumni and student initiatives. ALUMNOTES

AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

NGAIO RICHARDS, MSc’03, is a wild- STAR TORONTO life biologist in Montana and a canine handler working with the non-profit Working Dogs for Conservation. She is the editor of the recently published Using Detection Dogs to Monitor Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Protect Aquatic Resources. The book explores the role that detection dogs can play in gathering crucial data from often cryptic or JAYME POISSON, BA’06, and DAVID BRUSER, BA’99, elusive sources. received the 2018 JHR (Journalists for Human Rights) Award for Achievement in Human Rights Reporting for their Toronto Star ARCHITECTURE investigation into the mercury poisoning of the Wabigoon River RONALD FRANKLIN WILLIAMS, in northwestern Ontario and its impact on the Grassy Narrows BArch’64, was appointed to the Order First Nation. The story also received the 2018 Canadian Hillman of Canada as a new member for “his Prize for excellence in journalism in service of the common significant contributions to landscape good, and was a runner-up at the National Newspaper Awards. architecture through his designs, David is a deputy editor and investigative reporter with teaching and publications.” His book the Toronto Star, while Jayme now hosts the daily podcast Landscape Architecture in Canada was Front Burner for CBC. the product of 15 years of research and the first critical history of designed landscapes in the country. He is the LOUISE PELLETIER, MArch’90, to rate the ability of recreational skiers former director of the School of Land- PhD’00, is the new director of the Centre now in use at 150 ski resorts in the U.S. scape Architecture at the Université de de design at the Université du Québec He was elected to the U.S. Ski and Montréal and a semi-retired landscape à Montréal. She is the author of several Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1995. John architect, and architect. books on the history and theory of archi- is the chairman of the non-profit JULIA GERSOVITZ, BSc(Arch)’74, tecture including Architecture In Words; International Skiing History Association BArch’75, was named an officer of the Theater, Language and the Sensuous and lives in Katonah, New York. Space of Architecture. A professor at Order of Canada for “her contributions ANNE COLEMAN, BA’57, recently UQAM since 2006, she taught at McGill to heritage preservation in Canada published Inland Navigation by the from 1997 to 2006. and abroad.” A founding partner of Stars: A Memoir (BPS Books). The book the architectural firm EVOQ, she has chronicles her difficult childhood, her ARTS played a major role in award-winning feminist activism, her teaching career, conservation projects at Parliament Hill, JOHN FRY, BA’51, was inducted into and the time she spent in the company of Toronto’s Union Station, Rideau Hall, the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame in some of Canada’s leading literary lights, McGill and elsewhere. She is an adjunct November. He was editor-in-chief of including Margaret Atwood, Leonard professor of architecture at McGill. SKI magazine from 1964 to 1980, and Cohen, and Michael Ondaatje. Her MARTINE DION, BSc(Arch)’90, the founding editor of Snow Country previous book, I’ll Tell You a Secret: BArch’92, was named by the American Magazine. He raced on the McGill A Memory of Seven Summers, which Institute of Architects (AIA) to the AIA’s intercollegiate ski team, and is a member recounted her friendship as a girl with College of Fellows, an honor awarded of the Red Birds Ski Club. He invented the writer Hugh MacLennan, won to members who have made significant the FIS (International Ski Federation) the Edna Staebler Award for Creative contributions to the architecture Nations Cup, awarded annually to the Non-fiction and was shortlisted for the profession. Martine is a principal at country compiling the most World Governor General’s Literary Award for SMMA and the director of sustainable Cup points. He also created NASTAR Non-fiction. design for the firm. (National Standard Ski Race), a system

M C GILL NEWS / 47 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

Château Ramezay in Old Montreal from COLIN M. MACLEOD, BA’71, July 20 to November 18. Terry is a received the 2018 CPA Gold Medal for professor emeritus of history at Distinguished Lifetime Contributions

BERTILLE CHÉROT BERTILLE Wilfrid Laurier University and the to Canadian Psychology from the founder of the Laurier Centre for Canadian Psychological Association. Military Strategic and Disarmament He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Studies. He collaborated on this project Society of Canada in 2016, and received with Alexander Maavara. the Richard C. Tees Distinguished Leadership Award from the Canadian PIERRE COUPEY, BA’64, was Society for Brain, Behaviour and inducted into the Royal Canadian Cognitive Science in 2017. He is a Academy of Arts as a new member in professor of psychology and the chair May in recognition of his contribu- of the Department of Psychology at tions to Canadian art. His paintings the University of Waterloo. are in numerous corporate, university and public collections across Canada, MICHAEL CARIN, BA’72, is the author KAPWANI KIWANGA, BA’02, including the Canada Council Art Bank, of Churchill at Munich, published in was the winner of the 2018 Sobey the Simon Fraser University Art September. A novel of “alternate history,” Art Award. According to the prize Gallery, the University of Guelph the book imagines what might have jury, her work “addresses hidden Collection, and the Vancouver Art happened had Winston Churchill repre- authoritarian structures, institu- Gallery. He is one of the founding sented Great Britain at the 1938 Munich tional devices, and power imbalances co-editors of The Georgia Straight and Conference instead of Neville Chamber- to help us see the world differently.” the founding editor of The Capilano lain. As told through the prism of An installation and performance Review. Pierre’s first book of poems, this fiction, the subsequent history of artist, her work reflects her training Bring Forth the Cowards, was published the world proceeds rather differently. in anthropology, comparative by Louis Dudek in 1964 as part of the Michael is a journalist and former religion and documentary film. McGill Poetry Series. magazine editor in Montreal. The Sobey Award is worth $100,000 and recognizes exceptional artists PAMELA MILLER, BA’66, retired PETER DAVID EICHER, BA’72, under the age of 40. History of Medicine Librarian at recently published his first book,Raising McGill’s Osler Library of the History the Flag: America’s First Envoys in of Medicine, was awarded the Lifetime Faraway Lands (University of Nebraska NAN-B DE GASPÉ BEAUBIEN, BA’58, Achievement Award at the annual meet- Press). The book explores the experiences MSc(A)’60, was appointed to the Order ing of the American Osler Society. of the first American envoys in foreign of Canada as new member in recognition lands. Their stories, often stranger RON BURNETT, BA’68, MA’71, of “her contributions to telecommunica- than fiction, are replete with intrigues, PhD’81, stepped down as the president tions and for her efforts to support family revolutions, riots, war, shipwrecks, and vice-chancellor of Emily Carr businesses across Canada and abroad.” swashbucklers, desperadoes, and boot- University of Art + Design on July 31 A member of the Canadian Broadcasters leggers. Peter is a retired U.S. foreign after 22 years in the position. Under Hall of Fame, she played a pivotal role for service officer who served in Europe, his leadership, Emily Carr obtained years at Telemedia, once one of Canada’s the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific. university status in 2008, experienced leading broadcasters and publishing He specialized in political affairs— significant growth in the size of its companies. She is the co-chair of the de particularly human rights, conflict student population, and developed its Gaspé Beaubien Foundation. resolution and international organization. new campus on Great Northern Way. TERRY COPP, MA’62, recently “[Ron] has left an indelible impact, MURIEL GOLD, MA’72, recently published Montreal at War 1914-1918, not only on the university but on the published Speak Up! The Story of an exploration of the city’s history during global landscape of arts and culture,” Madame Jean-Louis Audet, Pioneer of the First World War. The digital book said Kim Peacock, the chair of Stage, Radio and the French Language, is freely available online at montrealat- Emily Carr’s board of governors. along with its French translation, war.com. An outdoor exhibition based Plus Fort! L’histoire de Madame Audet, on the project was on display at the Pionnière du theatre, et de la radio québécoises, amoureuse de la langue française. The books explore the life

M C GILL NEWS / 48 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

of the legendary Madame Audet, who CHRIS MELLEN, BA’85, has written had a significant impact on the banking trained generations of Quebecers to the third edition of Valuation for M&A, industry for the scope of a bank’s duties to value their linguistic heritage, many of a 480-page textbook published by third parties. Geoff is an adjunct profes- whom became the Québécois stars of Wiley. The book focuses on building and sor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty theatre, TV and film. measuring private company value, with of Law, where he teaches contracts and chapters on specialty topics such as exit contractual interpretation. CHRISTIANNE LAIZNER, BA’77, was planning, fairness opinions, intangible appointed to a five-year term as the new JANICE DENONCOURT, BA’88, is the asset valuations, and valuing start-up vice-chairperson of telecommunica- author of Intellectual Property, Finance companies. The book concludes with tions for the Canadian Radio-television and Corporate Governance published two comprehensive valuation case and Telecommunications Commission. by Routledge. The book explores how studies. Chris is a managing director She joined the CRTC in 2010 as gen- directors and boards need to respond to with Valuation Research Corporation, eral counsel, telecommunications, and the challenges posed by the global leading its Boston office. subsequently held the position of senior intellectual property ecosystem and general counsel and executive director GEOFF HALL, BA’87, was named to advocates for a responsible corporate of the CRTC legal sector. She became Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influen- culture of IP transparency. Janice is interim vice-chairperson of telecommu- tial list for 2018. A partner at McCarthy a senior lecturer with Nottingham Law nications in 2017. Tétrault LLP, he is the author of School in the United Kingdom. She Canadian Contractual Interpretation leads the school’s Intellectual Property SUSAN STROMBERG, MA’77, is a Law. He was the successful lead Research Group and is the editor of the sculptor whose works are on display at counsel on trial for Ontario Limited v. Nottingham Law Journal. both Rideau Hall and at the Canadian The Toronto-Dominion Bank, which Senate. Her work is also part of McGill’s visual arts collection. One of her newest pieces is “Coneflower” (painted steel with a stainless steel base). To find out more, visit susanstromberg.com. RUSSELL COPEMAN, BA’83, is the new executive director of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA). He is a former Côte-des- Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor in Montreal and a former Member of the National Assembly for Notre- Dame-de-Grâce. The QESBA is the voice of English public education in Quebec and represents 100,000 students in 340 elementary, high schools, and adult and vocational centres across Quebec. DAVID J. SHAPIRO, BA’83, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th annual Global Counsel Awards at a gala dinner in New York in 2017. The awards, presented by Lexology, the Interna- tional Law Office, and the Association of Corporate Counsel, celebrate the achievements of in-house counsel from leading international organizations in a wide variety of industries. David is the senior vice president, regulatory & international affairs and CLO of Air Canada.

