Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences - Faculty of Medicine News

Gene therapy project receives major funding

��SM�� — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:20:38 +0000

$1.14 million from CIHR will resolve treatment roadblocks for rare brain disorders

Gene therapy for rare neurological disorders will move one step forward thanks to a $1.14 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Research on new stem cell models receives $2.6 million

��SM�� — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 14:44:26 +0000

Thomas Durcan’s project will dissect the role of microglia in degenerative conditions, to identify new therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's treatment

An innovative new program based at The Neuro has received $2.6 million from the CQDM and the Brain Canada Foundation.

SCSD’s Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony

��SM�� — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 13:54:30 +0000

SCSD’s Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony will take place on Friday, October 25^th 2024 from 4:30pm to 7pm

Kindly RSVP to (admin.scsd [at] mcgill.ca) before October 21^st.

Refreshments will be served following the talk.

Bilingualism makes the brain more efficient, especially when learned at a young age

��SM�� — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 13:44:33 +0000

MRI data from large sample shows increased whole-brain connectivity in people with a second language

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to build connections within itself, adapting to the surrounding environment. The brain is most plastic in childhood, forming new pathways in reaction to stimuli such as language.

Recreating a hallmark of Parkinson's disease in human neurons

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:47:43 +0000

Scientists use stem cells to follow development of protein bodies characteristic of neurological disease

Alan Evans named Fellow of the Royal Society

��SM�� — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 17:27:00 +0000

Alan Evans, PhD, was among the 85 new Fellows of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences, announced May 14, 2024. Candidates were nominated for their substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge.

Read the full story from Naghmeh Shafiei and the Ludmer Centre.

101 ��SM�� research projects awarded $23.5 million in NSERC Discovery Grants funding

��SM�� — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 16:07:59 +0000

Funding supports groundbreaking research in the natural sciences and engineering

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has awarded 101 ��SM�� research projects funding from its Discovery Grants competition for a total investment of $23.5 million.

The Discovery Grants support ongoing programs with long-term goals, recognizing the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances.

A treatment for anorexia nervosa?

��SM�� — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 14:31:58 +0000

A ��SM��-led research team working in collaboration with a French team (CNRS, INSERM and Sorbonne university) believes it has identified both the neurological mechanism underlying anorexia nervosa as well as a possible cure.

��SM�� scholars receive $190,000 to expand impact of research in the social sciences and humanities

��SM�� — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 17:57:57 +0000

Seven ��SM�� researchers have been awarded over $190,000 in Connection Grants by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The awards are part of $1.7 million in federal funding invested in 54 projects nationwide.

Provost awards 28 ��SM�� professors with distinguished awards

��SM�� — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 19:27:04 +0000

��SM�� honours its accomplished researchers with Distinguished James ��SM�� Professor, James ��SM�� Professor, and William Dawson Scholars awards.

��SM�� researchers awarded SSHRC grants to foster collaboration with community partners

��SM�� — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 16:01:15 +0000

Two ��SM�� faculty members and their collaborators received Partnership Development Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

The Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has announced the recipients of its latest Partnership Development Grants competition, including $400,000 awarded to two ��SM�� researchers.

17 ��SM�� researchers honoured with prestigious Canada Research Chairs

��SM�� — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 14:48:28 +0000

��SM�� awarded $10.9 million in federal funding through Canada Research Chairs Program

Alan Evans elected Fellow of the Royal Society

��SM�� — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 19:34:33 +0000

Honour is recognition for a lifetime of leading research

Alan Evans, a researcher at The Neuro, James ��SM�� Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery and co-director of the Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, joining a class of scientists that includes a Nobel laureate and a former Chief Medical Advisor to the US President.

Two Neuro projects funded by international partnership

��SM�� — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 13:20:06 +0000

Researchers will study how hormones affect brain cancer and the role of neural circuits in social skills

The Paris Brain Institute and the Institut Pasteur have partnered with The Neuro to fund two groundbreaking studies, each receiving more than $440,000. These projects are part of an international collaboration to address future challenges in neuroscience.

��SM�� researchers’ studies offer promise for lung and brain cancer treatment

��SM�� — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 15:20:00 +0000

Two seminal studies from ��SM��, investigating immune landscapes of lung and brain tumours, were published today in Nature. This work was led by Logan Walsh, Daniela Quail and Peter Siegel, researchers at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute and Philippe Joubert from Université Laval. The studies used innovative highly multiplexed imaging to create sophisticated immune atlases of lung and brain tumours and demonstrate how big data and artificial intelligence are the future of cancer research and clinical care.

