SPRING 2018 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MEDICAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE MAAMATTERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER Medicine by Design DONOR APPRECIATION • WILDERNESS WALKS Fresh air and sunshine keep TREASURER’S REPORT DR. LYNDON MASCARENHAS (1984) med students grounded Alumni reach out and make a difference OUR ALUMNI DONATED GENEROUSLY loans and have over $560,000 in loans to including the Aboriginal Health Elective, in 2016/2017 to help medical students with medical students and graduates. We granted which the MAA 4T6 Memorial Fund much-needed financial assistance, and to over $170,000 in awards, bursaries, scholar- supports, and the fourth annual Dr. Peggy support student-life and alumni initiatives. ships and grants and over $83,000 in student Hill Lecture on Indigenous Health. With your help, we received $261,010 in assistance through the Faculty of Medicine As of February 28, 2018, with the guidance donations from alumni for MAA programs, as a result of MAA directed endowed of Mr. Dennis Babcock of BMO Nesbitt a 4 per cent increase over the previous year. donations. Our support to the Medical Burns, our portfolio is valued at $6,566,884, PHOTO: GALLOP JAYSON PHOTO: With a bequest of $1.8 million for student Society totalled approximately $18,000 an increase of 2 per cent over the previous year. financial aid and $248,970 in donations to for academic and non-academic initiatives. Thanks to all of our donors; our volunteer GET restricted funds, our donation total is just We maintained our commitment in board of directors; Patricia Coty, our over $2 million. 2016/2017 with funding to several manager; and Sarah Groom, our administra- We disbursed $92,000 in new student student-organized groups and events, tive assistant, for their ongoing support. OUTSIDE Wilderness Meds group fosters students’ love of the outdoors DEAN’S MESSAGE DR. TREVOR YOUNG eep in the wilds of U of T’s St. George campus is a group let in Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes region for an overnight retreat. They of med students eager for less concrete and more calm. enjoyed a brisk Saturday morning hike and then practised medita- DMeeting about once a month during the academic year, tion in the afternoon. Led by the Faculty’s mindfulness meditation members of the Wilderness Meds group have one thing in common: group, Wilderness Meds participants discovered new techniques to they love the outdoors. manage stress. Changing health care Just one of U of T Medical Society’s many organizations devoted to The group also organized MedWAR (Medical Wilderness Adventure student life beyond the classroom, the group encourages participants Race), which tests the wilderness medicine and survival skills knowl- to enjoy nature while learning about wilderness emergency medicine. edge of student teams in a race-against-the-clock adventure event. Hannah Kozlowski and Tristan Brownrigg (both in “Activities can include treating symptoms of a WITH THE RIGHT INVESTMENT, AIDS is a chronic condition, and mental the discovery of stem cells at U of T and the Class of 2T0) are Wilderness Meds co-ordinators. heart attack, followed by hoisting food into a tree – expertise and partnerships, what seems illness is openly discussed and often treatable. major advances in medicine – and bringing Hannah, who is also an MD/PhD student in her first which you commonly have to do while camping in impossible one day can change – almost in Not every research finding or medical together an impressive cross-disciplinary OF MEDICINE FACULTY PHOTO: year of doctoral studies, explains that the 50-plus reg- the forest,” Hannah explains. With med student vol- an instant. When I was in medical school, advance will revolutionize health care – and network of researchers and clinicians across istered participants represent a wide range of abilities. unteers acting as judges, the event puts their class- childhood cancer was a death sentence, our system is far from perfect. But we’ve several departments, faculties and U of T- “It’s a really interesting turnout this year,” says room skills to good use. AIDS was incurable, and mental illness come a long way. affiliated hospitals and sites – Medicine by Hannah. “For instance, for our camping trip in late For Tristan, being part of Wilderness Meds is helping meant patients would inevitably suffer: either This potential is palpable in the field of Design harnesses Toronto’s strengths, with September/early October, we had a few people who him define his practice goals. “The outdoors has always in silence or in sanatoriums. Today, we are regenerative medicine (see the article on the lofty goal of transforming health care. It’s had never camped before. At the same time, we had been a big part of my life, and at first I hadn’t thought on the verge of curing many kinds of cancer, Medicine by Design, page 4). Building on ambitious, to be sure. But it’s not impossible. a lot of experienced campers and hikers.” how it would impact my choice of career and specialty,” THE WILDERNESS MEDS CLASSES 2T0 AND 2T1 WILDERNESS MEDS