M C GILL NEWS / 49 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

EVAN GOLDBERG, BA’05, was among the 2018 inductees selected for Canada’s Walk of Fame (CWOF). Collaborating with longtime partner Seth Rogen, he has co-written the screenplays for several films, including Superbad, Pineapple Express and This is the End. He has also co-produced such films as Knocked Up and The Disaster Artist and co-developed the TV series Preacher. The CWOF recognizes Canadians who have excelled on national and international stages in their respective fields. GAGE SKIDMORE GAGE

ANNE KATHLEEN HOWARD, BA’88, JAMES STEWART, BA’92, BEd’94, NICK HOUSEMAN, BA’97, recently is the author of the true crime book recently released his first bookBeing published his first novelOld Country His Garden: Conversations with a Serial Prime Minister (Dundurn Press). The Wounds, a tale of dark family secrets that Killer. Using written correspondence, book offers a behind-the-scenes look at explores the feeling of being torn between face-to-face prison visits and recorded the lives of Canada’s prime ministers, a new country and the country of phone calls, the book probes the from Sir John A. Macdonald to Justin your past. Nick is a co-owner and board complicated and conflicted mind of Trudeau. James interviewed six of member of the private jet company William Devin Howell, Connecticut’s Canada’s seven living former prime Elit’Avia. Old Country Wounds is most prolific serial killer. Anne appeared ministers for the book and has made available on Amazon. on the television show Crime Watch appearances on TVO’s The Agenda with JEFF OLIVER, BA’97, recently pub- Daily and was interviewed about her Steve Paikin and CTV’s The Social to lished The Two-Plate Solution (Bancroft work on the book for two Netflix produc- talk about it. He is a history teacher Press), a satiric novel that asks what tions, Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer in Toronto. and 21st Century Serial Killers. She happens when a reality TV cooking practices disability law in Connecticut. JULIAN HABER, BA’96, is the author competition is infiltrated by real terror- of Gigonomics: A Field Guide for ists? Publishers Weekly describes the DANA KOBERNICK, BA’88, is the Freelancers in the Gig Economy. The book as a “hilarious send-up.” Jeff is the communications manager for Lower book, which offers practical advice for vice president of current production at Canada College in Montreal. She launching a freelance career, argues Bravo Media. As a former Food Network recently published her first novel,The that learning how to get gigs is the new executive, he oversaw such shows as Prague Crystal, available on Amazon and survival skill of our times. Julian has Cupcake Wars, Worst Cooks in America Kobo and in select bookstores. For more been working in the gig economy as and Food Network Star. information, visit thepraguecrystal.com. a Montreal-based freelance photog- DOUG BURGESS, BA’99, recently rapher/writer for the past 15 years, YUSRA SIDDIQUEE, BA’91, has joined published his debut novel Fogland Point serving clients throughout Canada and Littler as a partner in the firm’s Toronto (Poisoned Pen Press). The book follows around the world. To find out more, visit office. She works with Canadian and its transgender narrator David Hazard gigonomicsbook.com. international companies on corpo- as he deals with unsettling mysteries in a rate immigration strategies, including NADINE BISMUTH (B. A. 1997, small New England village, including the developing immigration compliance M. A. 1999) publiera un nouveau roman murder of his ailing grandmother’s care- policies and facilitating the temporary intitulé Un lien familial, aux Éditions taker and the disappearance of a local and permanent entry of employees to du Boréal. Elle a publié deux recueils celebrity. Publishers Weekly described global destinations. She previously de nouvelles, Les gens fidèles ne font pas the book as a “standout,” praising it for its worked at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada les nouvelles (1999) et Êtes-vous mariée “elegant prose, a veritable Chinese box LLP where she led the business immigra- à un psychopathe? (2009), et un roman of puzzles, and authentic, well-rounded tion and international mobility team in Scrapbook (2004). Elle écrit également characters.” Doug is a professor of history Toronto. dans diverses revues ainsi que pour le at Yeshiva University in New York. cinéma et la télévision. SUSAN ELMSLIE, PhD’00, recently published Museum of Kindness (Brick Books), a collection of poetry. The book

M C GILL NEWS / 50 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Group, an internationally recognized ALLAN BAILEY, BA’06, became the Memorial Award. Her previous poetry team of more than 80 practitioners, new general manager of the Vancouver collection I, Nadja, and Other Poems which advises clients on matters ranging Canadians baseball team in September. won the A.M. Klein Poetry Prize and was from smart contracts and initial coin The Canadians are a minor league shortlisted for the McAuslan First Book offerings to regulatory compliance and affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Prize, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, consumer protection. His clients include Allan had served as assistant GM of the and a ReLit Award. She teaches English five of the top 50 crypto-currencies in Canadians since 2011, after first joining literature and creative writing at Dawson the world as well as many of the leading the team as a sales intern in 2007. He College in Montreal. pioneers in the blockchain community. helped the team win the John H. Johnson President’s Award in 2012, Minor League MERRYN ROBERTS-HUNTLEY, SARA KNELMAN, BA’02, is the new Baseball’s top award, presented annually BA’00, is the president and founder director of the Corkin Gallery in Toronto. on the basis of franchise stability, of FIXX Consulting, a sports-focused She has more than 10 years of interna- contributions to league stability, contri- marketing strategy and business tional experience in arts management, butions to baseball in the community, development consulting firm with curatorial practice and post-graduate and promotion of the baseball industry. clients ranging from start-ups to global teaching in the fields of art history, brands like Nike. She launched a second museology and the history of photogra- company in 2017. Made To Hire helps phy. She writes about contemporary young professionals market themselves art and photography for a variety of to reach their personal career goals. For publications, including Aperture, Frieze more information, visit madetohire.com. and Canadian Art. EVE HEPBURN, MA’01, is the co-editor CAMERON STRANG, BA’04, recently of The National Question and Electoral published his first book.Frontiers of Politics in Quebec and Scotland (McGill- Science: Imperialism and Natural Queen’s University Press). The book Knowledge in the Gulf South Borderlands, examines how questions of constitu- 1500-1850 (Omohundro Institute and tional change, national identity, and University of North Carolina Press) puts national grievance have played an the production of knowledge about the important role in the electoral calcula- natural world in the context of competing tions of political parties and voters in empires and an expanding republic in Quebec and Scotland. Eve is an honorary the Gulf South. The book examines how fellow at the Europa Institute at the this pursuit of knowledge was influenced WILL AITKEN, MA’75, University of Edinburgh and the manag- by multiple loyalties and identities, and was a finalist for the 2018 ing director of PolicyScribe Ltd. organized through contested hierarchies Hilary Weston Writers’ of ethnicity and place. Cameron is an JEREMY KUZMAROV, BA’01, MA’02, Trust Prize for Nonfiction assistant professor of history at the is the co-author of The Russians Are for his book Antigone University of Nevada, Reno. Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Undone: Juliette Binoche, Tragedy, the Second as Farce (Monthly ADAM ETINSON, BA’05, is a lecturer Anne Carson, Ivo Van Review Press). The book argues that in the School of Philosophical, Anthropo- Hove, and the Art of Resis- the demonizing of Russia and Russian logical, and Film Studies at the University tance. The book focuses on president Vladimir Putin in order to of St. Andrews in Scotland. Much of his a production of Sophocles’ challenge U.S. president Donald Trump research focuses on the philosophy of Antigone, translated by is dangerous, misguided and a major human rights. He is the editor of a new Carson, directed by Van distraction. Jeremy is a lecturer at Tulsa book, Human Rights: Moral or Political Hove and starring Binoche. Community College. (Oxford University Press), which brings The jury for the prize together a distinguished, interdisci- described the book as USMAN SHEIKH, BA’01, was named plinary group of scholars to address “a testament to the rough, to Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most philosophical questions raised by the mysterious power of art.” Influential list for 2018. A partner at many facets of human rights. Gowling WLG, he is the national head of the firm’s Blockchain & Smart Contract

M C GILL NEWS / 51 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

CHRISTIAN LANDER, BA’01, was part of a team of producers nominated for a 2018 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for their work on the ABC television show Blackish. He was also a consulting producer for the HBO comedy Vice Principals and one of the co-creators of the TV series Loosely Exactly Nicole. His 2008 book Stuff White People Like, based on his popular satirical blog of the same name, was a New York Times bestseller. ABC