Message from VP-Dean Eidelman - The Faculty's Return to Campus

��SM�� — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 16:02:57 +0000

Dear Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Colleagues,

Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network accelerates precision medicine plan with signing of Contribution Agreement with Health Canada

��SM�� — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 20:32:35 +0000

Vancouver, BC -- The Government of Canada and the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) have jointly signed a Contribution Agreement which opens the door for the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network to begin operating.

��SM�� researcher-led International Task Force unveils first-of-its kind standards for treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

��SM�� — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 20:19:51 +0000

By David McFadden

Listed by the World Health Organization among the ten leading causes of medical disability worldwide, the severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is at a level on par with cancer. This prevalent disorder is characterized by highly distressing intrusive thoughts and repeated compulsive behaviours such as washing or checking.

Two cellular pathways involved in TNBC tumour development and a promising targeted combination therapy

��SM�� — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 14:34:32 +0000

A team of researchers at the RI-MUHC found two cellular pathways involved in TNBC tumour development and a promising targeted combination therapy

Source: RI-MUHC

Message from VP-Dean Eidelman - Planning for a return to campus

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Dear members of our Faculty community,

Our world has changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet we have persevered to continue to offer world-class education and conduct leading research. Indeed, I am immensely proud of our contributions.

Under 30 and sexually active? It’s a good idea to get tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea

��SM�� — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 20:02:40 +0000

Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommends routine screening

Source: CMAJ

Anyone sexually active under age 30 should be offered testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea, according to a new guideline from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Fertility Frontier: Can Transgender Women Get Uterus Transplants?

��SM�� — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 19:32:29 +0000

By David McFadden

It’s been nearly seven years since the world’s first successful birth after a human womb transplant. Since that medical milestone, the experimental procedure has seen such significant clinical advances that over 60 uterus transplants have been performed in women across the globe, resulting in at least 18 live births.

Infrared imaging could help screen for COVID-19

��SM�� — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 19:26:42 +0000

Technology offers more accurate method to detect illness in minimally symptomatic cases

As the global COVID-19 pandemic has continued to rage across the globe, temperature recordings have been widely used as a screening tool to help detect infected individuals.

Researchers identify the origin of a deadly brain cancer

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Finding could lead to potential therapies

Pfizer Canada donation will help new researchers change the future

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Pfizer Canada has made a $600,000 gift to the ��SM�� Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4) via ��SM�� and the ��SM�� Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation. The gift, which was announced today during the 2^nd annual MI4 Scientific Symposium, will support innovation and life-changing research through the creation of the Pfizer Early Career Investigator Awards.

Transforming coronavirus proteins into nanoparticles may hold the key to an effective COVID-19 vaccine

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Changing makeup of a specific protein has the potential to neutralize the virus

Researchers from ��SM�� are part of an international team led by the University of Buffalo, which has discovered a technique that could help increase the effectiveness of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The group’s study was published recently online in the journal Advanced Materials.

��SM�� researchers part of international team awarded NIH grant to study causes and predictors of emerging psychosis

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Researchers at ��SM�� are part of a major international study to better understand the cause and effect of psychosis in adolescents and young adults who are at risk for this condition. The research, which is being led by the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University, will be funded by a $52 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

First genetic sequencing of COVID in Quebec shows roots of outbreak

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Initial results of study show that an estimated 250 independent events following spring break travel in March led to 60,000 people being infected

$12.5 million awarded to Montreal team to study Parkinson’s Disease

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

A group of scientists at University of Montreal, The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), and ��SM�� has been awarded a major research grant of over $12.5 million from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative over the next three years to study Parkinson’s disease. ASAP’s implementation partner The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research issued the grant.

Molecular alterations in neuronal trophic regulation in Alzheimer’s pathology begin decades before detectable cognitive impairments

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:58:34 +0000

Findings could lead to development of pre-clinical stage therapeutics

By Jason Clement

For decades researchers have known that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) causes the atrophy of a system of neurons and synapses highly involved in memory, learning and attention, which is highly dependent on a molecule known as nerve growth factor (NGF). The disease causes dysregulation of NGF’s metabolism, leading to the loss of the synapses and neurons that depend on it, akin to plants being deprived of light.

