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Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 154: 1410-1411
Montreal-born surgeon Dr. Lucille Teasdale, who was infected with HIV 10 years ago while operating on a patient, and her husband, Dr. Piero Corti, have been given a humanitarian award for running a hospital in the northern Ugandan town of Gulu. Teasdale and Corti established St. Mary's-Lacor Hospital in 1961 and transformed it from a clinic to a modern 450-bed hospital. The award, given for "exceptional undertaking of high moral and humanitarian value," came from Italy's most prestigious academic and cultural institution, the Academia Nazionale dei Lincei. Teasdale says the $300 000 award will be used to "prepare the future of the hospital for when we aren't there anymore." She has also received the Order of Canada and the Order of Quebec.
The BC Health Research Foundation has received a private donation of $100 000 to establish the James A. and Donna-Mae Moore Endowment Fund for medical research in Parkinson's Disease and related neurodegenerative and movement disorders in adults. Dr. Lynn Raymond, assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, is the first researcher to be supported through this fund.
La société pharmaceutique Hoechst Marion Roussel Canada et la Faculté de pharmacie de l'Université de Montréal ont créé la chaire Hoechst Marion Roussel sur l'analyse socio-économique de la pharmacothérapie, grâce à une dotation de 500 000 $ sur 5 ans de Hoechst Marion Roussel Canada. Ce centre d'excellence sera orienté vers des activités de recherche et d'enseignement et portera sur l'aspect socio-économique du médicament. M. Jean-Paul St-Pierre, vice-président, Affaires scientifiques, de Hoechst Marion Roussel Canada a souligné que l'industrie pharmaceutique doit se préoccuper de l'utilisation optimale du médicament puisqu'elle désire être un partenaire de confiance dans le domaine des soins de santé.
Last August, 62-year-old long-distance cyclist Dr. Réal Préfontaine of Abbotsford, BC, completed a gruelling 1202-km bicycle race in France in 79 hours and 18 minutes. The Paris-Brest-Paris race challenges cyclists to finish the course in the quickest possible time. Préfontaine, the oldest Canadian to finish, has been cycling competitively for just a few years, but from 1991 to 1994 he raised more than $6000 for the British Columbia Lung Association in the association's annual 200-km TREK. In 1994 he received the Confederation Medal for his efforts.
The Canadian Federation of Medical Students has announced its 1995-96 executive, which includes Nicholas Withers, president and David Keegan, past president. Vice-presidents are Susan Bannister, education; Kevin Busche, communications; Joshua Tepper, services; and Stephen Crummey, finance.
Dr. Calvin Gutkin has been named executive director of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and chief executive officer of the recently established Research and Education Foundation. He succeeds Dr. Reg Perkin, who has retired. Gutkin was chief of medical staff at the Credit Valley Hospital, Mississauga, Ont., and for many years was director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto.
Dr. Charles Scriver has received the Wilder-Penfield Award, the Quebec government's highest biomedical research honour, for his contribution to the advancement of human genetics. His initial findings led to the addition of vitamin D to fluid milk; other contributions include improvements to genetic-testing programs and the creation of a Canadian food bank to meet the needs of children experiencing inherited metabolic disease. Scriver, who is associated with many international organizations and societies, teaches pediatrics and biology at McGill University, where he holds the Alva Chair in Human Genetics.
The Toronto Cell Cycle Group led by Dr. Brenda Andrews has claimed one of the largest industry research grants ever awarded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Canada. With $1 million from MRC and about $4 million from Apotex Inc., the group -- which includes Drs. Brenda Gallie, Paul Hamel, Michael Moran, Linda Penn, Robert Phillips and Michael Tyers from the University of Toronto and partner teaching hospitals -- will investigate how cells divide, communicate with each other, stop growing and die. The 5-year funding will create 15 new scientific positions.
Dr. Sandy Murray, a family physician from Red Deer and past president of the Alberta Medical Association, has been named Physician of the Year by the Alberta chapter of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. A 1977 graduate of the University of Alberta, he has maintained a special interest in asthma, dermatology and occupational medicine while being involved in organized medicine and with various hospital committees. He served on the CMA Board of Directors from 1989 to 1991.
Dr. Tom Dickson, a past president of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and member of the CMA Board of Directors, has been named chief of staff at the Peel Memorial Hospital in Brampton, Ont. An otolaryngologist, he is past chair of the Joint Management Committee of the Ontario Ministry of Health and the OMA.
The University of Ottawa (U of O) and the Research Development Corporation of Japan have entered into a $20-million agreement to study the genetic causes of neuromuscular diseases. The 5-year venture, which commenced Jan. 1, will be codirected by Dr. Joh-E Ikeda, professor of medicine at Tokhai University School of Medicine, and Dr. Robert Korneluk, professor of pediatrics at the U of O and director of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). The project builds on an earlier collaboration that included the laboratory of Dr. Alex MacKenzie and led to the identification of the gene for spinal muscular atrophy. MacKenzie, also of the U of O and CHEO, will be a Canadian group leader.
University of Western Ontario first-year medical student Alexander Lee will receive the Star of Courage in May for his attempt to rescue a woman who was being attacked by a man with a machete in Hamilton on Dec. 3, 1994. Lee witnessed the attack on his way home from work and jumped in to subdue the man. LifeScan Canada Ltd., a Johnson & Johnson company, is offering $20 000 to recognize excellence, achievement and commitment in overcoming the challenges of diabetes through athletics. The prize will be administered by the International Diabetic Athletes Association and awarded annually to people who distinguish themselves as role models.
| CMAJ May 1, 1996 (vol 154, no 9)  /  JAMC le 1er mai 1996 (vol 154, no 9) |