KIMBERLEY MOK, DipEnviron- NELDA DAMIANO, PhD’11, became CONTINUING STUDIES ment’08, recently published The Modern the new Pierre Daura Curator of Euro- LILI-ANNA PEREŠA, DipManage- House Bus (The Countryman Press), a pean Art at the University of Georgia’s ment’97, has been the president and book that looks at how some people are Georgia Museum of Art in August. An executive director of Centraide of Greater remodeling used school buses into fully expert on Italian Renaissance art, she Montreal since 2013. She was named to functional tiny homes on the go and was the associate curator of the Cummer the Order of Quebec as a knight (chevalier) offers a glimpse into this adventurous Museum of Art & Gardens in Florida, and, in 2018. From 2009 to 2012, she served as and increasingly popular way of life. before that, senior exhibitions manager executive director of ONE DROP, an inter- Kimberley is a Montreal-based writer, at the National Gallery of Canada. In her national non-profit organization focused illustrator, designer and yoga teacher new role, she oversees the Pierre Daura on water initiatives. Prior to that, she with a background in architecture. Center’s collection of paintings, prints, directed several community and humani- drawings and sculptures by the SMRITI UPADHYAY, BA’08, was tarian organizations, including Les Petits Catalan-American artist Pierre Daura. awarded a 2018 Charlotte W. Newcombe Frères, YWCA Montreal and Amnesty Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship by the DANE STEWART, BA’13, is a Montreal- International France. Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship based playwright, multidisciplinary Foundation. Fellows receive a 12-month artist and arts educator. His play The EDUCATION award of $25,000 to support the final History of Sexuality ran for four nights at CALIN ROVINESCU, DEC’74, the year of dissertation work. Smriti is Place des Arts in August as part of Fierté president and CEO of Air Canada, was a doctoral candidate at John Hopkins Montreal Pride. The show delves into appointed to the Order of Canada as a University and her dissertation Montreal’s queer community, examining new member in recognition of his efforts is entitled Sacrifice, Selflessness, and issues surrounding sex work, race, in “promoting the associated charitable Struggle: Religious Mobilization and the disability and sexual assault. Dane causes and organizations of Canada’s contemporary Indian Labor Movement. recently received a $20,000 grant from largest airline, and for his leadership in The fellowships are designed to encour- the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec. spearheading humanitarian relief follow- age original and significant study of JACQUELINE BÉDARD, BA’15, ing several natural disasters.” ethical or religious values in all fields of recently published her first bookAnd the humanities and social sciences. MONICA KERWIN, BEd’78, CertEd- Hell Followed With Him with the Pulse Tech’88, SHEILA KERWIN, BEd’79, ALEX ROSENBLAT, BA’10, is the imprint Enigma. A literary thriller and MAUREEN NESTOR, BEd’77, author of Uberland: How Algorithms are inspired by the landscape on a road trip CertSecLang’81, all medalled at the Rewriting the Rules of Work (University from Ontario to Saskatchewan, 11th International Dragonboat Federation of California Press). The book examines Jacqueline describes the novel as Club Crew World Championship in how Silicon Valley technology is trans- “an unsettling campfire tale.” The book Szeged, Hungary in July. As members of forming the way we work and how Uber is available on Amazon. the Senior C 60+ Bytown women’s team, has built a new template for employment they won gold in the 500m, silver in the using algorithms and Internet platforms. 200m, and bronze in the 2K races. Monica Alex is a researcher at the Data & Society was also a member of the Senior C 60+ Research Institute and her writing has mixed crew, and won three more medals appeared in The New York Times, with that team, a gold and two bronze, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, bringing her medal total to six. Slate, and Fast Company.

M C GILL NEWS / 52 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

JEAN LASSEN, BEd’05, a former Legislature of the United Provinces of Olympic weightlifter, was inducted into Canada, and John A. Macdonald served the Yukon Sport Hall of Fame on May 4. as its first president. It is a place of In 2006, she became the first Canadian fellowship for a diverse community woman in 17 years to medal at the world committed to the betterment of their

EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE EUROPEAN PATENT championships after capturing a silver city and country, who are guided by the in the clean-and-jerk, in addition to principles of the club’s motto, “Savoir a bronze in the overall 69-kilogram Faire, Savoir Vivre.” weight class. A gold medalist at the PETER IRWIN, PhD’74, was appointed 2006 Commonwealth Games and at the to the Order of Canada in recognition 2008 Pan American championships, she of “his leadership in the Canadian wind also won bronze at the 2006 world cham- engineering field and his groundbreaking pionships, was a 15-time medalist at technique of wind sensor prediction.” various world university championships As the president and CEO of RWDI for PHILIP WATTS, BEng’91, MEng’95, and finished fifth at the 2008 Summer nine years, he led the firm’s interna- one of the co-founders of Olympics in Beijing. tional expansion and played a key role in WhalePower, was a finalist for the making RWDI the world’s largest private 2018 European Inventor Award in ENGINEERING wind engineering firm. He is a profes- the category of Non-EPO (European WILLIAM G. BLEVINS, BEng’69, sor of practice at Florida International Patent Office) Countries. He and recently marked his 50th year at University’s Department of Civil and his partners were recognized for Canadian National Railway in Montreal. Environmental Engineering. developing an energy-efficient ST-VIATEUR BAGELOGO He has been the chief mechanical and and quiet rotating blade design for electrical engineer in CN’s mechanical wind turbines and fans. The design, department (locomotives and freight inspired by the flippers of humpback cars) for the last 25E years.UR In June, he wasE UR EUR whales, involves turbine blades with AT BA AT BA AT BA I G I G I G elected as a FellowV of the American V V three-dimensional bumps on their - E - E - E T L T L T L

Society of MechanicalS Engineers. SinceS S leading edges that alter the flow of 1995, he has been awarded five CN air for greatly improved aerodynamic President’s Awards for achievements performance. The European Inventor MONTRÉAL MONTRÉAL MONTRÉAL and innovations at CN. Awards were launched by the EPO in 2006 to highlight the crucial MOHAN MUNASINGHE, PhD’73, took role that inventors play in the part in the global Climate Change Lead- innovation process. ership SummitC0 M40 Y55in K80Porto, PortugalCARDO inBOLD July. 2F2821 http://www.google.com/webfonts/specimen/Cardo He took part in a panel discussion on CARDO REGULAR climate change and sustainabilityhttp://www.google.com/webfonts/specimen/Cardo issues DANIEL JACOB, BEd’05, is an assis- along with former U.S. president Barack Delivery across Canada and USA tant coach with the Laval Rocket, the Obama and others before an audience American Hockey League affiliate of of 3,500 business leaders. Mohan was the Montreal Canadiens. Daniel was the vice-chair of the Intergovernmental an assistant coach with the QMJHL’s Panel on Climate Change, which shared Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for four the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. seasons, where he worked with Joël PAUL HESSION, MUP’73, was Bouchard, the Armada’s former head re-elected at the 2018 annual general coach who now holds the same position meeting of shareholders as the 74th pres- with Laval. The pair helped lead the ident and chair of the board of directors Armada to back-to-back President Cup for the Rideau Club in Ottawa. The club final appearances during the past two was established in 1865 by an Act of the seasons. Daniel is a former assistant coach with the McGill Redmen and played for the team as an all-star defenseman.