Game-changing blood test accurately detects Alzheimer’s disease

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM��-Gothenburg collaboration yields affordable test that could revolutionize the way AD is diagnosed, studied and treated

By Gillian Woodford

A simple blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been discovered and validated in a joint effort by a ��SM�� team and researchers in Sweden. Their results are published in the May issue of The Lancet Neurology. An accompanying commentary calls the discovery “transformative.”

COVID-19: Faculty of Medicine Update 2020/04/05 - Message from VP-Dean Eidelman - Faculty Council Takeaways and FAQs

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

To all members of the Faculty of Medicine, including learners and staff,

COVID-19: Faculty of Medicine Update 2020/03/23 - Message from VP-Dean Eidelman

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

To all members of the Faculty of Medicine, including learners and staff,

COVID-19: Faculty of Medicine Update 2020/03/14 - Status

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

To all members of the Faculty, including all learners and staff,

As we are all acutely aware, the COVID-19 outbreak and the provincial and federal governments’ responses are continually evolving. On Friday, March 13, the Quebec government held a press conference announcing the closure of schools, universities and daycares, while the federal government updated the country on its measures. The implications of the Quebec announcement are being assessed in detail; more information will be issued University-wide via your mcgill.ca address over the weekend.

COVID-19: Faculty of Medicine Update 2020/03/12 - Faculty-hosted conferences, events

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

To all members of the Faculty of Medicine, including all learners:

��SM�� is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation as it continues to rapidly evolve. When providing the community with advice, the University is following the guidelines of Quebec and Canada’s Public Health authorities. As members of the Faculty and health care system, we must exercise extra vigilance to contain the spread of the virus.

Faculty-hosted Conferences and Other Events

COVID-19: Faculty of Medicine Update 2020/03/11 - MSSS directive regarding learners, travel, conferences

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

To all members of the Faculty of Medicine, including all learners:

Getting off of the blood sugar roller coaster

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM�� researchers are pioneering a new artificial pancreas system that provides life-changing support to people living with type 1 diabetes.

By Ashley Rabinovitch

Vitamin E effective, safe for fatty liver in HIV patients

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

By Gillian Woodford

A type of fatty liver disease that commonly affects patients with HIV can be safely treated with vitamin E, a ��SM��-led study has found.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is characterized by liver inflammation and cell damage. It is a potentially dangerous condition that can progress to cirrhosis or liver cancer.

How many gender subtypes exist in the brain?

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

New machine learning study suggest the presence of at least nine gender “expressions”

Beyond the Pap Smear

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM�� researchers identify new markers for early detection of cervical cancer

By Ashley Rabinovitch

Can Exercise Improve Video Game Performance?

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

By Monica Slanik, School of Physical and Occupational Therapy

Can lithium halt progression of Alzheimer’s disease?

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM�� researchers’ findings show that may be the case

��SM�� PhD student named to Forbes Top 30 under 30 list

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Daniel Almeida, a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Gustavo Turecki in ��SM��’s Integrated Program in Neuroscience and at the Douglas Research Centre, was included in Forbes Magazine’s Top 30 under 30 list, unveiled December 3. Overall, the ninth annual list includes 600 young entrepreneurs, risk-takers and game changers who are redefining what it means to innovate and lead by example.

Screening for thyroid dysfunction in patients without symptoms: don’t routinely check that box

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

New guideline from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care

A new guideline from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care found no benefit of routine screening for thyroid dysfunction in adults without symptoms or risk factors. Based on the latest evidence, the Task Force guideline recommends against routine screening for thyroid dysfunction in non-pregnant adults and is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

New understanding of antibiotic synthesis

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Insight into way enzymes work could shape future therapeutic production

Researchers at ��SM��’s Faculty of Medicine have made important strides in understanding the functioning of enzymes that play an integral role in the production of antibiotics and other therapeutics. Their findings are published in Science.

New direction for treatment of aggressive type of breast cancer

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Researchers identify path to improve HER2+ breast cancer susceptibility to approved therapies

Researchers identify improved avenues to train plastic surgeons in microsurgery

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Adoption of methods that could reduce costs and spare animal models

Microsurgery is an intricate and challenging surgical technique that involves using miniature instruments and sutures as fine as a hair strand aided by sophisticated microscopes. In plastic surgery, microsurgery is used to repair small damaged vessels and nerves following trauma, or in reconstructive procedures by moving a component of living tissue from one place of the body to another and reconnecting its vascular supply to this new region to keep its blood supply.

