Unfortunately, I’m starting this post off with very sad news. As many of you know, Dr. Linnea Veinotte passed away tragically in Grenada on December 6. She completed postdoctoral studies in our Department of Microbiology & Immunology in 2013. While studying here, she held a Killam Fellowship and the Rossetti Fellowship in Cancer Research. From colleagues and friends, I’ve learned of Linnea’s passion for her work and the level of enthusiasm she brought to teaching. Her contributions to science and community will be missed. Our thoughts and condolences are with Linnea’s family.
As 2015 comes to an end, I want to thank members of the med school community for all that you’ve done over the past year. All in all, we’ve had a very busy, successful twelve months. There really are too many accomplishments to celebrate here on the blog, so I’m highlighting just a few of the things we can be proud of as we head into 2016.
Advancing medical education
This year, the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship program expanded to Moncton, New Brunswick. We launched a service learning pilot – a knowledge enrichment program that integrates community-based volunteer placements into the undergraduate curriculum. And in partnership with Dentistry and Health Professions, we opened the Collaborative Health Education Building – an inter-professional learning facility that will transform education and patient care.
Advancing health care through research
Our researchers have done an amazing amount of work in 2015. I’ll note just a few examples of how they’re making a difference.
Dr. Scott Halperin, director of the Halifax-based Canadian Center for Vaccinology, led a clinical trial for an experimental Ebola vaccine. Dr. Jean Marshall is leading an international team of physicians and scientists investigating the role inflammation plays in rheumatoid arthritis and heart failure. Dr. Jennifer Corcoran is looking at how viral genes contribute to the development of cancer. Another team is testing safer, less toxic cancer therapies. And researchers at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick have developed a new way to deliver chemotherapy.
Dalhousie Medical School researchers have also made a breakthrough discovery around the immune system’s response to respiratory syncytial virus, a virus so common it infects virtually 100 per cent of the world’s population. Dr. Lisa Barrett launched a hepatitis C immunity study in PEI’s provincial correctional centre – one of the first drug intervention studies in a Canadian corrections facility in 40 years. Alec Falkenham, a PhD student in the Department of Pathology, developed a new tattoo removal technology. And using light, Dalhousie medical researchers found a way to bypass the nervous system and stimulate muscles that have been damaged through injury or disease.
Recognizing donors
We’re in the season of giving thanks and appreciation. Over the last year, our education, research, and patient care activities have benefitted from the generosity of donors. Government and corporate funding will always be integral to what we do. But we also rely heavily on community philanthropists.
Allan and Leslie Shaw donated $1-million to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation to improve melanoma diagnosis and treatment in the Maritimes. Margot Spafford established the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation Gillian’s Hope Fund to support the recruitment of an MSologist to the region. And Dr. Leslie Anne Campbell was just recruited to the Sobey Family Child & Adolescent Mental Health Outcomes Chair. Thanks to Dr. Campbell’s work, we’ll be better equipped to help young people living with mental illnesses.
Happy holidays
None of what we accomplished this year would’ve happened without your efforts; I applaud all of your hard work.
Wishing you a happy holiday, and a healthy year ahead.