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Following the devastating 2010 earth- GRAHAM NESBITT, BA’58, BCL’63, quake in Haiti, he founded the Haitian recently published The Roads Less Association of Earthquake Engineering Travelled: Journeys Around the World and has been involved in efforts to foster and Beyond. His book chronicles remote the development of earthquake engineering and difficult journeys to South America, expertise in that country. He is the Canada Africa and Asia, all the while conjuring Research Chair in Earthquake Engineering images of a world largely inaccessible at the Université de Sherbrooke. to Western visitors at the time – and, in some cases, a world that no longer exists. WARREN ROBERT DUNN, BEng’95, is Graham practiced law for many years at the author of Lost to Time, a science fiction McCarthy Tétrault, from which he took novel and the second volume in his Raiders a number of sabbaticals to travel and Threat Trilogy. It is currently available for pursue adventures around the world. sale on Kobo and Amazon. RENÉE THÉRIAULT, BCL’93, The book is available on Amazon. LLB’93, became the new executive BHAVIN J. SHASTRI, BEng’05, SHARON SHOLZBERG-GRAY, legal officer for the Supreme Court MEng’07, PhD’12, recently joined Queen’s BSc’63, BCL’66, was appointed to the of Canada in August. The executive University as an assistant professor of Order of Canada as a member for “her legal officer acts as principal advisor engineering physics in the Department leadership in health care, notably for her to the chief justice, assisting him of Physics, Engineering Physics and advocacy for access to publicly funded with the administration of the court, Astronomy. Prior to relocating to Canada, and accessible health care services for the Canadian Judicial Council and Bhavin was an NSERC postdoctoral all Canadians.” She was the president the National Judicial Institute. She is fellow (2012-2014), a Banting fellow and CEO of the Canadian Healthcare also responsible for media relations (2014-2016), and then an associate Association from 1998 to 2008 and was at the court. She had been serving research scholar (2016-2018) at an influential advisor on the work of as counsel with the Supreme Court’s Princeton University. While at Princeton, the Royal Commission on the Future of law branch since 2012. he co-authored a textbook Neuromorphic Health Care in Canada. Photonics based on his research on artificial intelligence processors that NORMAN STEINBERG, BSc’71, GEORGE DEMOPOULOS, MSc’78, use light for ultrafast computing. BCL’75, was recently appointed to the PhD’82, chair of McGill’s Department board of directors of Dorel Industries Inc. ABDAAL MAZHAR SHAFI, BEng’14, of Mining and Materials Engineering, He is chair emeritus and former global and DIANA BARANGA, BA’14, are the was among 56 new Fellows inducted into chair of Norton Rose Fulbright, one of the co-founders of UpstartED, an education- the Canadian Academy of Engineering world’s largest law firms. He is also the focused enterprise that works with (CAE) in June. George has produced co vice-chair of the McGill University trained facilitators to develop learning more than 250 research papers and his Hospital Centre Foundation, the experiences for students with a focus on work in hydrometallurgy and advanced vice-chair of the Montreal Symphony design thinking, entrepreneurship and energy material processing is interna- Orchestra, the co-chair of the Australia digital literacy. FLORA BERTIN, BA’16, tionally recognized. Dean of Engineering Canada Economic Leadership Forum, is UpstartED’s director of marketing and JIM NICELL was also named a Fellow senior advisor to Persistence Capital communications. For more information, of the CAE this year. CAE Fellows are Partners (Canada’s only private equity visit upstarted.org. recognized for their “demonstrated firm focused exclusively on healthcare) desire and ability to go beyond the and a member of the board of directors LAW normal practice of engineering and for BFL Canada (an insurance brokerage). contribute in exemplary ways towards NAHUM GELBER, BA’54, BCL’57, was STEPHEN W. HAMILTON, BCL’84, their fields and to their communities.” appointed to the Order of Canada as a LLB’84, who had been a judge of the member for “his extensive philanthropic PATRICK PAULTRE, PhD’87, was Superior Court of Quebec, was appointed contributions toward the advancement of named to the Order of Quebec as a a judge of the Court of Appeal of Quebec Canadian education and artistic culture, knight (chevalier). A leading expert on in Montreal by Justice Minister Jody and for his promotion of intercultural earthquakes and structural dynamics, Wilson-Raybould. Prior to his appoint- he founded what is now known as the understanding.” His philanthropic Centre d’études interuniversitaire des support played a crucial role in the structures sous charges extrêmes. construction of McGill’s Nahum Gelber Law Library.

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ment to the judiciary, he practised law Bram’s father, SAMUEL FREEDMAN, Previously, she worked for more than with Martineau Walker (now Fasken BSc’48, MDCM’53, DSc’92, is a former 12 years for the law firm Fasken, where Martineau) from 1987 to 1990 and with dean of medicine and former vice- she rose to the rank of partner. The FGM Stikeman Elliott from 1990 to 2013. His principal (academic) at McGill, who encourages philanthropy as a major principal practice areas were commer- finished his career as director of the driver for well-being in Greater Montreal cial litigation, class actions, insolvency Lady Davis Research Institute at the JGH. and helps individuals, families and and competition law. organizations to support their community ARUN BAJAJ, BCL’93, LLB’93, is the by creating funds for selected causes in BRAM FREEDMAN, BA’87, BCL’91, new senior vice-president of human all sectors. LLB’91, is now the president and CEO resources and talent management of the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) for Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. GUILLAUME LAVOIE, BCL/LLB’06, Foundation in Montreal. For the last He is responsible for ensuring that the EMBA’16, was named to Canadian five years, he had been the vice- automobile alliance identifies, attracts, Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential list for president of advancement and external develops and retains top leadership 2018. A partner with Lavery, de Billy, he relations at Concordia University and talent. He is based in Yokohama, Japan. leads the firm’s private equity and venture helped bring fundraising to record capital team, heads the firm’s mergers TASHA LACKMAN, BSW’99, BCL/ levels at the institution. Bram’s move and acquisitions team, and is a member of LLB’03, is the new vice-president of to the JGH Foundation marks a its board of directors. He was among the operations for the Foundation of Greater family tradition. His grandfather, finalists in the Quebec Young Professional Montreal (FGM). Tasha had been the A.O. FREEDMAN, MDCM’12, a McGill category of the 2017 Arista contest associate director of strategic initiatives lecturer in anatomy, was the founding of the Jeune Chambre de commerce for University Advancement at McGill. chief of oto-laryngology at the JGH. de Montréal.

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DANIEL JUDD, LLM’17, is the inau- MIRKO BIBIC, BCom’89, is the new gural winner of the £10,000 Michael chief operating officer for BCE Inc. and Mustill Essay Prize. He won the award Bell Canada. He has been a part of BCE’s for his essay “Arbitral Independence operations since 2008, first serving as as Trusteeship.” The prize is overseen senior vice president of regulatory and by the International Dispute Resolution government affairs. In 2012, he became Centre, in association with St. John’s the company’s chief legal and regulatory College, Cambridge. officer. DINA PROKIC, BCL/LLB’17, earned NADEGE CONGER, MBA’90, is the first prize in the 2018 Nappert Prize in founder of SabbaticalHomes.com, a International Arbitration. The essay short-term online rental platform used contest invites participants to submit by academics in 57 countries. With more unpublished papers on commercial than 120,000 listings posted since 2000, arbitration or investment arbitration. SabbaticalHomes.com has helped pro- CATHERINE DAGENAIS, EMBA’18, Judges reviewed 80 entries for the prize fessors, postdocs, graduate students and recently became the new president from around the world. Dina, an attorney others find or offer temporary accom- and CEO of the Société des alcools in New York, won the top prize with modations for sabbaticals, vacations and du Québec (SAQ), becoming the first her paper “SIAC Proposal on Cross- other trips. woman to lead the crown corpo- Institution Consolidation Protocol: LARS B. ELLER, MBA’92, is the new ration since its creation in 1921. Can It Be Transplanted into Investment president and chief executive officer of A member of the SAQ team since Arbitration?” The Nappert Prize is over- Farmers & Merchants State Bank. He had 2000, she has held several senior seen by the Fortier Chair in International been at Royal Bank America since 2013 positions, including vice-president, Arbitration and International Commer- as executive vice president and chief sales network; vice-president, retail cial Law at McGill’s Faculty of Law and retail banking officer. strategy and customer experience; was established through the generosity and, most recently, vice-president of Sophie Nappert, BCL’86, LLB’86. JEAN-FRANÇOIS BUSSIÈRES, and chief operating officer. MBA’93, was named a member of the MANAGEMENT Ordre de l’excellence en éducation du Québec in June. The order recognizes SHEILA FRASER, BCom’72, was CHARLES STOTLER, LLM’16, and individuals who have made remarkable named an officer of the Order of Canada MICHELLE HANLON, LLM’17, are the contributions to the educational success for “her dedication to enhancing the new associate directors of the Master of of students. Jean-François is a clinical accountability of our governmental Laws Program in Air and Space Law at professor in the Faculté de pharmacie at institutions and for promoting Indig- the University of Mississippi School of the Université de Montréal and the head enous rights across Canada.” She was Law. Charles has advised international of the Department of Pharmacy at Canada’s auditor general from 2001 airports, international intergovernmen- CHU Sainte-Justine. tal organizations and trade associations, to 2011. and advocated for the growth of the space DANNY DI PERNA, MBA’97, became ARSHAD AHMAD, MBA’81, PhD’01, law discipline through the American the new chief operating officer for aero- became the new vice chancellor of the Society of International Law. Michelle is space at Bombardier in September. In his Lahore University of Management the co-founder and president of For All new position, he is responsible for lead- Sciences in August. He had been the Moonkind Inc., the world’s only orga- ing the company’s aerospace engineering, vice-provost, teaching and learning, at nization focused on preserving human procurement and transformation McMaster University for five years. He cultural heritage in outer space. For All functions. Bombardier’s Aerostructures also led McMaster’s Paul MacPherson Moonkind has been granted observer and Engineering Services segment will Institute for Leadership, Innovation and status at the United Nations Committee also report to Danny. He has more than Learning. Arshad is a former president on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. 30 years of aerospace and industrial of the Society for Teaching and Learn- experience. He most recently served as ing in Higher Education and a recipient vice president of global sourcing for of a 3M Teaching Fellowship, Canada’s GE Power. top national prize for teaching at the university level.