Quebec’s First Online Bachelor of Nursing Program to be Launched at ��SM�� Thanks to the Doggone Foundation

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

It’s a proven way to improve patient safety and outcomes, and meet the evolving health needs of the aging Quebec population. It’s a way to make higher education in nursing available to all communities in the province. It’s a way to increase the pool of potential candidates for graduate-level education to produce the next generation of nurse leaders, researchers and educators, as well as nurse practitioners. It’s a way to ensure more nurses have the required level of training if, and when, Quebec follows all other Canadian provinces and requires a nurse to have a university-level education.

Study shows the biological clock influences immune response efficiency

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Montreal, September 23, 2019 – According to a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, the biological clock influences immune response efficacy. Indeed, CD8 T cells, which are essential to fight infections and cancers, function very differently according to the time of day. The study was carried out by a team of researchers led by Nicolas Cermakian, PhD, of the Douglas Research Centre, and Nathalie Labrecque, PhD, of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre.

A Canadian First: Research Project will study blows to the head in University Football

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM�� is participating in a new research project titled Tête première (head first), led by the team of neuropsychologist Dr. Louis De Beaumont, a researcher at the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal research centre and a professor in the Department of Surgery at Université de Montréal. The project will assess the brain’s capacities to sustain blows to the head during a full university football season.

Four Burning Questions with Anthony Bossis, PhD

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

A clinical psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine, Anthony Bossis, PhD will be at ��SM�� in Montreal on September 12, 2019 to deliver a talk titled “Psychedelic Research: Implications for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Existential Distress.”

How Salmonella tackles cellular defense mechanisms

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Researchers uncover new protein that plays key role in bacterial infections

Bacterial infections represent a major public health concern, accounting for over 300 million foodborne illnesses and 60% of related fatalities globally. Salmonella alone is responsible for approximately 93.8 million illnesses and 155,000 deaths annually. Combined with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella strains, it is critical that researchers improve our understanding of the molecular details governing bacterial infections.

Early life factors connected to suicide risk later in life

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Researchers have long been interested in the question of whether a correlation exists between one’s early-life environment and suicide rates, with studies on the topic dating back to the 1980s. However, these studies have focused on individual countries or on only one or few risk factors. As a result, the lack of any meta-analysis of the data has made it difficult to draw any coherent conclusions.

A new study shows that the hippocampus retains traces of negative and stressful experiences which are linked to depressive behaviours

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Depression can be associated with behaviours such as social avoidance, that is, the refusal to interact with others for fear of being judged or criticized. Physicians and other mental health workers have noted that patients with depressive disorders exhibit cognitive symptoms, especially with regard to memory.

Dr. Joseph Hill named 2019 recipient of the Louis and Artur Lucian Award

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

The recipient of the 2019 Louis and Artur Lucian Award is Dr. Joseph Hill from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The award, established through a bequest to ��SM�� by the late Olga Leibovici to honour her two brothers, was designed to honour outstanding research in the field of circulatory diseases by a scientific investigator or group of investigators whose contribution to knowledge in this field is deemed worthy of special recognition.

Minister of Health Ginette Petitpas Taylor announces investment of $150M to create “Team Canada of Cancer Research”

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

MONCTON, NB – The federal Minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, announced today an investment of $150 million over five years by the Government of Canada for the creation of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres network.

The network, which includes ��SM�� and is led by the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), will unite cancer centres across Canada for the first time, accelerating the implementation of precision medicine so that Canadian cancer patients can access the right treatment at the right time for their particular cancer, no matter where they live.

Research team receives $6M to find new ways to treat metastatic breast cancer

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Source: Terry Fox Research Institute

What is the best way to starve cancer cells? What role does obesity play in metastatic breast cancer and how does it affect the tumour microenvironment? Might combining a chemotherapeutic agent with a drug now used to treat diabetes be part of an effective therapy for metastatic breast cancer?

Researchers unlock mysteries of complex microRNA oncogenes

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

New research led by ��SM��’s Goodman Cancer Research Centre improves our understanding of microRNAs

��SM�� researchers reveal how protein mutation is involved in rare brain development disorder

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Discovery could provide clues to potential therapies

Rearing its head in infancy, Christianson Syndrome is a rare disorder whose symptoms include intellectual disability, seizures and difficulty standing or walking. Although it is becoming increasingly diagnosed, with little being known about the neural mechanism behind the disease, therapeutic options for patients remain limited.

