Two Department of Family Medicine physician-researchers have been recognized by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) Section of Researchers with Lifetime Achievement Awards in Family Medicine Research. This recognition is given to *"individuals who were our trailblazers and leaders in family medicine research, and who made a significant career contribution to family medicine research during their active career years." As founding researchers in the department, their combined work hascontributed immensely not only to building research capacity in the department of family medicine, but to the improvement of the delivery of primary care in Alberta and across Canada.
Dr. Neil Bell
A graduate of the University of Alberta, Dr. Neil Bell joined the department of Family Medicine in 1983 after beginning a private practice in West Edmonton in 1980. His interest in research began during his undergraduate honours biochemistry program, where he was involved in wet lab research. Although he chose medical training rather than pursue a PhD in biochemistry, his interest in research has continued on through his career in family medicine.
Dr. Bell was the first chair of the Department of Family Medicine Research Committee, which was established in 1984, and was successful in obtaining a number of significant research grants for the department. He has been very involved in the development of clinical practice guidelines in preventive healthcare, serving as a member of the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care (CTFPHC) including chair of the task force's working group on prostate cancer screening, until October 2015.
Although Dr. Bell has completed his term with CTFPHC, he continues to be involved in knowledge translation related to the task force's guidelines as well as the development of knowledge translation materials to support primary care practitioners' increased understanding of the benefits and harms of preventive health screening.
Dr. Andrew Cave
Dr. Andrew Cave, a native of the UK, received his medical degree from the University of Manchester in 1975. He began general practice shortly after graduating, and began taking residents in 1980. His work with residents led him to realize he wanted to increase his own knowledge about family medicine, so he enrolled in the family medicine masters program at Western University in Ontario. As part of his program Dr. Cave was required to participate in research, and found his inquisitive nature and varied interests made it a good fit for him.
Dr. Cave met Dr. David Moores, then-chair of the Department of Family Medicine, at an international meeting of the Royal College of Family Practitioners (RCFP), the United Kingdom equivalent of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC). He was subsequently recruited by Dr. Moores and joined the University of Alberta Departmentof Family Medicine research program in 1992.
In 1994, Dr. Cave became chair of the Department of Family Medicine Research Committee, and was the department's Director of Research from 2000 to 2006. Dr. Cave's research interests include respiratory medicine including extensive work in COPD and asthma, multi-disciplinary primary care teams in primary care and narrative inquiry.
Congratulations to Drs Bell and Cave on receiving this recognition of their contributions to family medicine research.
* College of Family Physicians of Canada, Honours and Awards,. Retrieved from http://www.cfpc.ca/Lifetime_Achievement_Award/