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CHRISTINA MATULA, MBA’00, is the ELIAS SCOUFARAS, BCom’08, is the MARIE SENÉCAL-TREMBLAY, author of a new picture book illustrated lead actor in End of Night, a short thriller EMBA’13, was appointed to a three-year by Pearl Law. The Shadow in the Moon that premiered at Montreal’s Fantasia term as a citizenship judge by Canada’s examines the colourful story behind the International Film Festival last summer. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Mid-Autumn Festival, a popular Chinese After completing his studies at McGill, Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen. Citizenship holiday. Christina is a member of the Elias moved to New York to study at the judges are responsible for making deci- board for Bring Me a Book Hong Kong, a Lee Strasberg Institute. He has appeared sions on some citizenship applications, non-profit organization that encourages in episodes of such TV shows as presiding over citizenship ceremonies families to read together and provides Murdoch Mysteries and Transporter. and administering the oath of citizenship books to under-served communities. to new citizens. DAVID URQUHART, BCom’08, joined CINDY BLACKSTOCK, MMgmt’03, a the San Diego Gulls of the American SEAN FINNELL, BCom’15, is the professor of social work at McGill, was Hockey League as an assistant coach. co-founder of MINDSET Brain Gym in named an officer of the Order of Canada The Gulls are the AHL affiliate of the Toronto. The gym places an emphasis on for “her leadership as a champion of NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. David was the mindfulness, offering meditation classes Indigenous children and for her efforts to assistant coach of the McGill Redmen with brainwave sensing technology, a build a culture of reconciliation.” for four years. He is a former all-star zero-gravity stillness pod, and a brain bar A member of the Gitksan First Nation, player with the Redmen and a member and lounge. For more information, she is the executive director of the First of the McGill Sports Hall of Fame. visit mindsetbraingym.com. Nations Child and Family Caring Society JEAN-MICHEL LAVOIE, MBA’09, of Canada. was named one of the 25 rising stars in ANDRES FRIEDMAN, BCom’03, the insurance industry by the Journal de was delighted to return to Montreal l’assurance (April 2018 edition). Since last fall after nine years of working for 2013, he has worked for Sun Life Finan-

Bombardier in Mexico, Toronto and cial where he is currently assistant vice MUSCHI CHRISTINNE Germany, in the areas of operations, president, product design, for the group supply chain and new programs. benefits business line. He is currently program director for ISABELLE BRISSETTE, EMBA’10, Bombardier’s business aircraft division. became the new chief advisor, security He looks forward to reconnecting and business resilience, at Rio Tinto with many colleagues and friends in June. She oversees a global team of in Montreal. security professionals for the company HORACIO ANELL, MBA’04, wrote and and advises senior management on published the Spanish-language murder issues pertaining to resilience strategy mystery Pesadilla de un hombre muerto and security. She has more than 20 years (Umbriel). of experience in intelligence, geo-political analysis, governance, and global corpo- ISHANA GOPAUL, BCom’04, MBA’11, ÉRIC GIRARD, BCom’89, is rate security management. recently joined Queen’s University as Quebec’s new finance minister. business officer and special projects DRISS DRISSI KAITOUNI, BCom’10, The former senior vice-president manager in the Office of the Vice-Principal is the co-founder of DabaDoc, an online of corporate treasury for the (Finance and Administration) where medical appointment booking platform National Bank, he was elected to she advances key priority initiatives and in Africa. DabaDoc began in Morocco the National Assembly on October 1 financial projects for the VP’s portfolio. and has since expanded to Algeria as part of the new Coalition Avenir Prior to her move back home to Canada, and Tunisia. More than two million Québec government. Pediatric Ishana was the finance manager of the appointments have been booked with neurologist and Université de Princeton Neuroscience Institute at the platform. AXA Insurance Morocco Montréal medical lecturer Lionel Princeton University, where she led recently became DabaDoc’s first Carmant, MedResident’92, also the institute’s financial and strategic institutional shareholder. joined the CAQ cabinet as its junior planning as a member of its senior health and social services minister. leadership team.

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JOANNE LIU, MDCM’91, IMHL’14, DSc’16, was one of three McGill graduates selected for Canada’s Walk of Fame (the others are screenwriter/producer Evan Goldberg, BA’05, and the late Leonard Cohen, BA’55, DLitt’92). As the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) since October 2013, she has played a leadership role as MSF provided support after the tsunami in Indonesia, assisted people affected by the earthquake and cholera epidemic in Haiti, worked with Somali refugees in Kenya, and tended to war-wounded patients in Syria. MSF

MARKUS REUBI, EMBA’16, has been of the Montreal Children’s Hospital for JOHN ANTONIOU, MDCM’91, PhD’99, promoted within the Federal Depart- two terms. A leading figure in the merger was recently elected to be the president ment of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland to of the five McGill teaching hospitals that of the Canadian Orthopaedic Associa- become the deputy head of mission at the now form the McGill University Health tion. He is a tenured professor of surgery Embassy of Switzerland in Tokyo, Japan. Centre (MUHC), he served as planning at McGill, an orthopedic surgeon at the He will act as chief operating officer director for the new Glen Campus of Jewish General Hospital and a chercheur within the embassy and coordinate the the MUHC. national du Fonds de la recherche en diplomatic work in various bilateral santé du Québec. He chairs the inter- ABRAHAM FUKS, BSc’68, MDCM’70, cooperation areas such as economy, national committee of the Orthopaedic was appointed a member of the Order finance, commerce, culture, science & Research Society and is a past president of Canada for “his contributions to the technology, education and tourism. of the Canadian Orthopaedic Research advancement of Canadian medical Society. research, notably for his exploration MEDICINE of the immunological features of Type YVES DE KONINCK, PhD’91, a profes- MITCHELL HALPERIN, BSc’58, 1 diabetes and of immune-based can- sor of psychiatry and neuroscience MDCM’62, was appointed a member of cer therapies.” He is a professor in the at Laval University, will receive the the Order of Canada in recognition of Departments of Medicine, Pathology and Biophysical Society’s Emily M. Gray “his renowned leadership within the field Oncology at McGill and a member of the Award at the annual meeting of the of nephrology as a clinician, researcher University’s Clinical Trials Research society next March. The prize recognizes and educator.” An emeritus professor of Group. He is a former dean of medicine significant contributions to education in medicine at the University of Toronto, at McGill. biophysics. Yves will be recognized for he received the American Society of his work in the development of inter- DANIELLE PERREAULT, BA’76, Nephrology’s Robert G. Narins Award for nationally renowned, transdisciplinary MDCM’82, was inducted into the Order teaching excellence in 2008. Earlier this training initiatives in neurophysics and of Quebec as a knight (chevalier). A year, he was honoured by St. Michael’s neurophotonics. family physician who has dedicated her Hospital at a plaque-dedication cere- career to improving the health outcomes KIMBERLEY LEBLANC, BScN’92, mony for his seminal contributions to of people living in remote communities, completed her PhD in nursing at Queen’s the development of the hospital’s she visits the Cree and Inuit villages of University in 2017. She is the chair of the Division of Nephrology. the Far North several times a year. She Wound Ostomy Continence Institute, the NICOLAS STEINMETZ, BSc’59, has also worked abroad in New Guinea, national nursing organization responsi- MDCM’63, was inducted into the Order Sierra-Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, ble for providing education in the areas of Quebec as a knight (chevalier). He Georgia and Vietnam. She was active of wound care, ostomy care and conti- played a key role in developing pediat- in the fight against the deadly Ebola nence to registered nurses and other ric services in Pointe St. Charles, Little outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 allied health professionals. She is an Burgundy, Kahnawake, Baffin Island and where she worked with the International adjunct professor at Western University northern Quebec. He was instrumental in Red Cross. and lectures in wound care at McGill’s the creation of McGill’s first family med- Ingram School of Nursing, where her icine unit and was the director general

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daughter Samantha Wiesenfeld is now Role of TIM4 in Driving Immune Toler- studying. Kimberley’s husband LORNE ance in Pancreatic Carcinoma. His lab WIESENFELD, MDCM’92, MedRedis- studies the role of pancreatic inflamma- ent’94, MedResident’97, is the vice-dean tion in the development of pancreatic of postgraduate medical education at the cancer and is interested in the critical University of Ottawa. genes that support cancer formation by ALBERTA OF UNIVERSITY suppressing the immune system, the GEORGE MILLER, MDCM’98, received body’s natural defense to fight cancer. the 2018 Translational Research Grant He is a hepatobiliary and pancreatic from the Pancreatic Cancer Action surgical oncologist at the New York Network (PanCAN) Research Grants University School of Medicine. Program for his project entitled Central HICHAM ALAOUI, PhD’99, was named vice president, biotherapeutics research & development, for Codexis, Inc. in July. Hicham takes on the newly created position as Codexis expands its biotherapeutics business. He was the senior vice president of discovery biology and the co-head of research at Symic Bio. He has more than 20 years of experience in JOHN DOSSETOR, PhD’61, is the a variety of drug discovery and develop- 2018 recipient of the Canadian ment organizations. Medical Association’s Medal of AK’INGABE GUYON, BSc’98, Service. He organized Canada’s first MDCM’04, MedResident’08, was a kidney transplant from a living donor co-recipient of the Public Health in 1958, co-founded the Kidney Physicians of Canada’s 2018 President’s Foundation of Canada and estab- Award. The prize is awarded to PHPC lished McGill’s kidney transplant members who have made an outstanding program in 1964. He has also been contribution to the society and who have a pioneering bioethicist and was the demonstrated a commitment to excel- director of the University of Alberta’s lence in public health and preventive Bioethics Centre from 1985 to 1996 medicine. Ak’ingabe was recognized for (it was later named the John Dossetor her efforts in sounding the alarm over Health Ethics Centre). RONALD LETT, MSc’92 (in purple what she regards as a weakening of public shirt), is the winner of the 2018 health in Canada. She is an assistant Teasdale-Corti Humanitarian Award, clinical professor of public health at the MUSIC presented by the Royal College of Université de Montréal. STEVE BELLAMY, MMus’98, is the Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. FLORENCIA IULITA, PhD’14, a new chief executive officer for the As the co-founder of the Canadian postdoctoral fellow at the Université Confederation Centre of the Arts (CCOA) Network for International Surgery, de Montréal, was part of a research in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. he is credited with helping to train effort co-led by Maria Teresa Ferretti, He was the dean of the Humber School 35,000 health care practitioners in PhD’12. The team reviewed the scientific of Creative & Performing Arts. As a Africa in life-saving surgical skills. literature to document whether and how recording engineer and music producer, CNIS courses focus on surgical Alzheimer’s disease differentially affects he has worked with many leading jazz and obstetrical skills training and men and women. The extensive review and classical musicians including Dave injury prevention, supplementing they published in the journal Nature Douglas and Juno Award winners Mike the teaching programs that already Reviews Neurology demonstrated that Downes, BMus’88, and Anton Kuerti. The exist in sub-Saharan Africa. sex and gender differences play a very rel- CCOA is a cultural centre dedicated to the evant role in the diagnosis and treatment visual and performing arts with a strong of Alzheimer’s disease, as supported by emphasis on educational programming. several independent studies.