A Quebec first: Research chair in women’s heart health

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Heart & Stroke and ��SM�� to create Early-Career Professorship in Women’s Heart Health

Montréal, June 18, 2019 – The first research chair in Quebec focused on women’s cardiac health, propelled by Heart & Stroke and ��SM��, will officially be launched on July 1 via a research project led by Dr. Natalie Dayan, Assistant Professor of Medicine at ��SM��’s Faculty of Medicine and Director of Obstetrical Medicine in the division of General Internal Medicine at the ��SM�� Health Centre (MUHC).

$27.9 million investment to fund the Québec Cancer Consortium to develop novel therapeutics and biomarkers for cancer

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

The Québec Cancer Consortium for Novel Therapeutics and Biomarkers (QCC), a collaboration between six leading hospital and cancer research centre sites based in Montreal led by ��SM��’s Goodman Cancer Research Centre (GCRC) was awarded $10M in new funding from the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation (MEI) du Québec through its Fonds d’accélération des collaborations en santé (FACS) program.

A step closer to identifying cause of a blinding disease

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Researchers find clue to rare genetic disorder

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is an inherited form of vision loss that causes people to have trouble with their colour vision and difficulty seeing in the centre of their visual field. Due to the founder effect from the filles du roi, there is a disproportionate preponderance of a particular LHON mutation among the French-Canadian population.

A step toward better understanding brain anatomy of autism spectrum disorder

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Study could lead to development of personalized biomarkers and treatment

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often lumped into a single catch-all group, despite significant differences in symptom profile and severity. Further muddying the waters when trying to understand and treat ASD, many previous studies show significant variability in findings.

Brain signaling proteins hit the road running

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

New study of brain neurotransmitter receptor has implications for drug discovery

Surprisingly complex movements in an important neurotransmitter receptor may help explain the brain’s unpredictable response to drugs, according to a new study. New research from an international team, published this week in the journal Neuron, has revealed that the resting state of signaling proteins are much more dynamic than previously thought.

Dr. Shari Baum on the Faculty’s Strategic Research Plan

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM��’s Faculty of Medicine unveiled a new strategic research plan (SRP) for the Faculty in 2014, which was subsequently updated in 2017 as part of the strategic planning exercise known as Project Renaissance. Dr. Shari Baum, who recently assumed the role of Vice-Dean, Life Sciences, played an important role in the development of the most recent version of the plan. Dr.

I Medici di ��SM�� celebrating 30 years of concerts for causes

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Growing up in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb, Dr. Ante L. Padjen, Associate Professor (post- retirement) at ��SM��, found inspiration in the orchestra of the Croatian Institute of Music (CIM). Founded in 1827, the CIM has mostly been an ensemble comprised of physicians, lawyers, engineers and students, conducted by a professor from the Zagreb Music Academy. Following an opportunity to play briefly with CIM himself, Dr. Padjen’s career path, and his passion for music, landed him at ��SM�� some 42 years ago as professor of pharmacology and therapeutics.

New PhD program in Quantitative Life Sciences approved

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

By Gillian Woodford

An innovative interdisciplinary PhD program will bridge the gap between the quantitative and biological domains to improve life sciences research.

Anti-inflammatory drugs ineffective for prevention of Alzheimer’s disease

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Study sheds light on longstanding debate

Researchers have known for decades that inflammation accompanies Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain lesions. Several early studies suggested that “super-aspirins” or Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) could help avoid the disease. However, after clinical trials showed that NSAIDs don’t help patients who already have AD symptoms, doctors wondered whether these drugs could still be helpful to people who were at risk of developing the disease, but weren’t yet showing symptoms.

Predicting Breast Cancer Metastasis to the Lung and Liver with Biomarkers

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

By Josh Kaiser

For about 20% to 30% of breast cancer patients, their primary tumour will spread to other organs such as the bones, lungs, liver, or brain. Remarkably, this metastasis to other organs accounts for 90% of deaths during breast cancer treatment. Unfortunately, many of the specific cellular processes regulating breast cancer metastasis are poorly understood and there are currently no targeted treatments.

��SM�� approves new Institute of Health Sciences Education

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

By Matthew Brett

��SM�� is now home to a new Institute of Health Sciences Education thanks to a motion approved by its Board of Governors in February.

The Institute, which replaces the existing Centre for Medical Education, is now an academic hiring and teaching unit that can provide graduate programs in health sciences education.