CLASSES 2T0 THE “It’s great to be able to facilitate outdoor experiences he says. “But over the last year, with working in the FROM OF PARTICIPANTS COURTESY PHOTOS for people like Hannah and myself who have been camping basically Kawartha Lakes area and being part of Wilderness Meds, it has led me to since we started walking,” says Tristan. “It’s also great to share our love see how I might pursue a more rural focus in my medical career.” of the outdoors with first-timers and see their interest sparked.” Practising emergency or family medicine in the country would MAA Matters is published by the Groom, Ms. Fiona Irvine-Goulet, For more information, We do not rent, trade or sell our Medical Alumni Association in Dr. Peter Kopplin, Ms. Julie Lafford, please contact: mailing list. If you do not wish to That camping trip fell on an unseasonably cold weekend, with allow Tristan to be closer to what he loves doing. “Working in a more co-operation with the University Dr. Lyndon Mascarenhas, Ms. Carolyn Patricia Coty, Room 3249, receive MAA Matters, please contact us. of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. Morris, Dr. James Paupst, Dr. Grant Medical Sciences Building, Tristan doing extra shifts tending the evening campfire. As the frosty rural setting means I’d be five minutes away from hiking or fishing, ON THE COVER: Thompson, Dr. Trevor Young. 1 King’s College Circle Dr. Shaf Keshavjee Editor: Susan Pedwell Toronto ON M5S 1A8 (1985) night progressed, campers drew closer to the fire and each other, instead of an hour or more drive.” Design and Art Director: Tel.: (416) 978-0990 Contributors: Dr. Arnold Arai, Luisa De Vito Canadian Publications Mail Product sharing stories and roasting many, many marshmallows. The Medical Alumni Association supports the University of Toronto’s MEDICAL Dr. Alexandra Berezowskyj, Ms. Elaine Email: [email protected] CUSTOMER # 7022738 ALUMNI Website: maautoronto.ca ASSOCIATION Carey, Ms. Patricia Coty, Ms. Sarah Cover Photo: Ian Crysler Contract # 41679520 In another event this past winter, about 20 students rented a cha- Medical Society through an annual grant. The MAA respects your privacy. 2 University of Toronto • Spring 2018 Medical Alumni Association 3 Heart Lung Neural Intestine ARCHITECTS OF PROJECTS SPAN Blood THE LiverFOLLOWING AREAS:Pancreas Blood Musculoskeletal Enabling Technologies HIGH-TECH HEALING and Diabetes } Collaboration is built into U of T’s Medicine by Design initiative Heart Heart Lung Neural Intestine Heart Lung Neural Intestine Intestine Heart Lung Neural Intestine Liver Heart Lung Neural Intestine Liver Liver Pancreas Pancreas Blood Blood Musculoskeletal Musculoskeletal Enabling TechnologiesEnabling Technologies and Diabetes and Diabetes Lung Liver Pancreas Blood Musculoskeletal Enabling Technologies and Diabetes Heart Lung Neural Intestine ABOVE: Statues of U of T stem cell he Globe and Mail described the 2015 announcement of Medicine by Design, U of T’s physical and life sciences, collaborators and Musculoskeletal giants Drs. Ernest McCulloch, left, and $114-million regenerative medicine hub, as “one of the world’s pre-eminent body shops, partners are creating a high-tech bench-to- James Till grace the MaRS Centre a place where made-to-order cells, tissues and organs are developed and manufactured to bedside continuum, from initial research to T Liver Pancreas Blood Musculoskeletal Enabling Technologies RIGHT: A trainee from a Medicine improve health and extend life.” clinical translation to commercialization. and Diabetes by Design-funded lab discusses his Funded by a Canada First Research Excellence Fund grant, the largest single research award Funded initiatives include 19 collaborative team projects, such as Dr. Michael Lafl amme’s Heart Lung Neural Intestine research at the annual Medicine by in U of T’s history, this multidisciplinary hub for regenerative medicine stands on the shoulders investigation into repairing damaged hearts by injecting them with human embryonic stem Design symposium of U of T stem cell giants hematologist Dr. Ernest McCulloch (1948) and biophysicist Dr. James cells (hESCs). The goal is to “re-muscularize” the hearts by overcoming the remaining barriers Neural INSET: Dr. Shaf Keshavjee speaks with Till. Their identifi cation of stem cells laid the foundation for the discovery of the cells’ potential to the successful development of hESC-based cardiac therapies. This multidisciplinary research Michael Sefton, Medicine by Design’s Heart Lung Neural Intestine executive director to repair and regenerate diseased tissue. has the potential to transform the way heart attacks are treated.Liver Pancreas Blood Musculoskeletal Enabling Technologies Based in the MaRS Centre’s innovation tower and built on the model of a collaborative design Medicine by Design brings together investigators from across U of T – from theand Faculties Diabetes of Heart Lung Neural Intestine studio, Medicine by Design is tackling some of our biggest health challenges, from heart disease Medicine, Applied Science and Engineering, Arts and Science, and Pharmacy – and its affi liated to neurological conditions.