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ED MCCAULEY, PhD’83, is the new president of the University of Calgary. A leading scholar in the field of population ecology, he first arrived at the university in 1985, serving as a professor in biological sciences and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair. In 2009, he moved to the U.S. and became the director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He returned to the University of Calgary in 2011 to become the institution’s vice-president (research). UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY OF UNIVERSITY

CLAUDIA FRIEDLANDER, DMus’99, ERIC ABRAMOVITZ, BMus’16, joined FRANK MYRON GUTTMAN, BSc’52, recently published Complete Vocal the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as MA’02, is the co-author of The Sir Fitness: A Singer’s Guide to Physical associate principal clarinet. Eric was Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Training (Rowman & Littlefield). A voice previously a member of the Nashville Hospital (McGill-Queen’s University teacher and certified personal trainer, Symphony Orchestra. He earned First Press). The book examines the remark- she adapts the principles of biomechanics Prize for Classical Clarinet at the 2017 able history of Montreal’s Jewish and motor learning to accelerate progress Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, General Hospital, from its early days in the music studio. She is the author a U.S. competition for outstanding young as a small community hospital in 1934 of the monthly column “Musings on clarinetists and saxophonists. open to all patients, regardless of race, Mechanics” for Classical Singer religion, language, or ethnic background, SIMON RIVARD, MMus’17, is the magazine. She is a faculty member at to its current status as an internationally new resident conductor of the Toronto the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie recognized medical and research centre. Symphony Orchestra and the new Hall and recently collaborated on an Frank is a retired professor of pediatric conductor of the Toronto Symphony interactive online career development surgery and the former chief of general Youth Orchestra. Simon, who had been guide for young singers that will be pediatric surgery at the Montreal the associate conductor of the Thunder published in book form in early 2019. Children’s Hospital. Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO), RIHAB CHAIEB, BMus’10, won third was included on CBC Music’s “30 Hot JONATHAN MEAKINS, BSc’62, prize among the female singers taking Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” DSc’15, was awarded an honorary degree part in the Operalia world opera com- for 2017. During the TBSO’s 2017-18 by Western University on June 19. petition. Founded in 1993 by Plácido season, he conducted over 30 concerts Known internationally for his expertise Domingo to discover and help launch with the orchestra and chorus. in immunobiology and in the field of the careers of promising young opera surgical infections, he was elected the singers, the 2018 competition took place SCIENCE Nuffield Professor of Surgery and Head of in Lisbon. Rihab, a mezzo-soprano, sang Department at Oxford University in 2002 THELMA PEPPER, MSc’43, was “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Saint- where he served until his retirement awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Saëns’s Samson and Delilah. The final in 2008. He spent much of his career at Merit, the province’s highest public competition was streamed by Medici.TV McGill, where he was appointed to the honour, in May. Now 98, she is the oldest to a large worldwide audience. Edward W. Archibald Chair of Surgery in recipient in the award’s history. She 1993. He was the surgeon-in-chief for the YOLANDA BRUNO, BMus’11, is the was honoured for her achievements as a McGill University Health Centre from new concertmaster for the Kingston photographer. Her work, which celebrates 1998 to 2002. Symphony Orchestra. She was awarded the uniqueness and spirit of Saskatche- First Prize and the Audience Choice wan people, particularly senior women, JOHN BERGERON, BSc’66, McGill’s Prize at the inaugural Isabel Overton has been exhibited across Canada and Emeritus Robert Reford Professor of Bader Canadian Violin Competition in Europe and was the subject of an Medicine, was named to the Order of in 2017. NFB film. As president of the Brunskill Quebec as a knight (chevalier). As a Elementary School Parent’s Advisory researcher, he has distinguished himself Council, she was instrumental in creating the first public school library in Saskatoon.

M C GILL NEWS / 60 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

through his highly cited studies of the SUZANNE FORTIER, BSc’72, PhD’76, DANIELLE MÉTHOT, BSc’84, proteins in human and animal organs, was appointed to the Order of Canada as DipManTour’92, is the author of A uncovering their functions in health and an officer “for her rich contributions to Healthy Life on a Healthy Planet: What disease. He chaired McGill’s Department scientific advancements and innova- We, as Individuals, Can Do to Make It of Anatomy and Cell Biology from tion in Canada, and for her governance Happen (Cambridge Scholars Publishing). 1996 to 2009 and received the McGill in academia.” McGill’s principal and The book examines how our health is University Medal for Exceptional vice-chancellor, she is the former dependent on the quality of our envi- Academic Achievement in 2016. president of the Natural Sciences ronment and focuses on the effects of and Engineering Research Council pesticides and the combustion of carbon JOE SCHWARCZ, BSc’69, PhD’74, is and a former senior administrator at fuels. Danielle is a design approval the director of McGill’s Office for Science Queen’s University where she served representative with Transport Canada and Society. His most recent book A Feast as vice-principal research and then and she has worked for more than 20 of Science (ECW Press) demystifies vice-principal academic. years on the research and development popular science in the “fake news” era. of gas turbine engines. He is the author of 16 bestselling popular MIKE HAYES, BSc’77, was inducted science books, including Monkeys, Myths into the Smiths Falls Recreation Hall of CHRISTINA M. GROZINGER, BSc’97, and Molecules and Is That a Fact? Fame in June. Born and raised in Smiths distinguished professor of entomology Falls, he was an alternate captain with and director of the Center for Pollinator BRUCE P. ELMAN, BSc’71, was the McGill Redmen hockey team during Research at Penn State, was elected as awarded an honorary doctor of laws from his time at the University. He has served the Law Society of Ontario on June 20. as a hockey coach, instructor and referee He is a professor of law at the University for 45 years and played a key role in the of Windsor where he teaches in the areas formation of the New Zealand Ice Blacks of constitutional law, the legal profession, From hockey team. He organizes an annual and legal ethics. He was the university’s n, hockey game in Smiths Falls in mem- $ per perso dean of law from 2000 to 2011 and per night ory of his son Connor that supports a 29 nights has been a two-term chair of the Law 3, 5 or 7 scholarship at Sacred Heart High School, 2, Commission of Ontario’s board of gover- assisting student athletes with their nors. He has also served as the integrity post-secondary education. commissioner for both the City of Windsor and the Town of Amherstburg. LORRAINE TÉTREAULT, BSc’77, won both the Ontario and Canadian 60+ KATHLEEN FOX, BSc’72, MBA’86, women’s championships in 2018. She was re-appointed as the chair of the competed in the 2018 World Masters Transportation Safety Board of Canada Squash Championships in Charlottes- in August. She has been a member of the ville, Virginia, finishing 11th in the 60+ board since 2007. Over the course of her category. She met Mike Hayes, BSc’77, career in air traffic control, she worked at McGill, reconnected with him in 1997, at Transport Canada control towers in and married him in 2005. Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles, Saint-Hubert and Montréal-Dorval, as well as at the GEORGE SAPOUNIDIS, BSc’80, FOR RENT Montreal Area Control Centre. She is MSc’84, is a musician who performs 15 HOUSES AT THE BASE OF MONT-SAINTE-ANNE a former vice-president, operations, under the name Chairman George. GROUPS OF 10 TO 80 PEOPLE for NAV Canada. She was inducted His latest album, which features popular FROM 4 TO 32 BEDROOMS into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in Greek songs performed in Mandarin 2016 and into the Women in Aviation Chinese, is Bringing the Greek Party to 1 800 461-2030 International (WAI) Pioneer Hall of China! He has performed at festivals WWW.CHALETSVILLAGE.CA Fame in 2018. throughout China and was the subject of the 2005 documentary film Chairman George.