Student-led events aim to raise awareness of speech-language pathology issues

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Students from the ��SM�� Faculty of Medicine’s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders (SCSD) have once again been busy organizing a series of events for spring 2019. Working under the guidance of Dr. Nicole Li-Jessen, Assistant Professor at the SCSD, two groups of students, each comprised of five final year Master’s students in Speech-Language Pathology, have developed events geared towards raising public awareness of often-overlooked issues related to swallowing and voice.

Four Burning Questions for Madhukar Pai & Dick Menzies on World TB Day

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

March 24^th is World TB Day. Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient disease that killed humans as far back as 600 BC. Sadly, even in 2019, it is the leading infectious killer of humanity.

In Canada, the TB rate among the Inuit is about 280 times higher than that of the Canadian-born non-Indigenous. Thankfully, the Canadian government has pledged to end the TB epidemic in the Inuit Nunangat by 2030. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Trudeau apologized for the various injustices Inuit people with TB faced in the past.

Talking women’s health with Dr. Gabrielle Cassir

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

A native Montrealer, Dr. Gabrielle Cassir completed her medical school and residency training at Université de Montreal. During her time as a medical student, she was also able to experience the American health care system, spending two months at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She completed two-years of subspecialty training in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, before returning to Montreal where she recently became a staff physician in the Obstetrics and Gynecology division at St.

Dr. Arjun Krishnaswamy selected as 2019 Sloan Research Fellow

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

An Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at ��SM��’s Faculty of Medicine and a member of the Cell Information Systems group at ��SM��’s Life Sciences Complex, Dr. Arjun Krishnaswamy was recently included among the 126 outstanding early-career researchers selected for 2019 Sloan Research Fellowships.

New study shows HPV not likely transmittable through the hand

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Researchers seek to answer longstanding debate

A first set of research guidelines for the field of neurofeedback

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Publication of checklist a product of collaborative initiative

Shared genetic marker offers new promise in targeting specific ovarian and lung cancers

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Two new papers, published simultaneously in Nature Communications and led by researchers at ��SM��, offer promise that a drug currently used to treat estrogen positive breast cancer may be effective in treating two different types of cancer, one rare and one common form.

New method may better predict the best treatment for burn wounds

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Technique involves use of non-invasive digital infrared imaging

Quebec researchers among recipients of $34 million ‘Grand Challenge’ Grant from Cancer Research UK to combat cancer

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

��SM�� and MUHC research teams part of an international effort to uncover how chronic inflammation causes cancer

Some research may be encouraging ineffective prescriptions, says new study

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Concerns raised about efficacy of off-label use of already approved drugs

A new paper published by ��SM�� researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that some clinical trials may promote the use of ineffective and costly treatments. That’s the opposite of what clinical trials are aimed at, namely preventing ineffective and costly treatments from being taken up by physicians and patients.

Can't sleep? Fruit flies and energy drinks offer new clues

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Source: MUHC Newsroom

In conversation with Dr. Gustavo Turecki

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

To mark the 75^th anniversary of ��SM��’s Department of Psychiatry, Canada’s first academic department in the field, a special symposium will be held at the St. James Theatre on November 29. Under the theme “Looking Forward, Looking Back” the event will provide participants with the opportunity to hear from a distinguished lineup of international speakers and to network with old and new colleagues alike.

ALS Quebec launches Taking Care, a virtual learning environment for caregivers

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

Montreal, Thursday, November 8, 2018 – With the financial support of L’Appui national pour les proches aidants d’aînés and the collaboration of ��SM��’s Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning (SCSIL), the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Society of Quebec is proud to launch a virtual education program Taking Care, intended for those caring for someone living with ALS.

On-demand virtual support

Entre-Nous with Dr. Mark Ware

��SM�� — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:56:21 +0000

In July 2018 Dr. Mark Ware took a leave of absence from his position as Associate Professor in the Departments of Anesthesia and Family Medicine at ��SM��’s Faculty of Medicine in order to become the Chief Medical Officer for the Canopy Growth Corporation. On November 7 he returns to ��SM�� where he will deliver the 41st annual Osler Lectureship “100 years of cannabis: a journey from William Osler to the modern era,” beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Charles F. Martin Amphitheatre in the McIntyre Medical Building. Dr.

For new HPV DNA test, study finds there may be little benefit in screening women aged 55 with a negative test