M C GILL NEWS / 61 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES

MICHAEL GRUNSTEIN, BSc’67, a distinguished professor of biological chemistry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was awarded the 2018 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for his groundbreaking work on gene expression. He provided the first demonstration that histones — the proteins that package DNA within chromosomes — are more than inert structures that serve simply as spools for DNA. He and his team at UCLA showed that histones actually play an important role in gene expression. He shares the award with C. David Allis of Rockefeller University. The Lasker Awards are widely regarded as America’s top biomedical research prize.

an Entomological Society of America HADIYA RODERIQUE, BSc’03, was ERRATUM Fellow, acknowledging her contributions named to Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 In our summer issue, we included an item to entomology in research, teaching, Most Influential list for 2018. She is about physiotherapist and author extension and outreach. She is interna- the former co-host of the Canadaland: GLORIA GILBERT, BSc(PT)’67, in tionally recognized for her integrative Commons podcast, a freelance writer and which we mentioned her husband, studies on the mechanisms underpinning a PhD student at the Rotman School of Joseph Martin. That came as a surprise social behavior and health in bees and for Management. Her award-winning article to both Ms. Gilbert and her real husband, her advocacy for research, education and “Black on Bay Street” in the Globe and JOSEPH GILBERT, BSc’61, MDCM’65. conservation of pollinators. Mail was widely discussed by those in Our apologies to both of them. the Canadian legal community. ALEXANDRA KINDRAT, BSc’00, MSc’03, BEd’05, is a 2018 recipient of JORDAN CATRACCHIA, BSc’11, is a the Northern Lights Aero Foundation senior visual effects (VFX) compositor We’re always interested in what (NLAF) Education Award. A Montreal- and software engineer at Method Studios our graduates are up to. based science and mathematics teacher, in Vancouver, where he uses his techni- Please send your news to us at: she has been a member of the teaching cal and artistic skills to help create VFX McGill News faculty at NASA’s High School Aerospace shots for Marvel films. He received a 1430 Peel Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 3T3 Scholar Program at the Johnson Space screen credit for his work on sequences Email: [email protected] Centre in Houston, Texas. In 2017, she involving Thor, Rocket Raccoon and The submissions we receive may be took part in the Space Advisory Board Groot in Marvel’s record-breaking block- edited and/or shortened. roundtable on Canada’s future in space. buster Avengers: Infinity War. He has The NLAF is a foundation whose primary also worked on The Meg, Ant-Man and focus in on attracting young women to the Wasp, Deadpool 2 and Spider-Man: careers in aviation and aerospace. Homecoming. MARINA KAUFMAN HOLZ, BSc’01, DAPHNÉE VOYATZIS-BOUILLARD, became the new dean of the Graduate BSc’16, is a global advocate fellow for School of Basic Medical Sciences Mama Hope, an organization that at New York Medical College on promotes community-led sustainable September 1. She had been with Stern development. She has recently been in College of Yeshiva University and held a Guatemala and is organizing a fundrais- joint appointment in the Department ing campaign for local organizations of Molecular Pharmacology at the there. For more information, visit www. Albert Einstein College of Medicine. classy.org/team/175824.

M C GILL NEWS / 62 / WINTER 2018-19 ALUMNOTES McGILL BENEFITS JUST FOR YOU As a McGill graduate, you’re entitled to a range of exclusive benefits, all at significant savings to you.* From free library access to discounts in Montreal and beyond, your McGill degree continues to give back to you. That’s the McGill advantage. alumni.mcgill.ca/benefits *Some conditions may apply.

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artha Crago’s PhD launched her academic career, and often been inspired by the generosity of other faculty. “I would M the people she met through her field research in Northern think, ‘Well, they’re giving. I guess I should grow up some day Quebec left an indelible mark on her. So much so, that in her and do this.’” bequest to McGill, she is creating and naming an undergraduate scholarship for Indigenous students after Vilasi Annahatak, the woman who housed her during that time. I had that privilege, my children “Without the partnership of the Inuit community – all the way had that privilege, so I felt that from feeding me to participating in my studies – I would not we should, as a family, help have the career I’ve had. I owe it backwards.” somebody else go to university. For Crago, BA’68, MSc’70, PhD’88, her bequest is the chance to create an opportunity for a student who might not otherwise be Crago recalls an exciting time when she looks back to the able to attend McGill. late 1960s, when she was an undergraduate. “We thought “I had that privilege, my children had that privilege, so I felt that we had the power to make change, as 20-year-olds.” She cites we should, as a family, help somebody else go to university.” changes brought about by young people, especially in her As Crago points out, that kind of philanthropy benefits both native United States, including the end to the war in Vietnam future students and the University. “We’re getting better quality and desegregation. students because we can offer scholarships.” “We believed we could do things. I think that stays with you. Over her four decades at McGill – as a student, a professor, and I still believe that I can make things change. It is fundamental today as Vice-Principal of Research and Innovation – she has to the sense of who I am.”

Bequests and 1430 Peel St., Montreal, QC, H3A 3T3, Canada Toll Free 1-800-567-5175 T. 514-398-3560 Planned Gis mcgill.ca/pg [email protected] IN MEMORIAM

1930s JOHN COREY, BEng’51, F. KEITH RICHAN, BSc’36, in Ontario, on November 7, 2018. at Port Hope, Ont., on June 18, 2018. CARL R. KOSTOL, MDCM’51, THE GIFT OF DOREEN B. ADAMS, BA’39, at Baker City, O.R., on March 14, 2018. A LIFETIME at Westmount, Que., on September 21, 2018. JOY MEYER, BA’51, 1940s at Montreal, on August 12, 2018. WINNIFRED CARRIE JONES, BA’41, ROBERT F.C. VESSOT, BA’51, MSc’54, PhD’57, at Perth, Ont., on February 1, 2018. at Marblehead, Mass., on June 5, 2018. HADASSA GOTTHEIL, BA’41, LEE JACKSON WHITE, DDS’51, at Montreal, on August 12, 2018. at Perth-Andover, N.B., on May 27, 2018. JOAN M. BAILIN, BSc’44, MA’48, BSW’52, MSW’57, JOHN PETER FLANAGAN, BSc(Agr)’52, at Montreal, on June 25, 2018. at Montreal, on May 22, 2018. MAURICE CARON, BEng’44, JOAN KOURI, BA’52, MEd’78, at Ottawa, on August 10, 2018. at Pointe-Claire, Que., on February 6, 2018. ROBERT M. LANE, MDCM’44, AUDREY JOYCE WIPPER, BA’52, MA’55, at Victoria, B.C., on July 15, 2018. at Kitchener, Ont., on April 15, 2018. SHEILA MAKLAN, BSc’45, MSc(A)’68, DONALD GEORGE WALLACE, BCom’52, at Westmount, Que., on July 13, 2018. on June 17, 2018. KURT EKLER, BSc’46, PhD’55, JOSEPH BENDER, MDCM’53, at Ottawa, on November 12, 2016. at West Chester, Penn., on June 19, 2018. CREATING CHANGE THROUGH MARGARET W. PETERSON, BSc’46, LOUIS CASSAR, MDCM’53, at Santa Rosa, Calif., on September 17, 2018. at Montreal, on June 12, 2018. OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS MARILYN ELIZABETH BOWER, BCom’47, DAVID GERTLER, BCom’53, at Whitby, Ont., on June 27, 2018. at Westmount, Que., on June 2, 2018. artha Crago’s PhD launched her academic career, and often been inspired by the generosity of other faculty. “I would JOHN S. GALE, MDCM’47, DAVID ZACHARIN, DDS’53, at Montreal, on November 8, 2018. M the people she met through her field research in Northern think, ‘Well, they’re giving. I guess I should grow up some day at Raleigh, N.C., on October 3, 2018. Quebec left an indelible mark on her. So much so, that in her and do this.’” DONALD R. MOONEY, BEng’47, DONALD H. FRENCH, BSc’54, bequest to McGill, she is creating and naming an undergraduate at Montreal, on July 4, 2018. at Oshawa, Ont., on August 5, 2017. scholarship for Indigenous students after Vilasi Annahatak, the PETER TURCOT, BCom’47, JOAN FRISCH, BSc(PE)’54, woman who housed her during that time. I had that privilege, my children at Toronto, on October 29, 2018. at Cobble Hill, B.C., on October 20, 2018. “Without the partnership of the Inuit community – all the way had that privilege, so I felt that FREDERICK O. JOHNSON, BCom’48, TASS G. GRIVAKES, BA’54, BCL’57, from feeding me to participating in my studies – I would not we should, as a family, help on September 25, 2018. at Montreal, on September 27, 2018. have the career I’ve had. I owe it backwards.” somebody else go to university. OWEN. E. OWENS, BSc’48, MSc’51, PhD’55, JUDY V. T. HAMILTON, BA’54, at Westmount, Que., on July 6, 2018. For Crago, BA’68, MSc’70, PhD’88, her bequest is the chance to on October 7, 2018. create an opportunity for a student who might not otherwise be GRAEME W. BOSWALL, MSc’49, PhD’59, DENISE LATIMER, BA’54, Crago recalls an exciting time when she looks back to the able to attend McGill. at Charlottetown, P.E.I., on August 7, 2018. at Montreal, on September 26, 2017. late 1960s, when she was an undergraduate. “We thought ALAN C. LINDSAY, BA’54, “I had that privilege, my children had that privilege, so I felt that we had the power to make change, as 20-year-olds.” She cites JAMES E. IVERSEN, BA’49, MA’51, at Montreal, on September 4, 2018. we should, as a family, help somebody else go to university.” changes brought about by young people, especially in her at Montreal, on November 2, 2018. As Crago points out, that kind of philanthropy benefits both native United States, including the end to the war in Vietnam DOROTHY ELEANOR SIM, BSc(HEc)’49, PETER H. SIMS, BCom’55, future students and the University. “We’re getting better quality and desegregation. at Ottawa, on November 5, 2018. at Kitchener, Ont., on November 22, 2018. students because we can offer scholarships.” 1950s JILL LILLIE, BSc’56, “We believed we could do things. I think that stays with you. on October 12, 2018. Over her four decades at McGill – as a student, a professor, and I still believe that I can make things change. It is fundamental PERRY BLACK, BSc’51, MDCM’56, today as Vice-Principal of Research and Innovation – she has to the sense of who I am.” at Chestnut Hill, Penn., on October 28, 2018. JOHN G. PAGE, MDCM’56, at Pleasant Prairie, Wis., on November 23, 2018. DAVID C. COLL, BEng’55, MEng’56, at Ottawa, on September 6, 2018. BILL JAMES, PhD’57, at Toronto, on September 4, 2018. Bequests and 1430 Peel St., Montreal, QC, H3A 3T3, Canada Toll Free 1-800-567-5175 T. 514-398-3560 Planned Gis mcgill.ca/pg [email protected] M C GILL NEWS / 65 / WINTER 2018-19 IN MEMORIAM

JOSEPH SILVERSTONE, BA’57, BCL’61, GEORGE R. MACLAREN, BA’61, at Montreal, on June 23, 2018. at Mahone Bay, N.S., on August 30, 2018. THOBURN “TOBY” THOMPSON, MDCM’57, W. PETER ADAMS, MSc’62, PhD’66, at Cedar Falls, Iowa, on June 6, 2018. at Peterborough, Ont., on September 28, 2018. JOHN G. ELLIOTT, BSc(Agr)’58, JACK BOIDMAN, BCom’62, BCL’65, at Sudbury, Ont., on June 28, 2018. at Côte Saint-Luc, Que., on July 3, 2018. ARTHUR DALE KRACKE, MDCM’58, ROBERT FLINN, BArch’62, at Portland, O.R., on October 3, 2018. at Chester, N.S., on September 8, 2018. MORTON H. BESSNER, BCL’59, LESLIE R. BARRAN, BSc(Agr)’63, MSc’65, at Montreal, on September 25, 2018. at Ottawa, on July 10, 2018. KENNETH CANTOR, BSc’59, MDCM’63, HANNS B. WERNECKE, MA’63, at Montreal, on September 21, 2018. at Pointe-Claire, Que., on June 23, 2018. SEYMOUR D. STEINMAN, BA’59, BCL’64, DAVID JAMES CHRISTIE, BCom’64, at Montreal, on August 19, 2018. at Toronto, on September 7, 2018. ZENA F. WOLFE, BA’59, RONALD M. KRASNICK, MSc’65, MDCM’69, at Longboat Key, Fla., on June 7, 2018. on May 31, 2018. KAREN E. L. PAPE, BSc’66, 1960s at Toronto, on June 2, 2018. ENN JOMM, BSc’60, MDCM’65, JACK GREENER, BSc’67, MDCM’69, at Newmarket, Ont., on October 9, 2018. at Hollywood, Fla., on March 25, 2018. ANDRE M. LAURENDEAU, BEng’60, DipMan’64, BRIAN WHITE, DipEd’67, MEd’73, at Montreal, on September 21, 2018. at Gatineau, Que., on February 4, 2018. R. JAMES PLANT, BCL’60, HOWARD STEPHEN YUDIN, BSc’67, MSc’69, at Sutton, Que., on November 11, 2018. at White Plains, N.Y., on June 23, 2018. LAZARUS CAPLAN, BCom’61, ROWAN EMBERSON, PhD’68, at Montreal, on June 2, 2018. at Christchurch, N.Z., on October 7, 2018. G. HEWSON HICKIE, BSc’61, MSc’65, SARA WEINBERG, BA’68, DipEd’69, at Port Hope, Ont., on June 14, 2018. at Montreal, on June 27, 2018. DONALD E. HOLNESS, BSc(Agr)’61, MSc’63, HELENA EKLER, MSW’69, at Ottawa, on October 17, 2018. at Ottawa, on November 7, 2018. DONALD R. LEITH, DDS’61, at Montreal, on November 21, 2018. 1970s JAMES KEVIN DRURY, BSc’70, MDCM’76, at Encino, Calif., on September 7, 2018. The peaceful resolution of the Oka DAVID O. MUTCH, BSc’70, MDCM’75, Crisis in 1990 owed much to the con- at Saint-Jerome, Que., on October 17, 2018. tributions of JOHN CIACCIA, BA’53, SOPHIA TYMCHYSHYN, BEng’70, MEng’73, DipMan’81, BCL’56, one of the few government at Edmonton, Alta., on April 27, 2018. representatives that the Mohawk community had any faith in. His ARTHUR J. HOSIOS, BEng’72, MEng’75, cool-headed approach and openness at Toronto, on November 17, 2018. to Indigenous communities helped NEIL RICHARD FINKELSTEIN, BA’73, LLB’79, resolve the tense standoff. “He was a at Toronto, on June 12, 2018. guy who, when he said he was going to help, he wasn’t just ALASTAIR GILLESPIE, BCom’75, saying it. He actually did it,” said Serge Simon, grand chief at Toronto, on August 19, 2018. of the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake. Ciaccia, who served in the National Assembly for 25 years, also played a vital role HELEN BUDD HANNA, MA’75, in the negotiations that led to the James Bay and Northern at Pierrefonds, Que., on August 13, 2018. Quebec Agreement in 1975, representing Quebec premier Robert Bourassa in the talks with Cree and Inuit leaders. Ciaccia died on August 7, 2018 in Beaconsfield, Quebec. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, IN MEMORIAM BA’70, DLitt’93, was one of the most influential political columnists in the U.S.—according to the Financial Times, he “influenced U.S. foreign BLAINE BAKER, policy for more than two decades.” A emeritus professor of law, on July 11, 2018. former psychiatrist, Krauthammer MARGARET BECKLAKE, received a National Magazine Award professor emerita of epidemiology, biostatistics and and a Pulitzer Prize for his work as occupational health, at Montreal, on October 17, 2018. an essayist and columnist. A one-time McGill Daily editor ALTHEA DOUGLAS, BSc’47, MA’58, as a student, he ultimately veered towards conservative former associate editor (Fanny Burney Project) and politics. A regular columnist for the Washington Post, he archivist (Montreal Neurological Institute), was also a weekly commentator for Fox News. He served at Ottawa, on October 21, 2018. on former U.S. president George W. Bush’s Council on MARGARET HOOTON, MSc(A)’66, Bioethics. He died on June 21, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. retired associate professor of nursing, at Montreal, on August 25, 2018.

STEPHEN M. EARLE, DDS’76, ANASTASSIA KHOURI, at Ottawa, on May 1, 2018. librarian emerita, at Montreal, in June, 2018. JOHN KONCZYNSKI, BEng’76, GERALD KLASSEN, at Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., on April 25, 2016. former director of the Royal Victoria Hospital’s cardiovascular division, at Halifax, N.S., on August 6, 2018. 1980s SEYMOUR LEVINE, BEng’47, MEng’50, JOSHUA COHEN, BA’80, retired adjunct professor of architecture, at Montreal, on November 20, 2018. at Montreal, on October 9, 2018. , BEng’84, RAYMOND LEE COUSINEAU JOHN M. LITTLE, MDCM’61, at Vancouver, B.C., on August 4, 2018. retired associate professor of ophthalmology, JOCELYNE ST-LAURENT, BScN’85, at Montreal, on June 10, 2018. in Barbados, on May 28, 2018. ELEANOR A. MACLEAN, BSc’67, MLS’69, ATSUKO COOKE, MLIS’88, librarian emerita, at Montreal, on October 2, 2018. on September 8, 2018. PETER M. MILNER, MSc’50, PhD’54, KIM-NGAN DUONG, BEng’89, professor emeritus of psychology, at Montreal, on June 2, 2018. at Montreal, on April 7, 2018. LILLIAN RIDER, MLS’69, PAUL MASSICOTTE, BEng’89, MEng’97, retired reference librarian, on October 28, 2018. at Saint-Agapit, Que., on February 25, 2018. HARRY ROSEN, DDS’53, 1990s emeritus professor of dentistry, at Westmount, Que., on November 15, 2018. ARI JOSHUA LEVY, LLB’90, BCL’90, BA’90, MBA’90, on September 27, 2018. ARTHUR ROSENBERG, BSc’56, retired associate professor of medicine and oncology, PETER GOLDEN, BCL’91, LLB’91, at Montreal, on September 3, 2018. at Victoria, B.C., on July 31, 2018. PETER J. ROUGHLEY, MARTIN ROUTHIER, BA’97, emeritus professor of surgery, on September 16, 2018. at Montreal, on August 17, 2018. CLAUDIO SANDRIN, DipEd’72, 2010s former soccer coach for men’s team, on July 22, 2018. BRIANNA LOUISE DELAGRAN, BA’12, MA’18, GORDON C. SHORE, PhD’74, at Montreal, on May 16, 2018. emeritus professor of biochemistry, at Montreal, QIUXIANG SONG, BN’14, on September 7, 2018. at Suzhou, China, on October 20, 2018. KENNETH S. WOODMAN, BMus’67, FACULTY AND STAFF retired professor of music, at Westmount, Que., on August 8, 2018. SUSAN ABERMAN, former chief of staff to the principal, at Montreal, on September 15, 2018. ELSPETH ANGUS, BSc’51, MSc’66, staff member, Department of Pathology, at Montreal, on May 30, 2018.

M C GILL NEWS / 67 / WINTER 2018-19 MCGILL MOMENT A FEAST FOR THE EYES Some of the most arresting items in the McGill Library’s Visual Arts Collection are now on display on the fourth floor of the McLennan Library Building. The 40 pieces of art, which include works by Norval Morrisseau and members of the Group of Seven and the Beaver Hall Group, were put on permanent exhibition last spring. OWEN EGAN OWEN

M C GILL NEWS / 68 / WINTER 2018-19 16.1222

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